“Ya’ here to look or to buy?…” …barked Bud Petro from the porch of George Rodrigue’s Jefferson Street gallery.From a rocking chair, he watched the Esso station he owned with his brother Norman, while monitoring and, according to George, “scaring away” potential Rodrigue collectors. “I couldn’t tell him to leave,” laughed George.“He was part ofContinue reading “The Petro Brothers”
Category Archives: Evangeline
Blue Dog at the Movies
Since childhood, George Rodrigue has loved the movies. It’s the reason, along with Saints and LSU football, that his studio doubles as a theatre, and why most nights he paints to the backdrop of Turner Classic Movies. He returns to his favorites, The Searchers and Lonesome Dove, repeatedly. And he spent his teenage years paintingContinue reading “Blue Dog at the Movies”
The Daughters of André Chastant
Like ghosts of Evangeline, André Chastant’s daughters float brilliant in white and framed within the landscape of southwest Louisiana. The painting, a combination of photograph and imagination, is my favorite from George Rodrigue’s Cajun period. These daughters are not posed around their father as though for a photograph. Rather, they exist as one unit, aContinue reading “The Daughters of André Chastant”
Aunt Wendy and the Cones
It was five years ago that our nephews, age four and six, summoned me from the kitchen where, while cooking dinner, I strained my ears towards their whispers in the den. What on earth?, I thought, imagining the content of this intense powwow: How do we change Aunt Wendy’s mind about Transformers? How does the tooth fairyContinue reading “Aunt Wendy and the Cones”
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”
The Artist’s Father: George Godfrey Rodrigue, Sr. (Daddy and Baby George)
George Rodrigue rarely speaks of his father. I’ve written before about his construction and tomb business, as well as peripheral facts regarding his Cajun heritage. But even when pressed, I had a hard time pulling personal information about Big George from his son. As I suspected, George struggles with these memories, and he stared inContinue reading “The Artist’s Father: George Godfrey Rodrigue, Sr. (Daddy and Baby George)”
The Bronzes
George Rodrigue holds a deep appreciation for classicism in the visual arts. In a way, this embrace of time-honored techniques and subjects translates to a parallel within his own career, as even today he talks about his bronzes of the mid-1970s with reverence, recalling the process as though he worked alongside Donatello himself, paying tributeContinue reading “The Bronzes”
Women of Vision
Inspired by an upcoming speech for UL Lafayette’s ‘Women of Vision’ Lecture Series. For information see the bottom of this post- George Rodrigue’s paintings of women focus on both myth and reality. In most cases they include strong women with important roles in their community, Louisiana’s cultural history, and their own families. (pictured, Old LadiesContinue reading “Women of Vision”
The Cajun Bride of Oak Alley
By the mid-1970s George Rodrigue spent his days scouting for subjects and his nights painting the Cajun culture. He concentrated on area traditions, such as The Aioli Dinner and The Traiteur (Cajun faith healer), famous locations such as Broussard’s Barber Shop and The Ragin’ Cajun Antiques, and legendary figures such as Jolie Blonde and Longfellow’sContinue reading “The Cajun Bride of Oak Alley”
Nature Girl (The Art of Modeling) G-RATED
(Note: For Facebook, I’ve amended the ‘Modeling’ post of 9/21/10, removing any images related to nudes. For further information, see the bottom of this post.) Griping about the challenges of modeling is humiliating, so I won’t do it. I mean, a model lies on a chaise lounge or perches on a stool or strolls towardsContinue reading “Nature Girl (The Art of Modeling) G-RATED”
Nature Girl (The Art of Modeling)
Griping about the challenges of modeling is humiliating, so I won’t do it. I mean, a model lies on a chaise lounge or perches on a stool or strolls towards the camera wearing costumes, beautiful clothes, or occasionally nothing at all. It’s ridiculously easy, right? Just last weekend, however, as I headed towards a previouslyContinue reading “Nature Girl (The Art of Modeling)”
Riding to New Orleans: An Artist’s Journey
For George, in honor of his new gallery and a dream fulfilled- In 1970 I bought a ticket on a train To New Orleans for my first art show, Oak Trees. I painted Cajuns, not Creoles, and then Blue Dogs and Hurricanes I built sculptures and changed directions, painting Tee Coons* and Jolies I’m anContinue reading “Riding to New Orleans: An Artist’s Journey”
The Saga of the Acadians
Between 1985 and 1989, George Rodrigue painted the Saga of the Acadians, a series of fifteen paintings chronicling the Acadian journey from France to Nova Scotia in the 17th century, from Nova Scotia to Louisiana during the Grand Dérangement of 1755, and finally the first official return visit from Southwest Louisiana to Grand Pré inContinue reading “The Saga of the Acadians”
A History of Evangeline in Rodrigue Paintings
There are enough Rodrigue Evangelines to fill an entire museum exhibition. He’s painted the Acadian heroine one hundred or more times over nearly forty years. Like Jolie Blonde, the Oak Tree, and the Blue Dog, she is a staple in his work, a protagonist as much for him as she is in the story ofContinue reading “A History of Evangeline in Rodrigue Paintings”