On October 26, 2013, George Rodrigue receives in New Orleans the prestigious Opus Award from the Ogden Museum of Southern Art during their annual gala, O What a Night!. Unable to attend the event, we asked Jacques Rodrigue, his fiancé Mallory Page Chastant, and André Rodrigue to accept the award on George’s behalf, and toContinue reading “Rodrigue Honored Tonight”
Category Archives: Aioli Dinner
Rodrigue Collaborates
When it comes to painting, George Rodrigue is a loner. In recent months, he embraces full time the isolated setting of his Carmel Valley studio. The limited interruptions and lack of social commitments on this quiet California hill settle the artist into a near-obsessed dedication to his canvas and ideas. Ironically, however, it’s Louisiana thatContinue reading “Rodrigue Collaborates”
The Breaux Bridge Band
Painted in 1971, The Breaux Bridge Band is a classic among George Rodrigue’s paintings. Along with similar works from this period, it defines his style as a pictorial champion of the Cajun culture, recording snapshots of time within turn-of-the-century Southwest Louisiana. Ironically, however, it is only on the artist’s canvas, and not in reality, thatContinue reading “The Breaux Bridge Band”
America, Unexpected
Oftentimes I wince at the question, Where are you from?. Unless the person asking lives somewhere between Houston and Atlanta, they probably associate Florida with Disney World and Miami Beach— nice places, but not the Emerald Coast of my childhood. I mumble to anyone who’ll listen outside of the Gulf South that I’m sort ofContinue reading “America, Unexpected”
Cajuns, The Book
By the mid-1970s George Rodrigue painted on average forty canvases per year, all scenes of Cajun folk-life stemming from his first painting with people, Aioli Dinner (1971), while incorporating the distinctive oak trees from his landscapes. Although he rented a gallery in Lafayette, Louisiana, he sold most of his work on the road in Houston, Dallas,Continue reading “Cajuns, The Book”
Walker Percy, Sylvester Stallone and the Blue Dog
Update, 2/1/13- Due to the popularity of this exhibition, it is now extended through August 31, 2013. During his forty-five year career, George Rodrigue has painted more than one hundred portraits, everything from his family to U.S. Presidents. One series in particular, however, stands out as a select group of award-winning authors and scholars, paintedContinue reading “Walker Percy, Sylvester Stallone and the Blue Dog”
Starry Starry Eyes: A Runaway Hit
In 1991 George Rodrigue’s printed artwork bolted forward with new color and precision as he applied the latest in ink and technology to his silkscreens. This was a substantial advancement over his earlier Cajun posters and Blue Dog silkscreens. For the first time he created complex original print designs using intense hues. Prior to theContinue reading “Starry Starry Eyes: A Runaway Hit”
Rodrigue’s Bicentennial Poster
George Rodrigue painted the Aioli Dinner in 1971 based on photographs of a gourmet dinner club, the Creole Gourmet Society. This was his first painting with people, and during the six months that he painted their portraits and a landscape on this single canvas, he developed a style uniquely his own and recognizable today, fortyContinue reading “Rodrigue’s Bicentennial Poster”
Museum News (Rodrigue on the Walls)
Updated with additional exhibitions, August 1, 2012- If you were lucky enough to see the Rodrigue retrospective exhibitions in 2007 in Memphis and 2008 in New Orleans, then you know the power of such shows. For those who sought the Blue Dog, the Cajuns and Portraits piqued their interest, as they learned of Rodrigue’s twenty-fiveContinue reading “Museum News (Rodrigue on the Walls)”
The Mamou Riding Academy: Fact or Fiction
“One summer a German mule trader struggled to sell his last white mule. A farmer finally bought it for his daughter, and the daughter liked it so much that her friends each wanted one. In the end, the mule trader sold nine mules to nine fathers of nine little girls.” That’s the story of theContinue reading “The Mamou Riding Academy: Fact or Fiction”
George Rodrigue: Painting Louisiana
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”
Popular Art: Famous Paintings by George Rodrigue
During our recent tours in north Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle, the question arose several times regarding George Rodrigue’s most popular paintings. “My favorite painting,” he’s quick to reply, “is always the one I’m working on now.” (pictured, George Rodrigue at his easel in Carmel Valley, California, 10/6/11) But for the rest of us, humanContinue reading “Popular Art: Famous Paintings by George Rodrigue”
Talk About Good!
In 1979 George Rodrigue loaned twenty of his Cajun paintings for use in Talk About Good II, a cookbook produced by the Junior League of Lafayette, Louisiana. The paintings introduce the book’s chapters and include dinner scenes, seafood preparations and Cajun characters, each complemented by Rodrigue’s brief descriptions. Rodrigue writes about the cover, Kiss MeContinue reading “Talk About Good!”
Museums and Critics, an Early History
“I’m a survivor.” George Rodrigue, 2011 In 1969 the Art Center of Southwest Louisiana held George Rodrigue’s first solo museum exhibition. Located in Lafayette at the University of Southwest Louisiana, the museum, also known as the Pink Palace, existed within a Mississippi River-style plantation, surrounded by huge columns and designed by architect A. Hays Town.Continue reading “Museums and Critics, an Early History”
The Family Portrait
Although George Rodrigue admitted to himself only recently that he is an effective portrait artist, he has painted both real and imaginary figures for forty years, accepting commissions for family portraits since the early 1970s. For the family portrait he feels pressured to please everyone from Great Aunt Marie to Baby Hebert with regards toContinue reading “The Family Portrait”
Broussard’s Barber Shop (Melding Fact with Fiction)
After painting the Aioli Dinner in 1971, George Rodrigue’s confidence soared in rendering not only the Cajun figures, but also a style all his own. During the six months it took to complete the painting, he developed specific rules for himself, things separate from and often contradictory to the established rules of art. He wouldContinue reading “Broussard’s Barber Shop (Melding Fact with Fiction)”
Painting to the Frame
As long as I can remember, George Rodrigue has talked about his sporadic but serious interest in ‘painting to the frame,’ a phrase he coined himself as far as I can tell. Although most of the time his paintings and frames are unrelated to each other (in fact, I recall him asking our framer, “MakeContinue reading “Painting to the Frame”
From Jolie Blonde to Bodies: Paintings of Women
According to local legend, in the 1920s a Cajun imprisoned in Port Arthur, Texas pined for his lost love, his beautiful blonde, his “Jolie Blonde,” and wrote a waltz from those feelings of longing. Over the years the song became for many the Cajun anthem based on a sort of modern day Evangeline, and CajunContinue reading “From Jolie Blonde to Bodies: Paintings of Women”
Portraits: The Kingfish and Uncle Earl
For years George tried to convince me that he is not a portrait painter. He explained that others paint with far more skill in interpreting likenesses, and that he used his models as just that, models. If he paints Jolie Blonde, in other words, it’s not about the person posing, but rather about the legend.Continue reading “Portraits: The Kingfish and Uncle Earl”
The Aioli Dinner and a Cajun Artist
The first time I saw the original Aioli Dinner, I was struck by its monochromaticity. It is a green painting through and through. You don’t notice it in a photograph and certainly not in a print (as explained below), but the painting itself exudes the swamp, and one almost feels the mugginess, smells the sweat,Continue reading “The Aioli Dinner and a Cajun Artist”