My nine-year-old nephew William said to me, as I headed out the door to my 25th High School Reunion in Fort Walton Beach, Florida this weekend, “Why would you want to see all those old people? I mean, you could swim at the pool with us!” I tried (and failed) to explain to him aboutContinue reading “The Class”
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Blue Dog: The Dark Period, 2006-7 (Paintings Following Katrina)
Following the chaos of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, George Rodrigue shifted his attention from Bodies, a collection of paintings and remastered digital prints focused on the female nude, to Blue Dog Relief. The New Orleans gallery reopened in January of 2006; however, the positive nature of George’s paintings seemed out of place. Our staff workedContinue reading “Blue Dog: The Dark Period, 2006-7 (Paintings Following Katrina)”
Childhood Summers (Remembering Old Biloxi)
Most towns have a nearby escape, the place everyone travels on a beautiful weekend. From south Louisiana, Biloxi is our destination. Along with his parents, cousins, aunts, and uncles, George Rodrigue visited Biloxi, Mississippi often as a child, usually for a week at the Alamo Plaza Courts, located on the beach. Plagued by Gulf stormsContinue reading “Childhood Summers (Remembering Old Biloxi)”
Paintings for the Flora Levy Lecture Series at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Beginning in 1980 George Rodrigue painted ten portraits, one each year, honoring guest lecturers at what was then called the University of Southwest Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette). The speaker series was conceived by Professor Maurice DuQuesnay and funded by Flora Levy, a Lafayette heiress and philanthropist who left her fortune toContinue reading “Paintings for the Flora Levy Lecture Series at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette”
Saint George (And the Rats)
Since the beginning of our relationship, George Rodrigue faced the challenge of my great expectations. Like all little girls, I hoped to marry a knight on a white horse, the one who rescues the damsel in distress and takes care of all things icky. The name ‘George’ was my favorite, even as a child, becauseContinue reading “Saint George (And the Rats)”
Blue Dog Speaks
With his Cajun works, George Rodrigue’s titles describe a scene in its simplest terms. The paintings themselves hold narratives, and their titles merely state the obvious. Louisiana Hayride (1972) Looking for Summer Shade (1973) The Aioli Dinner (1971, for a complete history of this, Rodrigue’s most famous Cajun painting, visit here) However, the Blue DogContinue reading “Blue Dog Speaks”
The Painting in the Closet
It’s a common misconception that George Rodrigue intends all of his art for sale, or at least for public display. If he manufactured tennis shoes, this might make sense, and indeed because George makes a living with his art, it is true that most works do end up with a price tag. However, this commercialismContinue reading “The Painting in the Closet”
Louisiana Roots (The Louis Prima of the Art World)
George Rodrigue is unique in the art world. I can think of very few contemporary visual artists of his renown that define themselves by their culture. From the time he first returned to Louisiana from Los Angeles and art school in the late 1960s, he called himself a Cajun artist. Even today he describes everyContinue reading “Louisiana Roots (The Louis Prima of the Art World)”
Indiscretion (A ‘Nude’ Addendum)
This entry is a postscript to last week’s detailed trace of the development of the nude figure in Rodrigue’s paintings. “All good art is an indiscretion.”* As a kid it was my mom who explained the artistic nude to me, as perfected by Peter Paul Rubens. She owned a huge tome of his paintings, andContinue reading “Indiscretion (A ‘Nude’ Addendum)”
The Nude Figure
As a student, it was important to George Rodrigue to learn the fundamentals of art. He grew frustrated early on with his college education, a 1960s academic art world rooted in the abstract, as opposed to classical notions of compositional design, chiaroscuro (play of light and dark), and an accurate study of the human figure.Continue reading “The Nude Figure”