The Blue Dog
The Blue Pig
About the Artists:
Name: George Rodrigue
(1944-2013)
Born: New Iberia, LA in the heart of French Louisiana.
Name: Capt. Xavier Fronius, USN, Retired
(1921-2013)
Born: Palenburg, OH — just a ways upstream from Cincinnati on the Ohio River.
Family History:
Grew up surrounded by the myriad myths and legends of the unique and colorful heritage and folklore of of his families Cajun heritage.
Immersed in swine history and folklore from an early age, as family worked for generations as “killers and gutters” in the pig processing industry of Porkopolis.
Education:
University of Southwest Louisiana and the Art Center College of Design; Los Angeles, CA, USA.
US Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, USA.
Accomplishments:
Today, the Blue Dog hangs in the homes of Tom Brokaw, Whoopi Goldberg, Harry Connick Jr., and Hillary Clinton, and was even featured on the set of NBC’s hit sitcom Friends. Blue Dog is for sale at personal galleries in New Orleans and Carmel, California and did stints as both the advertising icon for Absolut Vodka and a pitchpooch for the ill–fated $200 million ad campaign by Xerox for their inkjet printers.
‘Cap’ is the owner/creator of the Roadkill Carpet Co. — door mats, throw rugs and wall–to–wall carpet depicting realistic scenes of animal roadkill on highways. Recent patterns include:
1) African Safari IV —
Sacred Cows of the Masi
2) Urban Idiom V —
White Miniature Poodles
3) Before the Wheel I —
Mammoth Stampede
Quote:
“Over the past decade, I’ve discovered that I simply cannot not paint Blue Dog. Painting her has become as natural to me as eating and sleeping. I have become Blue Dog Man because I can never separate myself from her. Blue Dog, I’ve discovered, has become the story of my life.’
“I been haunted my whole life by dreams ‘n visions of this damn Blue Pig… Probably ’cause a’ how I couldn’t ever stand ta’ think about all my family fer generations havin’ been hog slaughters. I needed an exorcism and I decided ta’ paint the pig jis like I saw it, sort’a bring it into reality and then say ‘Shoo!’ “
Editor’s Note:
My pal ‘Cap’ donated his painting of the Blue Pig to the Porkopolis Art Museum many years ago and it is a perennial favorite among the staff and visitors. The striking similarities between Cap’s pig and The Blue Dog first attracted my attention in 2001 during a vacation to New Orleans.
Actual Littermate status here is rather doubtful, as Cap assures me that he completed his painting of the Blue Pig in 1967 — long before the 1984 birth of George Rodrigue’s first Blue Dog.
The pig painting of Capt. Xavier Fronius is on display in the Art Museum. The Blue Dog image is the copyrighted property of George Rodrigue. Check him out at: www.georgerodrigue.com.