1040 MASS MoCA WAY

North Adams, MA 01247

Telephone: (413) 662-2111

The Sweat of Their Face: Portraying American Workers

November 3, 2017 - September 3, 2018

National Portrait Gallery 8th and F Streets, NW

Washington, DC

Telephone: (202) 633-8300

Click here for directions>>

"The Sweat of Their Face" combines art and social history with representations of American laborers across genres and centuries of art. Artists such as Winslow Homer, Dorothea Lange, Elizabeth Catlett and Lewis Hine depict laborers throughout the changing landscape of America; from child and slave laborers to miners, railway and steel workers, to the modern gradual disappearance of the worker. Approximately 75 objects in all media (including video) highlight a point of connection between the artists and their predominately anonymous subjects.

Also included in the exhibition is Gustave Blache III's painting "Cutting Squash" depicting Chef Leah Chase in the kitchen of Dooky Chase's Restaurant.

Portraits of Who We Are

February 1, 2018 - May 18th, 2018
The David C. Driskell Center for the Study
Of The Visual Arts and Culture of African
Americans and the African Diaspora
1214 Cole Student Activities Building

University of Maryland

College Park, MD 2074
Telephone: (301) 314-2615

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION: “There have been relatively few exhibitions featuring self-portraits by African American artists; Portraits of Who We Are has been developed to address the ways in which African American artists portray themselves, their communities, and their culture at large. Self-portraits have become a fashionable staple of artistic practice and have a particular command on our attention as issues such as identity, modernity, and gender are considered within their cultural and historical contexts.” Also included in the exhibition is Gustave Blache III's painting “Self Portrait in Red with Orange Scarf,” 2008.”

Join The Pro Bono Project for the
29th Annual Justice For All Ball
September 15, 2017
Audubon Tea Room
6500 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA
8:00 pm – midnight

A limited edition of lithograph prints of Leah Chase's portrait, "Pouring Oysters" of which 100 will be signed by BOTH Gustave Blache III and Chef Leah are on sale the night of the JFAB. A portion of the proceeds will go to The Project. Unsigned copies will also be available. This is a unique chance for Ball attendees to acquire a one-of-a-kind original artwork and to also secure a signed copy of an iconic painting that has New Orleans ties.

Please join Legendary Chef Leah Chase and Gustave Blache III at Dooky Chase's Restaurant on Wednesday, September 13, 2017 at 1:30 p.m. as they sign and number the lithograph prints. Please Pre-Order to guarantee you receive one! Each reproduction is 26 x 20 inches in size and priced at $375.00. All payments can be made through PayPal, Venmo, or Square.

"Although painter Gustave Blache III spends most of his time in New York City, his heart lies in fond memories of his development as an artist in New Orleans. Here he attended elementary school, high school, and NOCCA. In New Orleans, he has several works in the permanent collection of the McKenna Museum. He also had a major exhibition at the New Orleans Museum of Art of his series on Mrs. Leah Chase. This spring his work is available to fans, friends, and family at an important retrospective of his work titled, “A Work in Process: Paintings by Gustave Blache III”, in Baton Rouge at the Louisiana Art and Science Museum. The exhibition will continue at the Louisiana Art and Science Museum in the Main Gallery through June 4 and is made possible in part by Richard C. Colton, Jr... ” Dr. Sara Hollis, The New Orleans Tribune, 2017 May Issue.

"For the first exhibit to reflect his career’s work, artist Gustave Blache III felt coming home to Louisiana was the right fit...Blache spent much of his career using his artistic voice to call attention to those who normally work behind the scenes, painting portraits of curtain cleaners, mop makers and art conservationists. Museum visitors can expect to see this unique perspective at the exhibit, which also coincides with the Artist Book Foundation’s plans to publish Blache’s monograph this fall. The exhibit and monograph share the same name and span Blache’s career, from his graduate school work to his most recent series about the preservation work done at New York’s Simon Parkes Art Conservation, which debuts as part of the museum exhibit. . ." Meg Ryan, 225 Magazine, April 2, 2017.

"For artist Gustave Blache III, every painting tells a story -- It's Blache's paintings of Chase cutting up squash that many people will recognize, even if they don't know he painted it. The painting was added to the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery in 2012 and still hangs there. But most of the others in the series can be found through June 4 in the Louisiana Art & Science Museum's exhibit, "A Work in Process: Paintings by Gustave Blache III. . .” Robin Miller The Advocate, Baton Rouge, March 25, 2017.

"Today on Inside the Arts, conversation with New Orleans painter Gustave Blache III. His latest exhibit, A Work in Process, opens at the Louisiana Art and Science Museum in Baton Rouge. The acclaimed painter, who currently resides in New York, looks back on his 20 year career and includes a new series of works focusing on art conservation." Diane Mack, WWNO, Inside The Arts, March 9, 2017.

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - March 10, 2017, by Rick Portier, “When you think about art hanging in museums, you probably imagine grand vistas and larger than life portraits, but a new exhibit at the Louisiana Art and Science Museum (LASM) challenges that view of art. Through the eyes of New Orleans artist, Gustave Blache III, the mundane becomes beautiful. . . Rick Portier, BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB), March 10, 2017. 

"Edgar Degas drew the eyes of the world to New Orleans when he captured on canvas a scene from a Crescent City cotton office in 1873. Nearly a century and a half later, artist Gustave Blache III turned his attention to another New Orleans setting that’s equally ordinary and extraordinary—the kitchen of the famed restaurant Dooky Chase. His colorful oil portraits of Leah Chase tackling such mundane tasks as stirring a pot of gumbo and greeting restaurant guests will be part of a solo show of Blache’s work at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum beginning March 11. . ." Kelli Bozeman, inRegister, March, 2017.

A WORK IN PROCESS: PAINTINGS BY GUSTAVE BLACHE III

The exhibition highlights Blache's career and dedication to documenting the labor of those whose contributions have largely gone unnoticed. