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George Rodrigue

1944-2013. Born and raised in southwest Louisiana, “Cajun Country,” George Rodrigue preserved on his canvas what he feared was his dying heritage — including its land, people, traditions and mythology. It was a Cajun legend, the loup-garou, that spawned his most famous series,

The Blue Dog.

Read about George Rodrigue

George Rodrigue in Studio

“I grew up feeling a strong relationship to the old things, to the old culture, and I got a stronger feeling when I went to Los Angeles to school. I really started to understand how different I was and how different my Louisiana was.”

George Rodrigue Biography

George Rodrigue Timelne

George Rodrigue Today

Available Work

Original Paintings by George Rodrigue

Original Paintings

Original Paintings by George Rodrigue

Original Paintings

Signed Silkscreens by George Rodrigue

Signed Prints

Estate Stamped Prints by George Rodrigue

Estate Stamped Prints

Jewelry by George Rodrigue

Jewelry

Rare Editions by George Rodrigue

Rare Selections

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Exhibitions

George Rodrigue Exhibitions

News & Events

2021 Rodrigue Wall Calendar Now Available

New George Rodrigue calendar features colorful bold, contemporary paintings by George Rodrigue! Available at your local bookseller, our Lafayette or New Orleans Galleries or online here. Cover painting: My Life is Full of Sunshine (detail), 2013, Acrylic on linen, 20×24, Private collection – Also available as an Estate Stamped Silkscreen

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I’ve always approached painting knowing that my job is not to make an accurate representation of a subject–

IT’S GOT TO TRANSCEND THAT.

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One Way (Diptych)
1991
Oil on canvas
...

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One Way (Diptych) 1991 Oil on canvas 11 x 28 inche

One Way (Diptych)
1991
Oil on canvas
11 x 28 inches (two canvases each 11” x 14”)

In 1984 George Rodrigue created the well-known painting, Watch Dog. Originally painted to illustrate the myth of the loup-garou in a book of Cajun ghost stories, it is now recognized as a precursor to the artist’s Blue Dog series. Over the next six years, Rodrigue continued to paint and transform the image, slowly changing the eyes and fur, reshaping the loup-garou into the iconic Blue Dog. Still residing in Rodrigue’s landscapes, the figure had not yet ventured into the artist’s vivid imagination.

The year 1991 was pivotal in Rodrigue’s oeuvre; this was when he first brought the loup-garou out of the swampy bayous, the first time in twenty years he painted without the oak tree or without the Louisiana landscape, and it was also the year he painted this diptych, One Way.

The world had opened up to Rodrigue, now realizing he could take the Blue Dog in any direction, and to any place. All of Rodrigue’s paintings, whether Cajun landscapes or Blue Dogs, are about contrasts — contrast in volume, shape and color. In One Way, Rodrigue experiments with the contemporary, geometric, hard-edge shapes that were the foundation of his art throughout his career.

(Framed within a shadow-box black frame, all sides of the canvases visible.)

Watchdog, was among the forty paintings created ...

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Watchdog, was among the forty paintings created fo

Watchdog, was among the forty paintings created for the book Bayou,(Segura, Inkwell Press, 1984), illustrating the Cajun ghost stories told within. This particular legend was about the loup-garou, a werewolf-type dog that lurked in cemeteries and sugar cane fields on dark nights.

The image itself was open to interpretation, and so Rodrigue searched his photo files, eventually settling on a picture of his studio dog, Tiffany, a terrier-spaniel mix that had died four years earlier. Rodrigue manipulated her shape and gave her red eyes, altering her appearance, and turning his former pet into a scary creature. The legend said nothing about the loup-garoubeing blue, yet Rodrigue’s artistic eye told him otherwise. He thought the dark night sky would cast a blue-grey shadow on the dog’s fur.

Unknown to Rodrigue at the time, he had painted his first Blue Dog, an image that, as it changed and developed, would become the focus of his work for the rest of his career.

After turning down multiple proposals that came ...

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After turning down multiple proposals that came hi

After turning down multiple proposals that came his way to use his art in advertising campaigns, George Rodrigue was intrigued by one he received in 2000 from Xerox and the legendary New York Advertising firm of Young & Rubicam.

