George Rodrigue
Encyclopedia
George Rodrigue is a Cajun
art
ist who grew up in New Iberia, Louisiana
. Rodrigue began painting outdoor family gatherings framed by moss-clad oak trees in an area of French Louisiana
known as Acadiana
.
) which was located near St. Peter's Church, and on the banks of the Bayou Teche
as it runs through New Iberia. He studied art formally at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
(then named the University of Southwestern Louisiana) and the Art Center College of Design
in Los Angeles. He later trained in New York, and became well known for his abstract expressionism of Cajun subjects, inspired by his roots.
Rodrigue’s early notable works include The Aioli Dinner and Three Oaks. His most famous works include the Acadian heroine, Evangeline
, portrayed in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie (1847) and the Cajun modern-day Evangeline, Jolie Blonde. He also designed three posters for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
, which feature portraits of Louis Armstrong
, Pete Fountain
and Al Hirt
. Between 1985 and 1989, Rodrigue painted the Saga of the Acadians, a series of fifteen paintings chronicling the Acadian journey from France to Nova Scotia to Louisiana and ending with the official return visit to Grand Pré.
More recently and worldwide he is known for his creation of the Blue Dog series of paintings, featuring a blue-hued dog, attributed to his deceased dog named Tiffany and influenced by the Loup Garou
legend—the first painting in the series bears the title Loup Garou. The Blue Dog was made popular by Absolut Vodka
in 1992, when Rodrigue was honored as an Absolut Vodka artist, joining famous artists such as Andy Warhol
and glass artist Hans Godo Frabel
. The Blue Dog was used by both Absolut Vodka and the Xerox Corporation through national ad campaigns. The blue-hued, ghostly spaniel/terrier is often featured with a white nose and yellow eyes. His symbol helped coin the term Blue Dog Democrat
, which refers to a conservative member of the Democratic Party
.
Rodrigue has galleries in Aspen, Colorado
; Carmel, California; Lafayette, Louisiana
; and New Orleans, Louisiana
. He was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette on May 17th 2009.
and the flooding of New Orleans. "The Blue Dog is partly submerged, and its eyes, normally yellow, are red with a broken heart," Rodrigue wrote in September 2005. "Like a ship's S.O.S., the red cross on the dog's chest calls out for help."
"We Will Rise Again" was the first of five works that the acclaimed artist created for his new initiative, Blue Dog Relief: George Rodrigue Art Campaign for Recovery. To directly benefit the New Orleans Museum of Art, which was closed for six months due to flood damage, he also painted Throw Me Something FEMA and You Can't Drown the Blues.
Following those releases, Rodrigue launched a campaign for New Orleans levee
protection. He sent prints of To Stay Alive We Need Levee 5 to every member of the U.S. Congress. Sales proceeds from silkscreen prints and related campaign materials — including T-shirts, lapel pins, bumper stickers and buttons — are donated to NOMA.
Rodrigue donated his Cut Through the Red Tape image to the United Way for use in promoting the Louisiana 2-1-1 phone system. Louisiana 2-1-1 (an easy to remember Information & Referral phone number) seeks to eliminate the red tape of reaching human-service agencies — particularly in the wake of disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.
As of September 2006, the donation tally to Blue Dog Relief beneficiaries was $700,000 — including a check for $100,000 that Rodrigue presented to NOMA on March 3, 2006, to help kick off its grand re-opening: "The HeART of New Orleans," a three-day weekend celebration of the arts.
Cajun
Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
ist who grew up in New Iberia, Louisiana
New Iberia, Louisiana
New Iberia is a city in and the parish seat of Iberia Parish, Louisiana, United States, 30 miles southeast of Lafayette. In 1900, 6,815 people lived in New Iberia; in 1910, 7,499; and in 1940, 13,747...
. Rodrigue began painting outdoor family gatherings framed by moss-clad oak trees in an area of French Louisiana
French Louisiana
The term French Louisiana refers to two distinct regions:* first, to colonial French Louisiana, comprising the massive, middle section of North America claimed by France; and,...
known as Acadiana
Acadiana
Acadiana, or The Heart of Acadiana, is the official name given to the French Louisiana region that is home to a large Francophone population. Of the 64 parishes that make up Louisiana, 22 named parishes and other parishes of similar cultural environment, make up the intrastate...
.
Biography
Rodrigue attended the Brothers of the Christian Schools all-male high school called St. Peter's College, (now Catholic High SchoolCatholic High School (New Iberia, Louisiana)
Catholic High School of New Iberia, Louisiana, was opened in 1957 by the Brothers of the Christian Schools, and is located on De La Salle Drive, a road named after Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, the man who founded the Brothers in 1680...
