GEORGE RODRIGUE: 40 YEAR RETROSPECTIVE
January 11 — February 29, 2004

The exhibit features over 40 paintings from the various periods of Rodrigue's career. George Rodrigue, born in New Iberia, LA in 1944, began his painting career at the age of 9 while bedridden with polio. He enrolled in Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles from 1963-1967, but her returned to southwest Louisiana to document through his talent the Cajun culture that he knew so well.

In 1974, Rodrigue became the first American artist to be honored by the Le Salon des Artistes in Paris. His painting The Class was one of only 30 (with over 4,000 entries) to receive this honor from the French government. In 1977 First Lady Rosalynn Carter chose The Cajuns of George Rodrigue as the official United State Department gift for visiting foreign heads. Since this time there have been several books published about his work, including Blue Dog (1994), Blue Dog Man (1999), and Blue Dog Love (2001). The George Rodrigue Museum is in the Arcadian Village in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Rodrigue's works illustrate the uniqueness of his heritage with many featuring the distinctive Louisiana live oak. The oak tree was an important subject representing the artist's understanding of the enclosed Louisiana landscape and its small, white sky in harsh contrast to the big sky of neighboring Texas. Rodrigue's latest painting, that of Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco will be in the exhibit along with Mike the Tiger. The exhibit will also include such paintings as these 1960s works -- High Noon, Pop Goes the Ad, Cajun Man, and Arcadian Barnyard. There are works from the 1970s to include Small Oak, Broussard's Barber Shop, Ajoli Dinner, and Strabu's Coulee. And from the 80s, 90s, and later, Mikhail Gorbachev, The Future is Now and others.

Don't miss this exciting opportunity to study the Cajun culture through the curious eye of George Rodrigue.

Begin Online Preview HERE.

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The Louisiana State Exhibit Museum is proud to be a new member of
the Smithsonian Institution Affiliations Program.