Gérard Fortuné (1925), who signs his work exclusively with his given name, Gérard, was originally a houngan (Vodou priest) and pastry chef. He is a self-made artist, Gérard who has been painting original and unique naïve art since the 1970's. His work appears in many books on Haitian Art. "Seldon Rodman, for example, devotes a large fraction of a chapter from "Where Art is Joy - Haitian Art: The First Forty Years" to Gérard, whom he considers to be an expressionist and regards as one of the most imaginative self-taught Haitian painters." Gerard's work is widely collected and exhibited in Europe and the U.S.