In the early 1990s, a couple visiting New Orleans from Munich, Germany, came across George Rodrigue’s gallery on Royal Street. Immediately, they became enamored with the paintings of blue dogs in the gallery. The blue dog reminded them of their own dog, Tipo. Not long after their New Orleans visit, the couple commissioned a painting from Rodrigue. The artist named the work Hiding From Tipo in honor of their dog.
Hiding From Tipo is the first painting Rodrigue sold in Munich. He would go on to open a gallery in the German city that helped establish his artistic reputation in Europe more broadly.
Hiding From Tipo shows the blue dog with a blanket over its head, a visual motif Rodrigue returned to in his paintings and printwork. The motif draws inspiration from the artist’s real-life studio dog, Tiffany. Although Tiffany passed away before Rodrigue began painting blue dogs, he often pulled from his memories of the dog to create his work. The blue dog blanket motif comes from a memory of Tiffany peaking out from underneath a blanket. Rodrigue balances this composition with blocks of color, including purple, pink, brown, and black, each making up an element of the domestic interior that contains the blue dog.
This commissioned painting is available in the US for the first time, after being held in a private German collection for 33 years.
In the early 1990s, a couple visiting New Orleans from Munich, Germany, came across George Rodrigue’s gallery on Royal Street. Immediately, they became enamored with the paintings of blue dogs in the gallery. The blue dog reminded them of their own dog, Tipo. Not long after their New Orleans visit, the couple commissioned a painting from Rodrigue. The artist named the work Hiding From Tipo in honor of their dog.
Hiding From Tipo is the first painting Rodrigue sold in Munich. He would go on to open a gallery in the German city that helped establish his artistic reputation in Europe more broadly.
Hiding From Tipo shows the blue dog with a blanket over its head, a visual motif Rodrigue returned to in his paintings and printwork. The motif draws inspiration from the artist’s real-life studio dog, Tiffany. Although Tiffany passed away before Rodrigue began painting blue dogs, he often pulled from his memories of the dog to create his work. The blue dog blanket motif comes from a memory of Tiffany peaking out from underneath a blanket. Rodrigue balances this composition with blocks of color, including purple, pink, brown, and black, each making up an element of the domestic interior that contains the blue dog.
This commissioned painting is available in the US for the first time, after being held in a private German collection for 33 years.