Gustave Blache III

BREAKING NEWS: The Times-
Picayune names Leah Chase:
Paintings by Gustave Blache III,
No. 1 Exhibition of 2012!

"In 2012, a membership at the New Orleans Museum of Art paid off especially well. Of the 10 art experiences I recall most fondly, four took place at the 101-year-old City Park institution. That includes my No. 1 pick, "Leah Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blache III," a series of 20 intimate portraits of the legendary lady who presides over the kitchen and dining room of Dooky Chase restaurant. There were certainly bigger shows in 2012, but from the city's point of view none more important. In this touching April 23 to Sept. 9 exhibit, New Orleans native and NOCCA graduate Gus Blache captured the intimate, unglamorous authenticity of an 89-year-old chef Chase at work." Doug MacCash, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune, December 24, 2012. Click here to read more.>>

The exhibition Leah Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blache III, which features the Dooky Chase Restaurant series, beautifully illustrates Blache’s true-to-life documentation of a quintessentially New Orleans landmark. Leah Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blache III [Hardcover]. Hudson Hills Press (July 16, 2012); E. John Bullard (Author), A.P. Tureaud (Author), Richard Anthony Lewis (Author), Michael Quick (Introduction), Miranda Lash (Foreword). Click here to order your copy on Amazon.>>

"The majority of NOMA’s artwork is universally recognized, focusing on collections of American, French, African and Japanese art. The two most recent exhibits, however, encompass the New Orleans culture: “Leah Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blache III” and “Ralston Crawford and Jazz,” which the museum has featured since April and June, respectively. . . Blache’s use of his artistic ability to showcase Chase may be the most interesting feature of this artist’s collection. Through his color choice and attention to detail, Blache allows for the texture of certain objects to become visible, which photographs usually have a difficult time depicting." Kate Howie, The Tulane Hullabaloo, August 24, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"This week we have a selection from Leah Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blache III, a New Orleans Museum of Art exhibit that will soon head to the nation's capitol for inclusion in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution." Diane Mack, WWNO, Inside The Arts, August 14, 2012. Click here to listen the entire interview.>>

"Tireless and talented chef Leah Chase was honored at the New Orleans Museum of Art as the inspiration for the exhibit, Leah Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blache III...." Nell Nolan, The Times-Picayune, June 25, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"There's a lot of Creole cooking on display at the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) (1 Collins Diboll Circle, 658-4100; www.noma.org), at least as long as the exhibit Leah Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blache III, is on exhibit. But there's also Cafe NOMA, the eatery that restaurateur Ralph Brennan operates in the museum, and this cafe is now featuring a series of cooking classes each Friday. In fact, Leah Chase herself will be part of the series for a few sessions in July and August...." Gambit, June 12, 2012 Click here to read the entire article.>>

"On a balmy April evening, an exhibit of new oil paintings by young New Orleans artist, Gus Blache III opened at the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA). Culinary icon Leah Chase served as the artist's muse in Blache's depiction of a behind-the-scenes look at the everyday life at Chase's Dooky Chase restaurant..." Poppy Tooker, Zester, May 29, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"...In April, the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) honored her at a gala which simultaneously served as the debut for an exhibit of paintings of Chase by Gustave Blache III, a New Orleans-born artist now living in Brooklyn, N.Y., and as a fundraiser for NOMA's new Leah Chase Art Purchase Fund, which will help the museum acquire more works by African-American artists. The museum was packed for the gala, which Chase insisted be held on a Monday night to accommodate the work schedules of her restaurant industry friends...." Ian McNulty, Gambit, May 22, 2012 Click here to read the entire article.>>

