Description:

George Rodrigue (American/Louisiana, 1944-2013), "Queen of the Rice Festival, Crowley, LA", 1976, oil on canvas, signed lower left, signed, titled, dated and inscribed en verso, titled, inscribed with "7601" and 3 "George Rodrigue Gallery" stamps on stretcher, 30 in. x 40 in., framed, overall 38 3/4 in. x 48 3/4 in. x 1 1/2. Provenance: Estate of a Louisiana Gentleman Collector. Ill.: Rodrigue, George. The Cajuns of George Rodrigue. Birmingham: Oxmoor House Inc., 1976, p. 35. Note: “We have rice festivals, sugarcane festivals, yambilee festivals, cotton, shrimp, and crawfish festivals. The young girls, one of whom is the queen, are decorating the farm wagon, a float for early festival parades. These festivals, a unique part of the heritage of the Cajun, provide good times among people who love each other.” – George Rodrigue in The Cajuns of George Rodrigue, 1976 George Rodrigue’s years in art school, first in Lafayette and then in Los Angeles, in the 1960s gave him a solid grounding in the techniques and theories of design, drawing and painting. The time away from his home in small New Iberia, Louisiana also provided him with an acute appreciation of the uniqueness of his Cajun heritage, triggering a sense of nostalgia and purpose. He realized the traditional ways of the Cajuns were vanishing into the modern world, and he made it his mission to capture it visually. In his words, he would “graphically interpret the Cajun culture on canvas,” breaking the traditional rules of art to do so. After three years of painting solely landscapes, Rodrigue began to incorporate people into his scenes, often inspired by his mother’s early photographs and local folklore. The Cajuns, the ones who walk out from behind the distinctive oak trees in a Rodrigue painting, are not hidden in the shadows of heavy branches and hanging moss. They are framed by the trees and foliage, their heads never touching the sky, and they shine with a mysterious light. They are cut out and pasted onto their landscape, just as the Acadians were displaced from Nova Scotia and inserted into South Louisiana. As Wendy Rodrigue states: “Most importantly, in every Rodrigue painting the Cajun people glow with their culture.” This trait is particularly poignant in the artist’s canvases from the mid-1970s, such as the endearing “Queen of the Rice Festival, Crowley, Louisiana” offered here. Festivals have long played a central role in society in Louisiana, and as Rodrigue describes when writing about this painting, they were an important part of life for the Cajuns. In this timeless scene, the queen and her court ride in a wagon decorated with magnolias as part of the Rice Festival in Crowley. Held in October each year, the Rice Festival (now International Rice Festival) is one of Louisiana’s oldest and largest agricultural festivals, first held in 1937 to honor the rice industry, its workers and “the grain that not only makes us a community but family.” “Queen of the Rice Festival, Crowley, Louisiana” is a magnificent example of Rodrigue’s early Cajun series, included in The Cajuns of George Rodrigue monograph of 1976, and one of his most quintessentially Louisiana subjects. The canvas perfectly encapsulates the artist’s carefully developed and modern interpretation of the Acadiana landscape which serves as the ideal setting for his enduring depictions of the Cajuns. Ref.: Rodrigue, George. The Cajuns of George Rodrigue. Birmingham: Oxmoor House, Inc., 1976; Rodrigue, Wendy. “The Aioli Dinner and a Cajun Artist.” Musings of an Artist's Wife. Life & Legacy Foundation & Art Tour. www.legacyarttour.org. Accessed August 6, 2024.

  • Provenance: Provenance: Estate of a Louisiana Gentleman Collector.
  • Literature: Ill.: Rodrigue, George. The Cajuns of George Rodrigue. Birmingham: Oxmoor House Inc., 1976, p. 35.
  • Condition: If Condition is NOT stated in the description of the lot; the absence of a condition report does not indicate the lot is free of damage or condition issues. Available Condition Reports will appear as an additional image. Condition Reports and photographs may be requested on items until the Wednesday prior to the auction. To REQUEST A CONDITION REPORT, email [email protected]. Requests are only taken and provided in writing. Bid accordingly. All sales are final, no returns are accepted on the basis of condition.

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September 20, 2024 11:00 AM CDT
New Orleans, LA, US

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