A
part woman and part snail, a nude young black woman on all fours has a
sizeable yellow snail's shell emerging from her back. She inches through
a dense, verdant forest abundant with sweet-smelling flowers as she
gazes toward the viewer. She seems perfect at home as she integrates
into her lush environment. The work is reminiscent French naïve painter
Henri Rousseau. Signed and dated lower right. Framed in a Heydenryk
frame. Framed size Frame: 27.25" h x 31.5" w 

Salnave Philippe-Auguste (1908 - 1989) was a Haitian painter, lawyer, and magistrate known for his jungle scenes.

Philippe-Auguste's work was included in the travelling exhibition,
"Haitian Art," organized by the Brooklyn Museum in 1978, which traveled
to the Milwaukee Art Center (now the Milwaukee Art Museum), and the New
Orleans Museum of Art. It was also included posthumously in 2020 in New
York in “Saving Grace: A Celebration of Haitian Art” and covered in the
New York Times.[2] Philippe-Auguste was also the subject of a 2002
Danish documentary Drømmere (Dreamers).
Early life and career

Salnave Philippe-Auguste was born in 1908 in Saint-Marc, Haiti. He
was a self-taught lawyer and magistrate who wrote articles and poetry
before he took up painting.
Career

Philippe-Auguste embarked upon painting at 52 partly to support his
children and joined the Centre d’Art in Port-au-Prince in December 1960.
His jungle scenes reminiscent of the style of French artist Henri
Rousseau sold well. Philippe-Auguste also painted in the same style,
other scenes from nature, still lifes, fantastical creatures, carnivals,
and human figures, especially women,posed against backgrounds of
stylized flora and/or fauna.

Philippe-Auguste's work was included in the traveling exhibition,
"Haitian Art," organized by the Brooklyn Museum in 1978, which traveled
to the Milwaukee Art Center and the New Orleans Museum of Art. His
painting Flamingoes was used to advertise it at the Brooklyn Museum.
Technique

Philippe-Auguste made preparatory drawings on tracing paper which he
transferred to Masonite for his paintings. He also combined and re-used
the drawings.
Collections

Philippe-Auguste's work is in the Ben and Beatrice Goldstein
Foundation, the Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University, and the
Huntington Museum of Art in West Virginia among others. A copy of his
Flamingos poster for the 1978 Haitian art exhibit is in the collections
of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
Documentary

He was the subject of a 2002 Danish documentary about Haitian painters Drømmere (Dreamers).
Personal life
Philippe-Auguste was married and had seven children.He died in Port-au-Prince on June 2, 1989. Wikipedia