"...The New Orleans Museum of Art's current featured exhibit on view through Sept. 9, 2012 is a painting series of our own culinary goddess by local painter Gustave Blache III. Each image, composed in situ as she leans over some intense recipe, with trademark pink baseball cap on top of her head, frankly makes me hungry. But beyond the typical self-loving images New Orleanians appreciate, Blache's portraits capture a couple of other ideas that are often overlooked when considering Chase's achievements. First off, there are images of guests enjoying their meal in the restaurant...." Mikko, GONOLA.com, May 2, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"On Monday evening upon entering the Great Hall of the New Orleans Museum of Art, a buzzing crowd surrounded a New Orleans legend. Hundreds of friends, family, fans, and art lovers alike gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of Chef Leah Chase, a New Orleanian like no other. Amongst music, food (which she provided not surprisingly) drinks, and friends, both old and new, as well as an exquisite art exhibit of her in her legendary restaurant Dooky Chase by native New Orleanian Gustave Blache III, Chef Chase stood at the center of the Great Hall meeting, greeting, and welcoming all those who turned out for the dual purpose of celebrating her 90th birthday and establishing the Leah Chase Art Purchase Fund to acquire African American art work for the museum...." InthekNOwla.com, April 25, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"Here's Leah Chase and artist Gustave Blache III discussing the exhibition in her honor that opened at the New Orleans Museum of Art last night. Says the Dooky Chase restaurateur: "I'm not glamorous, and there's nothing glamorous about a kitchen. It gets glamorous when it gets to the dining room." Alexander Hancock, EATER, April 24, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"It's unusual for the New Orleans Museum of Art to schedule a gala on a Monday night, but that's the way chef Leah Chase wanted it. After all, most of her restaurant-world colleagues are off on Mondays, so they more easily could attend the party celebrating her 90th year (she was born Jan. 6, 1923) and the debut of "Leah Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blache III, " a series of 20 intimate portraits of the legendary lady behind Dooky Chase restaurant...." Doug MacCash, The Times-Picayune, April 23, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

Watch as Chef Leah Chase and artist Gustave Blache III discuss the New Orleans Museum of Art exhibition of Blache’s intimate paintings of Chase at work in the kitchen of renowned Dooky Chase restaurant. Doug MacCash, The Times-Picayune, April 22, 2012. Click here to see the entire Video - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com.>>

The museum opens a new exhibit on Monday called "Leah Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blache III." It spotlights the talented and tireless chef and Blache's personal mission to capture a behind-the-scenes look of Chase at work. Chase and Blache were in the studio on Friday with more information." WWLTV, April 20, 2012. Click here to see the entire interview with Sally Ann Roberts.>>

"A New Orleans chef is being celebrated for her dedication to the city and her love of feeding people. An exhibit is set to kick off as Leah Chase turns 90 years old. "What I wanted to focus on primarily is behind-the-scenes aspect of what Ms. Chase does at the restaurant," artist Gustave Blache III said..." WDSU.com, April 20, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"Leah Chaser, co-owner and chef of Dooky Chase Restaurant, is one of the city's most beloved icons. To celebrate her and her many contributions to New Orleans, NOMA will host a gala preview of Leah Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blache III. In the exhibition, Blache investigates the chef in her environment at her famous restaurant...." Arts Quarterly, New Orleans Museum of Art, April, May, June 2012, pg. 8, Vol. 34, No. 2. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"Due to my schedule I won’t be able to be in New Orleans on Monday night, but if I was you better believe I’d be at the New Orleans Museum of Art Gala honoring Leah Chase. What can I say about Leah Chase? First and foremost, I consider her a great mentor and her contributions to the New Orleans community is beyond admirable. Monday night’s gala will unveil an exhibition of paintings by artist Gustave Blache III, intimate moments he captured of Leah stirring at the stove, greeting restaurant guests, even ordering supplies...." Marcus Samuelson, April 20, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"... Blache spent countless hours sketching and photographing Chase at her restaurant, capturing the intimate moments that form the subject of his finished portraits. The exhibition provides an authentic view into Chase’s life’s work. “Cutting Squash,” featured in the exhibition, was recently acquired by the National Portrait Gallery. ...." Blacks Give Back, April 19, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

Listen to Poppy Tooker’s interview of Gustave Blache III on Louisiana Eats! with Poppy Tooker – April 18, 2012. Click here to listen to the entire interview.>>

"...Chase, 89, remains a constant presence in the dining room and kitchen of Dooky Chase. That's where artist Gustave Blache observed her for a series of 20 portraits to be featured at the exhibit. One work titled Cutting Squash was recently acquired by the National Portrait Gallery...."Gambit, April 17, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

Steppin’ Out, hosted by Peggy Scott Laborde, guest Poppy Tooker, Alan Smason, Jessica Hartman and Ben Sandmel – April 13, 2012. Click here to see Steppin’ Out.>>

