George Rodrigue (1944–2013), a key figure in American art, is celebrated for his Cajun-inspired works and iconic Blue Dog series, fusing regional identity with modernist and Pop Art influences. His sons, Jacques and André Rodrigue, warmly invite museum curators, directors, and scholars to collaborate on exhibitions exploring Rodrigue’s art historical significance. Access to the online
Catalogue Raisonné, documenting over 5,000 works, is available to support curatorial research and facilitate artwork loans. Contact
[email protected] to explore opportunities.
Rodrigue’s Mardi Gras Colors
December 16, 2025 – March 14, 2026
Right after Christmas, which is mostly white lights and silver bells, Mardi Gras season arrives full force, interrupting winter with a burst of color. These hues come from thousands of different costumes, masks, flags, floats, beads, and doubloons, all of which swirl around the three primary colors of purple, green and gold.
— George Rodrigue
This exhibition explores George Rodrigue’s lifelong fascination with the vivid pageantry of Mardi Gras—a celebration he experienced from his childhood in New Iberia to his later reigns as Mardi Gras King across Louisiana and beyond. Through lively paintings featuring carnival costumes, pageantry, oak trees, and the iconic Blue Dog, Rodrigue captures the spirit of a season defined by tradition, humor, spectacle, and a kaleidoscope of color. The Colors of Mardi Gras highlights the artist’s intimate connection to Carnival and reveals how its exuberance shaped his creative vision throughout his career.
Carnegie Visual Arts Center
207 Church Street, NE
Decatur, AL 35601
George Rodrigue: A Louisiana Cowboy
January 23 – April 4, 2026
The Louisiana Cowboy’s story blends creole, Cajun and Native American cultures. Yet for George Rodrigue, the narrative is only semi-historical, as in his monumental Louisiana Cowboys, a focal point of the exhibition. Although never a horseman, Rodrigue explored the romance of the cowboy’s journey, spanning history to Hollywood. His imagination paid tribute to the Cowboy and Native American cultures while inventing a new Louisiana cowboy, one that often starred himself as a young boy. As a result, this is less an exhibition steeped in history than it is a child’s fantasy, made real on his canvas and carried throughout his life.
The exhibition, curated by Dana Holland-Beickert, and organized by the George Rodrigue Life & Legacy Foundation with Wendy Rodrigue, includes 59 paintings, sculptures and mixed medias spanning Rodrigue’s early days as an art student to some of his most poignant works created in the last months of his life, including some works that have not been on public view since their creation.
Historic City Hall & Cultural Center
1001 Ryan Street
Lake Charles, LA 70601
Bayou Teche Museum
Rodrigue’s Artist Studio Re-Creation and the George Rodrigue Park Featured in the Artist’s Home Town
Ongoing
The Bayou Teche Museum presents a re-creation of George Rodrigue’s Carmel, CA studio space, complete with the artist’s easel and unfinished painting, and the plywood floor, splattered with paint. Artifacts and memorabilia from his youth, including his Boy Scout days in New Iberia and early student work paintings from his private collection, are included in the installation.
Additionally, the George Rodrigue Park adjacent to the museum features a three-sided Blue Dog sculpture standing over six feet tall.