Eager to work with this award-winning team, he accepted this collaboration on a worldwide advertising promotion. Given tag phrases such as “a faster breed”, “taking care of business” and “a smarter breed”, Rodrigue painted more than twenty canvases for possible use in the print, billboard, and multi-media campaign.

Among those canvases was We’re All the Same Inside, which emphasizes the fact that the Blue Dog isn’t always blue, and here appears in four toner colors of yellow, cyan, black and magenta.

Pictured, we see Rodrigue at his easel in Lafayette, Louisiana, in 2000, finalizing the actual ad used in the campaign inspired by the painting.

Throughout his career, George often used titles to comment on society, not just within the Xerox series.

We're All the Same Inside
(2001)
from the Xerox campaign series
48 x 36 inches
Acrylic on canvas
View original painting available at Rodrigue Studios at #linkinbio

WINNERS ANNOUNCED! Congratulations to the ...

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WINNERS ANNOUNCED! Congratulations to the @rodrigu

WINNERS ANNOUNCED! Congratulations to the @rodriguefoundation and its 18 talented finalists who shared $55,000 in scholarships as part of the Annual Scholarship Art Contest and the Inaugural Scholarship Songwriting Contest in partnership with @tromboneshorty @shortyfoundation !

Check out the foundation website to view the winning artwork and music at #linkinbio👆

In the fall of 2012, following the encouraging ...

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In the fall of 2012, following the encouraging new

In the fall of 2012, following the encouraging news that his cancer had entered remission, Rodrigue returned to his home in New Orleans, anxious to settle back into his routine at his easel. The many weeks he spent in a Houston hospital provided him with time to reflect on his situation, this second chance he had been given, and what he had been faced with losing — in his words… hope, love, happiness and sunshine.

“I’m recycling my life,” noted Rodrigue, half-way through the summer of 2013. “I didn’t expect this new experience, and we should make as much of it as we can; because we’re all living in the moment, whatever that may be.”

My Life is Full of Sunshine
Silkscreen by George Rodrigue
Designed 2013/Printed 2019
Numbered Edition of 150, including the Rodrigue Estate Stamp
16 1/2 x 18 1/2 inches
$1100 unframed*
Newly released from Rodrigue Studios and available online at #linkinbio

Throughout his career, Rodrigue avoided ...

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Throughout his career, Rodrigue avoided mass-produ

Throughout his career, Rodrigue avoided mass-production, and turned down numerous projects that came his way. However, he accepted a nine-month long campaign that combined the art of George Rodrigue, the technology of Xerox, and the advertising savvy of the New York agency Young & Rubicam in a worldwide promotion of Xerox Corporation’s new inkjet printers. Rodrigue created more than twenty canvases to be considered for the campaign, including Speed on Wheels, based on tag phrases such as “taking care of business”, “a smarter breed” and “a faster breed.”

Speed on Wheels
2000
Acrylic on canvas
48 x 36 inches
Now available at Rodrigue Studios

A young Andre Rodrigue visits with Tiffany, ...

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A young Andre Rodrigue visits with Tiffany, George

A young Andre Rodrigue visits with Tiffany, George’s original inspiration for his version of the Cajun legend of the Loup Garou that evolved into the Blue Dog series, at the family’s Lafayette, Louisiana home circa 1976 in this newly re-discovered archive photo. #tbt

Learn more about Tiffany in our Interactive Timeline on our website linked in bio.

We were saddened to hear of the recent passing of ...

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We were saddened to hear of the recent passing of

We were saddened to hear of the recent passing of Shirley Ann Grau. Grau, an author based in Metairie, Louisiana, won the 1965 Pulitzer Prize for her novel "The Keepers of the House," one of six novels and four collections of short stories she wrote during her career.

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 to the university. George photographed Grau at her home and painted the author's portrait for her 1983 lecture at the university.

Shirley Ann Grau
c.1983
Oil on canvas
40 x 30 in.
Private collection

"When you love someone, life before you knew ...