A legacy shared in paintings and on plates - "...Chase, who turns 90 this year, remains a constant presence in the dining room and kitchen of Dooky Chase Restaurant. That’s where artist Gustave Blache studied her for a series of portraits to be featured at the exhibit, in a hall that has been painted red to match Dooky Chase’s main dining rooms no less. One of Blache’s works from this series, titled “Cutting Squash” and showing Chase doing the same, was recently acquired by the National Portrait Gallery..." Ian McNulty, Gambit, April 11, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"... The exhibit, titled "Leah Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blache III," depicts Chase in a wide variety of un-posed vignettes. She is seen stirring her stirring culinary concoctions, ordering supplies, greeting restaurant guests and engaged in a wide variety of other activities at the establishment, many of which show her in her signature pink baseball cap. The exhibit honors Chef Chase for her lifelong dedication to the culinary arts and to the betterment of her community. There are 20 paintings in the series, all created by New Orleans artist Gustave Blache III and on view in NOMA's second floor Louisiana Galleries....."Neworleansonline.com, April, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"...Rarely do I plan an outing for a Monday evening but on April 23 I am heading to the New Orleans Museum of Art for a gala honoring Mrs. Leah Chase, one of my heroes. The gala will celebrate Mrs. Chase's 90th year and inaugurate the Leah Chase Art Purchase Fund for the acquisition of works of art by African American artists for the museum. As a long time patron of the arts it is only fitting that Mrs. Chase is now the subject of an exhibition, “Leah Chase: Paintings by Gustave Blache III,” which will also be unveiled that evening. ...." jylbenson, Louisiana Kitchen, April 6, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"...In honor of Leah’s longstanding contributions to the city of New Orleans, Gustave Blache III features this talented and tireless chef in his intimate painting series of 20 works. Blache, a New Orleans-raised artist, aims to capture a behind-the-scenes view of the restaurant business....." Mikko Neworleanslocal.com, April 5, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"...Join New Orleans Cadillac Dealers this Spring for a special presentation of Leah Chase’s exhibition at the New Orleans Museum of Art. There will be a preview at the Gala on Monday, April 23, 2012 from6 p.m. – 8 p.m. to celebrate Leah Chase’s 90th birthday...." New Orleans Cadillac Dealers, April, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"Beginning April 23, Leah Chase, the 90-year-old chef at Dooky Chase Restaurant, will be the subject of a four and a half-month exhibit at the New Orleans Museum of Art in City Park. The exhibit will feature 20 paintings of Mrs. Chase in her restaurant by Gustave Blache III, a New Orleans arrtist. The museum says Blache has captured " an authentic presentation of one of New Orleans most important icons." He has painted her "behind the scenes" in her restaurant, "stirring her concoctions, ordering supplies, and greeting restaurant guests...." Examiner.com, March 29, 2012. Click here to see the entire interview.>>

"‘Delightful’ doesn't seem quite enough to describe Leah Chase, who's been cooking away at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant for the past 66 years. Personally, I'd add ‘witty,’ ‘humble,’ definitely ‘hard-working’ and I’d even throw in ‘sassy.’ The 89 year old recounts the first time she saw her portrait. “Oh lord, I look at my rear end about this wide and I said Gus, you’re gonna cut some off with that brush, cut it a little smaller! But he did me. It is absolutely me!” That painting is on exhibit in Washington D.C.’s National Portrait Gallery. It’s another incredible honor for a woman whose list of accolades and accomplishments is about a mile long...." Anne Culter, WGNO, News With a Twist, March 19, 2012. Click here to see the entire interview.>>

