Note: Based on an essay scheduled for publication in an upcoming book* celebrating Louisiana’s bicentennial, published in April 2012 by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, this blog version includes added images, as well as links throughout, referring you to specific relevant posts and websites. Born and raised in New Iberia, Louisiana, George Rodrigue (b.Continue reading “George Rodrigue: Painting Louisiana”
Author Archives:
The Working Artist
Note: Throughout this post I sprinkled images by Louisiana artists. Some I interviewed and some not, but all are included in the book The Bicentennial History of Art in Louisiana.* As I wrote, I thought of the text and images as two separate statements, not necessarily related. In other words, unless specifically noted, all artistContinue reading “The Working Artist”
The Family Table
In 1950 George Rodrigue drew and colored a turkey for his parents. On the back he wrote in a surprisingly elegant child’s script: For Mother and Dad on Thanksgiving: 1. Visits to chapel. 9 2. Prayers in school. 40 3. Decades of rosary. 27 George Rodrigue 2nd Grade To fit the tiny picture in aContinue reading “The Family Table”
Blue Wendy
This weekend George Rodrigue and I attended an event where the religious leader prayed for and encouraged our suffering. We left watching carefully, unprepared at a gala for this powerful lesson, for the bus that might run us down in the street, safeguarding our empathy with broken bones or worse. “Suffering and diminishment are notContinue reading “Blue Wendy”
Victory on Bayou St. John
“The brave young men rode onto the beaches and into battle on Higgins Boats, built in New Orleans by Andrew Higgins, the man Eisenhower said, ‘won the war for us.’” —Stephen Ambrose Yet these two American giants of World War II never met. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) eventually became President of the United States (1953-1961); however,Continue reading “Victory on Bayou St. John”
Hiding From the Blues
Recently I challenged George Rodrigue: Pretend I’m a stranger and answer some questions. “Do you ever get the Blues?” “No, I really don’t, at least not on my own,” he said. “But I do catch the Blues from others.” “Like your wife?” I asked. But I already knew the answer. (pictured, The Red Cover-Up, 2010, acrylicContinue reading “Hiding From the Blues”
LSU Football: A Personal History
I attended a small college, Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. In the mid-1980s we had maybe two thousand students. Although we had a football team, I don’t recall any games. We had a Greek system, but I evaded that as well, opting instead for extra classes and the AIDS suicide hotline. In short, IContinue reading “LSU Football: A Personal History”
The Secret of Pirate Lafitte’s Gold
“O’er the glad waters of the dark blue sea, Our thoughts as boundless, and our souls as free, Far as the breeze can hear, the billows foam, Survey our empire and behold our home!” –Lord Byron, 1814, The Corsair By 1974 George Rodrigue pursued a unique, self-invented style of American genre painting, typified by hardContinue reading “The Secret of Pirate Lafitte’s Gold”
A Cajun in California
It was ten years ago that George Rodrigue built his studio in the hills of Carmel Valley, California. Since that time, although we live most of the year in New Orleans, ninety percent of his work comes from this peaceful home on the West Coast, an escape from everything but nature and painting. -click photosContinue reading “A Cajun in California”
I Ain’t No Cartoon Dog
The Blue Dog is not a cartoon. It is a shape that interacts with other shapes, not characters, all according to George Rodrigue’s artistic eye. There are no speech bubbles coming from its mouth. Although it delivers a message, its exchange is a silent and mysterious communication between its golden saucers and our eyes. (pictured,Continue reading “I Ain’t No Cartoon Dog”