Rodrigue vs. O’Keeffe: Choosing Magnus and Murphy Over the Great Modernist Painter

It’s a snowy day in Santa Fe at last. George Rodrigue and I made the most of this past week’s clear weather, however, spending a day exploring an ancient turquoise mine owned by our friend Doug Magnus, a jeweler and artist in the area. …And another day within the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Once again, asContinue reading “Rodrigue vs. O’Keeffe: Choosing Magnus and Murphy Over the Great Modernist Painter”

New York Art in West Texas

I could spend the rest of my life traveling and writing about the West. That’s what I thought to myself as I sat with George Rodrigue in a café in Marfa, Texas and watched the barbershop across the street. The barber, visible past a single strand of colored lights and his barber’s pole, shaved hisContinue reading “New York Art in West Texas”

Santa Claus: Paintings and Sculptures Inspired by the Season

In 1979 George Rodrigue painted his four-year old son André with Santa Claus. As with most of his Cajun paintings, he manipulated a photograph to suit his needs, in this case cutting the figures out of the staged snapshot and placing them outside. André posed with Santa not beneath an oak tree, but at AcadianaContinue reading “Santa Claus: Paintings and Sculptures Inspired by the Season”

The Greatest Gift

“And they sat there and they marveled And they knew they could not tell Whether it were angels, or the bright stars a singing”** I was surprised by the large and heartfelt response to the recent post “The Ghost of Christmas Past,” a story I hesitated sharing. Obviously there is something about this season thatContinue reading “The Greatest Gift”

The Ghost of Christmas Past

I try and, honestly, fail to imagine 1950s New Iberia, Louisiana. I’ve stared at this photograph for hours, a six-year old George Rodrigue dressed as a cowboy on Christmas morning, an only child surrounded by symbols of the time: a Radio Flyer red wagon; promotional Coca-Cola Santa Clauses (in multiples because his dad traded themContinue reading “The Ghost of Christmas Past”