"The Painter and the Chef" - Artist Gustave Blache III portrays restauranteur Leah Chase in her element." John R. Kemp, Louisiana Cultural Vistas, Spring 2012, p. 10. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"At the famed Dooky Chase Restaurant, where veterans of the civil rights movement still recall making plans to change the world over bowls of gumbo, black and white foodies now line up for Leah Chase's Creole cooking. Back before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, however, some customers had to enter discreetly and meet secretly....." Mary Foster, The Associated Press, March 3, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"...Chase fed more than political elite. In a time when "African Americans or Creoles of color did not eat out," Dooky Chase gave its down-and-out neighborhood a symbol of dignity, a place where people of color could eat at tables set with linens and china. And at a time when museums were off limits to the black community and when black artists had little standing in the art world, Chase began collecting and displaying African American art at Dooky Chase. Her collection and pioneering spirit earned her a post, the first ever for a black person, on the board of the New Orleans Museum of Art. The institution (also host to StarChefs.com 2012 New Orleans Rising Stars Gala), in turn, is honoring Chase next month with an exhibition featuring paintings of Chase by Gustave Blache III...." StarChef, March, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"...The city of New Orleans celebrated her 90th year (actually it’s her 89th birthday) on King’s Day – Jan. 6 at Gallier Hall with Mayor Mitch Landrieu presenting her flowers. And from April 24-Sept. 9, a “behind-the-scenes” look of Chase in the restaurant kitchen in an art exhibit by New Orleans-born Gustave Blache III will be displayed at the New Orleans Museum of Art. One of the paintings was selected to hang in the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C...." Clarion Herald, February 23, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"With apologies to the wives of New Orleans mayors, the near-unanimous choice for first lady of the Crescent City should be Leah Chase, a civic leader whose famous restaurant has been a landmark on Orleans Avenue for more than 70 years. Now, her likeness has been added to the Smithsonian Institution’s collection of famous American portraits. She is cutting squash for the lunch rush, in a painting by artist Gustave Blache III.The 34-year-old artist’s painting will be part of the collection at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington. It’s an appropriate honor for the matron of Dooky Chase, but it’s also a bit of homage to the culinary traditions of one of the world’s great cities for eating." Our Views, The Advocate, February 19, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"The National Portrait Gallery tells the history of America through individuals who have shaped its culture. It is only right and fitting that a portrait of Leah Chase working in her kitchen (painted by Gustave Blache III) will join the NPG's permanent collection." Southern Foodways Alliance, February 10, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"The honors keep coming for Leah Chase, owner of the iconic Treme restaurant Dooky Chase. The latest: her portrait now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, an arm of Washington D.C.'s Smithsonian Institute. The painting comes from a series of 20 paintings by artist Gustave Blache III that depicts various back-of-house activities at Dooky Chase." Alexander Hancock, EATER, February 8, 2012. Click here to read the entire article.>>

"An intimate, candid painting of chef Leah Chase absorbed in slicing yellow squash in the kitchen as she prepares for the lunch rush at Dooky Chase restaurant has been added to the collection of iconic American images in the National Portrait Gallery, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The tiny painting, smaller than a leaf of notebook paper, is the work of artist Gustave Blache III, 34, who grew up in Gentilly and eastern New Orleans and now lives in Brooklyn..." Doug MacCash, The Times-Picayune -- February 7, 2012
Click here to read the entire article.>>

"The Chef Leah Chase exhibit at New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) by New Orleans-born artist Gustave Blache, III. . .showcase the life's work of one of New Orleans's most beloved chefs, art collectors and philanthropists. . .While most of the paintings are of Chef Chase working in the kitchen, the exhibit also has images depicting Chef Chase in the dining room and also images of other restaurant works and various restaurant patrons. One piece in the exhibit even shows Chef Chase and her grandson Dook in the kitchen. Another of the kitchen pieces entitled Stirring Squash was actually acquired by the National Portrait Gallery this year. . .Blache did a great job of capturing Chef Chase’s likeness." Addie K Martin, Culicurious. Click here to read the entire article.>>

COLORED FRAMES

A Visual Art Documentary

A Film by Lerone D. Wilson

February 2012

"The relationship between native artist Gustave Blache III and the legendary queen of Creole cuisine Leah Chase is that of two old friends; despite their (50-plus) year age difference. Perhaps it’s their artistic connection; a perfect mixture of visual and culinary art...." Kelly Parker The Louisiana Weekly, August 29, 2011. Click here to read the entire article.>>

On Exhibit, Nov 2010

Dooky Chase Restaurant >>

Works capturing Queen of Creole Cuisine, Leah Chase, behind the scenes in her kitchen at Dooky Chase Restaurant

Listen to Live Interview >>

Book Cover by Gustave Blache III

orginal oil painting

I Made My Boy Out of Poetry, Aberjhani
Washington Publications, 1998
Purchase book here >>

Gustave Blache III
A native of New Orleans, Gustave Blache III completed his BFA at the School of Visual Arts in Savannah, Georgia and his MFA at the School of Visual Arts here in New York City.
Gustave Blache III had his first solo exhibition in New York at the age of 24 at Island Weiss Gallery and has also shown along side artist Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, Reginald Marsh, Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol and other notable artists.

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

LEAH CHASE: PAINTINGS BY GUSTAVE BLACHE III

COLORED FRAMES

On Exhibit, Nov 2010

Book Cover by Gustave Blache III

Stirring Pot (Kitchen View)