Funeral honors Rodrigue: ‘Rest in peace, George, and pass a good time’ – video & photo gallery

Mike Hasten, Daily Advertiser, Dec. 20, 2013

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NEW ORLEANS — Amid the tears shed at the funeral of George Rodrigue on Thursday were far more laughs as family and friends celebrated his life at a funeral Mass.

Rodrigue, who gained worldwide recognition through his art, most notably his “Blue Dog” paintings, died Saturday after battling cancer. He was 69.

Even Archbishop Gregory Aymond, who officiated at the Mass at the St. Louis Cathedral, added a bit of levity when he said in his homily, “I believe he also offered God a Blue Dog painting.”

Former Gov. Kathleen Blanco spoke of Rodrigue’s life, throwing in personal remembrances. She told of how the artist recalled that her husband Raymond, who was his American history teacher at Catholic High School in New Iberia, “on a very rainy day kicked him out of class, telling him he was never going to amount to anything if he didn’t stop drawing all over everything.”

His classmates from Catholic High escorted his coffin into the Cathedral, carrying a small sign saying “Class of 1962” with a small picture of his trademark Blue Dog on it.

“Louisiana fell in love with George’s art because he created mirrors of the past that we could gaze into and see ourselves,” Blanco said. “In doing so, he taught us that we are people of value, worthy subjects of a fine new artist.”

After painting trees and later adding people doing ordinary things, Rodrigue was asked to illustrate a children’s book that featured a loup garou, a Cajun werewolf. He chose his family’s deceased pet, Tiffany, as a model and colored it blue. And the longer he kept painting his now-famous Blue Dog, the bluer it got.

Blue Dog went international and “Louisiana had to share George with the world,” she said. “With all of that acclaim, George never forgot his beginnings.”

Blanco said Rodrigue’s death “came far too soon. We were not ready to let him go…. It is a great loss for our state.”

She concluded her eulogy: “Rest in peace, George, and pass a good time.”

After the funeral, Rodrigue’s son Jacques, Gov. Bobby Jindal, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, New Orleans writer Clancy DuBos and John Bullard, director emeritus of the New Orleans Museum of Art, told of their contacts with Rodrigue.

Jacques said he and his brother Andre “cherished time together with him because we know someday it would be gone. I never thought it would be so soon.” Speaking for his family, he described his father as “the greatest man we have ever known.”

To Wendy, Rodrigue’s second wife, he said, “You made my dad’s life so complete,” and in his final days, “he smiled every time he saw you.”

The biggest void, he said, will be “his signature laugh,” and “no one can hold a candle to how he could deliver the punchline for a Boudreaux and Thibodeaux joke.”

Jindal said when the artist approached him about painting his portrait, “he promised it wouldn’t hurt.” The governor said that some time after that, he and his family were visiting the LSU Art Gallery in downtown Baton Rouge and he noticed that his daughter, Selia, had stopped to look at one of Rodrigue’s paintings.

“Our little girl is the artist in the family,” he said, and when he rounded the corner to find her, she was sitting on the floor sketching Rodrigue’s painting.

“George sat down with her,” he said, and gave her tips on how to improve her work. Then he flipped back a couple of pages and drew her a specialized Blue Dog.

“In a gallery filled with important people, George found time for a little girl,” he said.

Landrieu said Rodrigue and his art served as an ambassador for Louisiana and “no matter how revered he was in the world of art … he always remained a great husband and father and a great friend.”

DuBos said, “The truth is, George would not like anybody making a fuss over him.” He said the artist will be remembered not only for his painting but “his hallmark belly laugh and endless generosity.”

When Rodrigue first switched from commercial art to painting what he wanted, he traveled around trying to sell his paintings out of the back of his car. He sometimes traded art for food, DuBos said.

Rodrigue was an Eagle Scout and lived the motto, he said, contributing to the Red Cross more than $500,000 from the sale of a Blue Dog painting done after 9/11. He also donated paintings to supply funds for recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina and created the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts to fund scholarships for aspiring young artists.

Bullard said that he, like others in the “art establishment,” did not consider Rodrigue a serious artist — until he was in Paris in 2000 and saw Blue Dog billboards all over the city.

“Since the art establishment didn’t create George, it was reluctant to embrace him,” he said.

But after Katrina, the New Orleans Museum of Art opened a Rodrigue exhibit and raised $2.5 million for aid and arts organizations.

Rodrigue will be laid to rest at 1 p.m. today at Holy Family Cemetery in New Iberia, his hometown.