George Rodrigue, Louisiana Trail Bridge, oil on canvas, 1971

George Rodrigue American/Louisiana, 1944-2013 "Louisiana Trail Bridge" oil on canvas 1971, signed and dated lower left, signed, titled, dated, inscribed "#141" and artist stamp on stretcher, framed. Provenance: Neal Auction, Sept. 15, 2018, lot 252. Note: From 1968 to 1971, George Rodrigue worked to refine his unique vision of Louisiana. The canvas from 1971 offered here is an important window into the development of the twenty-seven year old artist's style. Saturated in rich colors, Rodrigue's bayou is a carefully drafted composition dominated by the silhouetted oak tree in the background and the diagonal dark river or coulee in the foreground. The wood trail bridge for which the painting is named melds into the landscape, much like the artist's later Cajun figures. By the early 1970s, Rodrigue had begun to receive critical acclaim for his work. The Louisiana State Art Commission sponsored a Rodrigue exhibition at the Louisiana State Museum in the Old State Capitol in Baton Rouge in 1970, featuring seventy oak tree paintings. He also was the subject of a one-man exhibition at the Beaumont Art Museum, now the Museum of Southeast Texas, which opened to glowing reviews in August of 1971.

Estimate:$30,000

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