Second Painting From Gustave Blache III’s Leah
Chase Series Acquired by Smithsonian
Published |
January 2015
The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, D.C., has acquired Leah Red Coat Stirring (Sketch), an
original oil painting by artist Gustave Blache III. It is the second
painting from the Leah Chase: Paintings
by Gustave Blache III series to be acquired by the Smithsonian Institution,
the world’s largest museum and research complex.
In 2011,
the National Portrait Gallery
acquired Cutting Squash, an iconic
oil painting depicting legendary New Orleans chef Leah Chase working in her
kitchen. Cutting Squash is currently
installed and part of the permanent collection exhibition “Recent Acquisitions” on view at the National
Portrait Gallery from November 7, 2014, through November 11, 2015. In 2013, the
NMAAHC acquired for their permanent collection Self Portrait with Checkered Scarf, an original oil painting by
Blache. The NMAAHC is presently scheduled to open on the Mall in 2015 and will
become the repository of one of the most comprehensive collections of the
African American experience anywhere.
Raised in
New Orleans, Blache graduated from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. He
received his B.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts in Savannah, Ga., and his
M.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts in New York. Blache has been included in
fine art exhibitions with artists as diverse as Edgar Degas, Pierre Auguste
Renoir, Mary Cassatt, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol and
Jean-Michel Basquiat. Blache is featured in “Colored Frames”, a documentary
that PBS broadcasted nationally. In 2012, the New Orleans Museum of Art
presented the one-man exhibition, Leah
Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blache III which depicted the behind the scenes
of Chef Leah Chase in the kitchen of world renowned Dooky Chase’s Restaurant.
Regarding
the latest Smithsonian acquisition, Blache says “I was initially contacted by
internist Alexandria Van Haute from the Smithsonian on behalf of research
specialist Nicole Green and museum curator Dr. Joanne Hyppolite with interest
in acquiring a painting from the series for their permanent collection. The
Smithsonian specifically wanted a painting of Mrs. Chase in a red coat. The
painting would accompany a permanent installation of artifacts from Dooky Chase’s
Restaurant that centered on community. What will be on display is Chase’s
signature red coat along with other objects from the restaurant. I originally
kept the painting Leah Stirring Red Coat
for myself as a memento from the series but when the museum came calling I had
to make it available to them. All the other paintings from the series had
previously sold but this one because I never made it available to the public
even though it exhibited with the others in 2012 at the New Orleans Museum of
Art. Dr. Hyppolite and (Nicole) Green visited Brooklyn to see the Leah sketch
in person at the end of the summer and seemed eager to have it as a part of the
Smithsonian’s permanent collection. I got the wonderful news in November that
the painting passed committee; and I was very excited and thrilled. It was
great news for Mrs. Chase, the Chase Family and the city of New Orleans—her
second image in the Smithsonian Institution, Cutting Squash and now this one.”
Blache
says he has had no recent exhibitions since the show at the New Orleans Museum
of Art in 2012 but is currently working on a new series that he is really
excited about.
“I’m not
allowed to share what it is just yet but I can say it is a New York inspired
subject,” he says.
Asked
about plans for the future he says that in addition to the series he is working
with The Artist Book Foundation to produce his first
monograph, Gustave Blache III: A Work in Process. It’s scheduled for release in
the fall of 2016.
Blache
states, “The monograph will chronicle my career to this point, particularly
highlighting my early career and studies in Savannah and in New York, but
ultimately it will focus on my past series that document important and
overlooked processes of individuals whose labors go unrecognized. Series like
the Curtain Cleaners, Mop Makers, and Leah Chase will now be reviewed along with the new series I’m
working on now. The Self Portraits
that I’ve painted from 2000-2008 will also be detailed in the monograph. We
have a great group of scholars from various museums contributing to the
catalogue, and I’m interested to see what the final product will look like when
it’s all completed.”
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