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"When you love someone, life before you knew that

"When you love someone, life before you knew that person becomes a distant, fuzzy memory that rarely surfaces unless someone asks you about it. Yet in the present that person becomes an inseparable part of every moment. You would never imagine a future without them."
- George Rodrigue

You See the Love Over Me
An original silkscreen by George Rodrigue
Painted 2013/Printed 2016
Numbered Edition of 450, including the Rodrigue Estate Stamp
20x30 inches

Available online at #linkinbio

Located in one of the most historic buildings in ...

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Located in one of the most historic buildings in t

Located in one of the most historic buildings in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Rodrigue Studios serves as a cultural hub where visitors can learn about George Rodrigue, his important role in documenting Cajun culture and the origins of his Blue Dog series.

Our modified gallery hours are Saturday & Sunday 12:00 - 4:00 or by appointment.

Photo by @gdouglasadamsphotography

Although the color blue dominated George ...

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Although the color blue dominated George Rodrigue’s later works, it was not as common in his early paintings of dark Louisiana landscapes and near-monochromatic scenes of Cajun folk-life.

The color first took a prominent place in his art in 1984, when Rodrigue painted the Loup-garou, and envisioned the scruffy fur of the mythical creature would take on a blue hue from the light emitted by a full moon. A similar emotion is conveyed in Say Goodnight to the Moon, where the night sky and the swirling moon that dominates the top third of the canvas surround the figure of the Blue Dog.

"There is a spiritual quality to blue. The dark night sky affects my mood and my paintings, replacing the earthy greens and browns of my early works. As I grow older my man expands. I suspend reality on my canvas with greater confidence, exploring not just the trees and grass, but also the mysterious and the mystical." — G.R.

Say Goodnight to the Moon
1995
Acrylic on linen
16 x 12 inches
Newly available at Rodrigue Studios. Learn more at #linkinbio

After painting oak tree filled landscapes for ...

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After painting oak tree filled landscapes for thre

After painting oak tree filled landscapes for three years, Rodrigue began to wonder what a person would look like that walked out from behind one of his trees. He decided they would be primitive, and timeless --- ghostlike, floating between the past and the present, caught by the trees, the land, and their heritage.

In 1971 he painted St. Peter’s College, New Iberia, Louisiana where he attended school as a child. Painted in the same manner as Aioli Dinner, Rodrigue’s first major work that included people, the composition is based on a photograph.

This painting is prominently featured within the book The Cajuns of George Rodrigue (1976, Oxmoor House), the first book published nationally on the Cajun culture. The landmark publication won numerous awards and was recommended by the National Endowment for the Arts to First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who chose it as an official White House Gift of State during President Carter’s administration. Rodrigue wrote alongside this painting in the book:

“These boys standing on a plank-walk above the halfway point on the canvas have a floating quality. They are in school, in a stage of movement, and perhaps this is what school is --- a short movement of time. So I have these school friends grouped together with the teacher on this suspended plank, moving in time and in the swamps of Louisiana.”

St. Peter’s College, New Iberia, Louisiana
1971
Oil on canvas
24x48 inches
On display and available at Rodrigue Studios New Orleans

Headline of George Rodrigue’s first major ...

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Headline of George Rodrigue’s first major review

Headline of George Rodrigue’s first major review, “Painter Makes Bayou Country Dreary Monotonous Place” via @theadvocatebr in 1970. After the 26 year old artist was initially crushed, Rodrigue’s mood soon changed when his show completely sold out and he discovered life long friends and collectors. Create what you love, believe in yourself and the public will respond #tbt

Did you discover George Rodrigue because of his ...

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Did you discover George Rodrigue because of his fi

Did you discover George Rodrigue because of his first "Blue Dog" book from 1994? Thanks to @thecanvasyoutube, a creator of Art History videos, for recently profiling the publication.

"Cajun artist George Rodrigue painted this blue dog many times and built a myth around it. Here's how I encountered this myth at my local used bookstore."

You can watch their entire video feature on their YouTube channel at #linkinbio👆

Over the years, George Rodrigue clung to this ...

