Before George Rodrigue's Blue Dog paintings catapulted him to international fame, the artist was already known for his dark, often ghostly, depictions of the Cajun landscape, culture, and people. A native of New Iberia, Rodrigue attended art school in Los Angeles and returned to the region with a new appreciation of its distinctiveness. “Each time I'd come back to Louisiana, I'd see something different that I hadn't noticed growing up,” Rodrigue explained, “I saw all this stuff leaving us, things I wanted to capture in the Cajun country, and so I decided to call myself a Cajun artist."

While his artistic vision was undeniably unique, Rodrigue’s interest in his Cajun roots was part of the Cajun Revival, a broader cultural movement that began in the 1960s. This revival not only increased ethnic pride among Cajuns but also inspired a new interest in Acadian food, music, and culture outside the region. Rodrigue: Before the Blue Dog explores how the artist’s work reflected and advanced this movement.