George Rodrigue: A Cajun Artist
Penguin rolls out the lavish art book carpet for latter-day fauvist Rodrigue, whose vision of a beloved pet brought him fame and fortune. The animal was a dog that Rodrigue always paints a rich blue; it gazes from the canvas with beseeching yellow eyes that Rodrigue says implore help in bringing rest to its wandering spirit. Feel-good guru John Bradshaw compares the blue dog to Faust, the Flying Dutchman, and the Wandering Jew in his introduction to this album, which also features portraiture and landscapes reflective of Rodrigue's Cajun Louisiana roots. The progression of blue dog paintings suggests that Rodrigue has grown sardonic, or at least wittier, about his icon. The landscapes and portraits bespeak his links to Warhol, nineteenth-century formal photography, Van Gogh, so-called primitive or naive painters, and the twentieth-century obsession with repetition (a Rodrigue nearly always emerges out of pitch-black surroundings, features a massive oak tree midground, and is backlit by a moody sky). The more you look, the better they look.Ray Olson