JASMIN JOSEPH was born in 1923 in La Grande Riviere du Nord. He began his artistic life as a sculptor in wood and stone, and was discovered in 1948 by Jason Seley, an american sculptor teaching at the Centre d‚Art. It was Seley who inspired the young man to create a screen of fine terra cotta sculptures in St. Trinite Cathedral in Port-au-Prince. When Jasmin Joseph took up painting, his wonderful fun-loving and compassionate animals soon earned him a reputation world-wide. He is considered one of the greatest living Haitian painters.