CAROLINE DURIEUX

Caroline Wogan Durieux was born into a large Creole family in New Orleans just before the turn of the 20th Century. In 1913, Caroline enrolled at Newcomb College in New Orleans and studied with Ellsworth Woodward. Upon completion of her studies at Newcomb, she obtained a scholarship to the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts in 1917. Caroline had acquired a great deal of training at both schools, but she did not meet success until after she moved to Mexico City in 1926 with her new husband, New Orleans exporter, Pierre Durieux.

In Mexico, Caroline met and worked with the Mexican Muralists, gaining their respect as an accomplished an unique artist. In 1931, she was urged by an art dealer to make lithographs of some of her satirical drawings. Initially she was doubtful, but by 1935, Caroline's satirical lithographs were being exhibited all around the city and drawing much attention, especially by Diego Rivera, who painted a portrait of Caroline in 1929 (on display at LSU's Tower Museum).

The Durieux's returned to Louisiana the next year where she found plenty of inspiration for her satire, ranging from Mardi Gras and Bourbon Street to the New Orleans aristocracy and clergy. Many of her best lithographs were published in Richard Cox's 1977 book, Caroline Durieux: Lithographs of the Thirties and Forties, which has recently sold at auction for up to $300.

From 1938 to 1943, Caroline served as director for the Federal Art Project for Louisiana and then became a professor of art at LSU, retiring in 1964. At LSU, she developed the electron print (utilizing radioactive ink) with the Department of Nuclear Science in the 1950's and continued to produce beautiful, more abstract lithographs. The Women's Caucus for Art recognized her with national honors in the 1980's, and her work continues to be sought after by collectors of Louisiana art