George Rodrigue

George Rodrigue. . , Born and raised in New Iberia, George Rodrigue (1944-2013) was best known for his Blue Dog paintings, which catapulted him to worldwide fame in the early 1990s. He often said, "if I wasn't from New Iberia, I probably would never have painted in the first place.", After returning home from studying art in Los Angeles in the 1960s. Rodrigue began his career as an artist focused on visually interpreting the rich culture of his Cajun ancestors. His early works captured what he saw as the true spirit of Louisiana-dark and mysterious swamps, watery bayous, haunting cemeteries, and eventually, the inclusion of Cajun people., In 1984, the artist was tasked with illustrating a book of Cajun ghost stories, which included the legend of the Loup-garou, a mythical werewolf dog. Rodrigue drew inspiration from a photograph of his dog. Tiffany, and continued to paint the dog over the years, placing her in cemeteries, bayous, and alongside live oak trees., Prior to 2008, the Blue Dog existed only in two-dimensional form, until the artist found a way to present it as a three-sided design, eliminating the necessity of a backside. The sculpture in the park joins a small selection of his public sculptures on Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Metairie, at the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden in New Orleans and in Rosemary Beach, Florida., Rodrigue passed away on December 14, 2013. His hometown honors his memory with this lasting tribute and with his last studio exhibit at the Bayou Teche Museum (131 E. Main St, New Iberia).