) which was located near St. Peter's Church, and on the banks of the Bayou Teche
Bayou Teche
The Bayou Teche is a waterway of great cultural significance in south central Louisiana in the United States. Bayou Teche was the Mississippi River's main course when it developed a delta about 2,800 to 4,500 years ago...
as it runs through New Iberia. He studied art formally at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, or UL Lafayette, is a coeducational, public research university located in Lafayette, Louisiana, in the heart of Acadiana...
(then named the University of Southwestern Louisiana) and the Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design is a private college located in Pasadena, California, and was cited by BusinessWeek as one of the 60 best design schools in the world. The college’s industrial design program is consistently ranked number one by both DesignIntelligence and U.S...
in Los Angeles. He later trained in New York, and became well known for his abstract expressionism of Cajun subjects, inspired by his roots.
Rodrigue’s early notable works include The Aioli Dinner and Three Oaks. His most famous works include the Acadian heroine, Evangeline
Evangeline
Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie, is an epic poem published in 1847 by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during the time of the Expulsion of the Acadians.The idea for the poem came from...
, portrayed in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie (1847) and the Cajun modern-day Evangeline, Jolie Blonde. He also designed three posters for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, often known as Jazz Fest, is an annual celebration of the music and culture of New Orleans and Louisiana...
, which feature portraits of Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, Pete Fountain
Pete Fountain
Pete Fountain , is an American clarinetist based in New Orleans. He has played jazz, Dixieland and Creole music.-Early life and education:...
and Al Hirt
Al Hirt
Al Hirt was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million selling recordings of "Java", and the accompanying album, Honey in the Horn . His nicknames included 'Jumbo' and 'The Round Mound of Sound'...
. Between 1985 and 1989, Rodrigue painted the Saga of the Acadians, a series of fifteen paintings chronicling the Acadian journey from France to Nova Scotia to Louisiana and ending with the official return visit to Grand Pré.
More recently and worldwide he is known for his creation of the Blue Dog series of paintings, featuring a blue-hued dog, attributed to his deceased dog named Tiffany and influenced by the Loup Garou
Rougarou
The Rougarou , is a legendary creature in Laurentian French communities linked to European notions of the werewolf.-Versions:...
legend—the first painting in the series bears the title Loup Garou. The Blue Dog was made popular by Absolut Vodka
Absolut Vodka
Absolut Vodka is a brand of vodka, produced near Åhus, Skåne, in southern Sweden. Since July 2008 the company has been owned by the French firm Pernod Ricard who bought V&S Group from the Swedish government....
in 1992, when Rodrigue was honored as an Absolut Vodka artist, joining famous artists such as Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
and glass artist Hans Godo Frabel
Hans Godo Frabel
Hans Godo Frabel is an East German-born lampwork glass blower, now living and working in the USA.-Biography:...
. The Blue Dog was used by both Absolut Vodka and the Xerox Corporation through national ad campaigns. The blue-hued, ghostly spaniel/terrier is often featured with a white nose and yellow eyes. His symbol helped coin the term Blue Dog Democrat
Blue Dog Democrat
The Blue Dog Coalition, commonly known as the Blue Dogs, is a group of United States Congressional Representatives from the Democratic Party who identify themselves as moderates....
, which refers to a conservative member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
.
Rodrigue has galleries in Aspen, Colorado
Aspen, Colorado
The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...
; Carmel, California; Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
; and New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. He was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette on May 17th 2009.
Response to Hurricane Katrina
Forced to relocate, Rodrigue temporarily moved his base of operations to Lafayette, Louisiana. Days after the disaster, he created We Will Rise Again, depicting the American flag covered with water, to benefit the Red Cross in response to Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
and the flooding of New Orleans. "The Blue Dog is partly submerged, and its eyes, normally yellow, are red with a broken heart," Rodrigue wrote in September 2005. "Like a ship's S.O.S., the red cross on the dog's chest calls out for help."
"We Will Rise Again" was the first of five works that the acclaimed artist created for his new initiative, Blue Dog Relief: George Rodrigue Art Campaign for Recovery. To directly benefit the New Orleans Museum of Art, which was closed for six months due to flood damage, he also painted Throw Me Something FEMA and You Can't Drown the Blues.
Following those releases, Rodrigue launched a campaign for New Orleans levee
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
protection. He sent prints of To Stay Alive We Need Levee 5 to every member of the U.S. Congress. Sales proceeds from silkscreen prints and related campaign materials — including T-shirts, lapel pins, bumper stickers and buttons — are donated to NOMA.
Rodrigue donated his Cut Through the Red Tape image to the United Way for use in promoting the Louisiana 2-1-1 phone system. Louisiana 2-1-1 (an easy to remember Information & Referral phone number) seeks to eliminate the red tape of reaching human-service agencies — particularly in the wake of disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.
