Jamaica: Review in Forward of Painter of the Caribbean

Jamaica: Review in Forward of Painter of the Caribbean

In November I mentioned the publication of a lavish new book about Jamiaican Jewish artist Isaac Mendes Belisario.

Edward Gomez has reviewed the book for The Forward:

Painter of the Caribbean
In Colonial Jamaica, a Jewish Artist and the Slaves

By Edward M. Gómez
Wed. Dec 31, 2008

Jewish families who trace their roots back to England, Spain, Portugal and beyond have distinguished themselves for generations as merchants and financiers in the Caribbean. Reminders of the contributions they have made to the varied cultures and societies of the region can be found in the graveyards and in postcolonial, national archives of what are now its many small, independent countries.

With this history in mind, Jamaica’s Mill Press has published “Belisario: Sketches of Character.” A large, lavishly illustrated volume that looks like a coffee-table art book, it is, in fact, a sweeping saga of overlapping family histories, a high-drama page-turner complete with a Central American property-sale scam (the offering of an entire, imaginary country, that is) that makes the Bernard Madoff and not-so-long-ago Enron frauds look, in its publisher’s words, “like child’s play.” Part biography and part cultural history, the book sets the stage for a look at the work of the 19th-century, Jewish-Jamaican artist Isaac Mendes Belisario (1794–1849), about whom little hitherto was known. Exquisitely produced by a small publishing company based in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital, it offers a vivid portrait of colonial-era Caribbean Jewry in general, and of merchant-class Jews in Jamaica in particular.

Read the full story here.

Jamaica: New Book About Jamaican Jewish Artist Isaac Belisario (1794-1849)

Jamaica: New Book About Jamaican Jewish Artist Isaac Belisario (1794-1849)

The following is adapted from a press release about the new book. I know little of the artist - whose life and work certainly sounds interesting - and I do not know the author. But it is good to be identify at least one other Jewish artist from the Caribbean besides Pissarro (and I am sure there were many).

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New York, New York (November, 2008) – The Mill Press, a publishing house concentrating in Jamaican heritage, art and culture, is officially launching BELISARIO: Sketches of Character, a historical biography of the Jewish Jamaican artist, Isaac Mendes Belisario, in New York on November 19, 2008. The book, researched and written by Jackie Ranston, was twenty years in the making and acts as a narrative, a biography, a reference book, and a fine art book in one.

A richly illustrated, museum-quality book, BELISARIO: Sketches of Character presents the artist's paintings and lithographs in stunning detail depicting the less celebrated inhabitants of Jamaica and the turbulent times in which Belisario lived and worked.

Based on previously unpublished records, BELISARIO: Sketches of Character reveals new insights on Isaac Mendes Belisario’s life and works. Beginning with the histories of the Sephardic Jewish families from whom Isaac Mendes Belisario (1794-1849) is descended, the book traces the story of Belisario and his ancestors through the Spanish Inquisition, their migration to London and Jamaica, and the fight against slavery, until Belisario produces his pivotal work: Sketches of Character, a series of lithographs depicting the brilliant Christmas masquerades known in Jamaica as ‘Jonkonnu’ (John Canoe).

BELISARIO: Sketches of Character is available from the publishers for US$120, or a signed and numbered Collector’s Edition of BELISARIO: Sketches of Character for US$200. Visit www.belisariojamaica.com or email info@millpress.com for more information.

ISBN: 978-976-8168-16-0

About the Author

Jackie Ranston is a researcher and writer specializing in Jamaican family histories. Her published works include The Lindo Legacy, They Call Me Teacher, From We Were Boys and First Time Up, all studies of important personages in Jamaican history. Born in London, England, Ranston has resided in Jamaica since 1970 after her marriage to a Jamaican graphic designer and book illustrator. She has worked as an account executive for a major Jamaican public relations firm; was a government chief public relations officer and a consultant editor to The Gleaner, Jamaica’s oldest existing newspaper which first appeared in 1834.

Together with her husband and grown children Ranston runs a publishing company focusing on Early Childhood Education and Jamaica’s cultural heritage.