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Over the years, George Rodrigue clung to this roma

Over the years, George Rodrigue clung to this romantic myth of the convict who wrote a waltz for the woman he loved, a faceless, blonde-haired Cajun beauty. From his first version in 1974, Rodrigue never abandoned the subject. The 1980s and 1990s saw continued portraits of Jolie Blonde in Cajun landscapes. Well into the 2000s and his Blue Dog Series, Rodrigue revisits Jolie Blonde, particularly within his late series, Bodies, in contemporary settings.

Don’t Leave Me, Jolie Blonde
1986 by George Rodrigue
Oil on canvas
24x20 inches
Available at Rodrigue Studios

For more than two decades, George Rodrigue ...

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For more than two decades, George Rodrigue combine

For more than two decades, George Rodrigue combined the landscape, people, and traditions of southwest Louisiana to create scenes both imaginary and honest. Through contrasting these concepts, as well as traditional elements of artistic style, he graphically interpreted the Cajun culture in a highly personal way. Rodrigue’s French-Cajun mother often recounted the legend of the loup-garou, a crazy wolf that frightened children into minding their parents. He first painted it in 1984, mimicking the shape of his deceased dog. Beneath a dark night sky, Rodrigue imagined the loup-garouas grey-blue in color.

Between 1984 and 1991, Rodrigue revisited the loup-garou, an image he invented, a dozen or more times, always within dark landscapes. The paintings did not stand out to him or to others. They existed exclusively as part of his Cajun Series. Then, in 1991, in a brave and bold step, an artist well established and famous within his genre broke free. He shocked himself, his collectors, and the world with the painting Loup-garou. It was his first painting in twenty-five years that did not include the Louisiana landscape. This commanding artwork changed everything, and heavily influenced this work, Changing Moods, painted in this same year when the true Blue Dog Series began.

“The Blue Dog, I realized, had to stand alone. With this image, I could take my art in a completely new direction. I could comment on life today. I could ask universal questions: ‘Where did I come from? Where am I going? What does it all mean?’ - George Rodrigue

Changing Moods
1991
Oil on canvas
14x11
Available and on display at Rodrigue Studios

George had a career-long passion for depicting ...

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George had a career-long passion for depicting asp

George had a career-long passion for depicting aspects of competitive sports, including horse racing, football, the Olympics, and even the Cajun card game, bourré.

In a private collection since Rodrigue painted it in 1982, Keg Arabians celebrates these magnificent horses with bright colors, music, and a lively, animated composition. At one point, the painting was featured on the cover of an auction catalogue for Arabian horses.

Keg Arabians
1982 by George Rodrigue
Oil on canvas
40 x 30
Available at Rodrigue Studios

"Being new and different in the modern world ...

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"Being new and different in the modern world is no

"Being new and different in the modern world is not an easy task." -G.R. #tbt

Pictured: George Rodrigue with "Dependence" (4 canvases, Private collection) in his Carmel, California studio, 2003.

"Last Night I Went Looking for Myself" ...

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"Last Night I Went Looking for Myself" 2007 by Geo

"Last Night I Went Looking for Myself" 2007 by George Rodrigue, Acrylic on linen, 24x20 inches.

Following the chaos of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, George Rodrigue’s Blue Dog entered a Dark Period. It was almost a year after the storm before George returned to his easel, and when he did, the fragmented, dark canvases indicated a strong departure from the controlled, deliberate, hard edge shapes of his earlier Blue Dog and Cajun works. These new paintings, also called The Dream Series, lack definition, as though the Blue Dog, just like the rest of George’s world, exploded into chaos and unpredictability.

Available at Rodrigue Studios.

Since his first Blue Dog silkscreens beginning in ...

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Since his first Blue Dog silkscreens beginning in

Since his first Blue Dog silkscreens beginning in 1990, the prints in most cases are unrelated to the paintings. In other words, most paintings are one-of-a-kind images without reproductions in any form, and most prints are original images, without a painting of origin. To put it as simply as possible: there are generally no paintings of the prints, and generally no prints of the paintings.

The Whole Year Was Blue
(2004)
Black Edition of 20
32 x 48 inches
Available at Rodrigue Studios.

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