As of September 2006, the donation tally to Blue Dog Relief beneficiaries was $700,000 — including a check for $100,000 that Rodrigue presented to NOMA on March 3, 2006, to help kick off its grand re-opening: "The HeART of New Orleans," a three-day weekend celebration of the arts.
George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts
In 2009 Rodrigue formed the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts (GRFA) a non-profit organization which advocates the importance of the visual arts in the development of our youth. GRFA encourages the use of art within all curriculums and supports a variety of art educational programs.Publications
- The Cajuns of George Rodrigue (Oxmoor House; 1st edition 1976)
- A Couple of Local Boys: Paintings by George Rodrigue, Poetry by Gus Weill (Claitor's Publishing Division, 1981)
- Le Petit Cajun: Conversations with André Rodrigue, from his son’s perspective
- Blue Dog (Viking / Penguin, 1994; a Book of the Month ClubBook of the Month ClubThe Book of the Month Club is a United States mail-order book sales club that offers a new book each month to customers.The Book of the Month Club is part of a larger company that runs many book clubs in the United States and Canada. It was formerly the flagship club of Book-of-the-Month Club, Inc...
selection) - George Rodrigue; A Cajun Artist (Penguin Studio, 1997)
- Blue Dog man (foreword by Tom BrokawTom BrokawThomas John "Tom" Brokaw is an American television journalist and author best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He is the author of The Greatest Generation and other books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors...
, Stewart Tabori & Chang, 1999) - A Blue Dog Christmas (Stewart Tabori & Chang, 2000)
- The Art of George Rodrigue a 40-year retrospective by Ginger Danto & George Rodrigue, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (November, 2003)
- George Rodrigue Prints: A Catalogue Raisonne (Abrahms, 2008)
- Are You Blue Dog's Friend? (Abrams, 2009)
Sundry Titles
- The Loup-Garou of Côte Gelée by Morris Raphael, Harlo Press (June 1990); illustrator, George Rodrigue
- Claire by Moonlight by Lynne KositskyLynne KositskyLynne Kositsky is an award-winning Canadian author of poetry and young adult historical fiction. Kositsky, who was born in Montreal and grew up in London, England, now lives in the Niagara region of Ontario...
, Tundra Books (April 12, 2005); cover painting: TraiteurTraiteurIn French Acadiana, the term traiteur describes a man or woman who practises what is sometimes called faith healing. A traiteur is Cajun healer, or else a traditional healer of the French-speaking Houma Tribe, whose primary method of treatment involves using the laying on of hands...
by George Rodrigue
Accolades
- 1986: Commissioned by Republican Party to paint President Ronald Reagan; Reagan later donated painting to Louisiana State University
- 1988: Commissioned by Republican Party to paint Vice President George Bush and his 10 grandchildren; painting now hangs in Bush's private office
- 1989: Painted three Cajun Easter eggs for annual White House Easter Egg Roll
- 1992: Commissioned by Carillon Importers to paint Absolut Louisiana for USA Today
- 1993: Carillon Importers commissioned Absolut Rodrigue
- 1995: Commissioned by New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival to paint Louis Armstrong
- 1996: New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival commissioned portrait of Pete Fountain; and Neiman Marcus commissioned catalogue cover design for the book Butterflies Are Free
- 1997: Commissioned by Democratic Inaugural Committee to paint President-elect Bill Clinton and Vice President-elect Al Gore
- 1998: Commissioned by New Orleans Jazz Club to create 50th anniversary poster; and Neiman Marcus commissioned catalogue cover design for the book Hawaiian Blues
- 2000: Commissioned by Young & Rubicam to create paintings for ads promoting Xerox Color Inkjet Printers; and New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival commissioned painting of Al Hirt
- 2003: Honored as Outstanding Alum of the University of Louisiana, along with baseball legend Ron Guidry
- 2003: Raised approximately 1 million dollars for a new habitat for Mike the Tiger, Louisiana State University's live mascot. He did so by painting the Tiger along with Rodrigue's famous oak trees and donated 5,000 silkscreens to the Tiger Athletic Foundation.
- 2004: Painted official portrait for the inauguration of Louisiana Governor Kathleen Rabineaux Blanco; inducted into Louisiana "Order of Living Legends" by the Acadian Museum; delivered guest lecture at the Great Hall of the Nantucket Atheneum, the historical library on the island of Nantucket; and honored as Artist of the Year by the American Liver Foundation in Birmingham, Al.
- 2005: Created official 25th anniversary artwork for the Musical Arts Society of New Orleans
- 2010: Honored as inaugural Forum35 Art Melt Louisiana Art Legend
External links
- Rodrigue Studio
- George Rodrigue Art Campaign for Hurricane Recovery
- Rodrigue's Louisiana
- Audio Interviews with George Rodrigue
- Southern Living web profile
- Rodrigue Receives Honorary Doctorate from the University of Louisiana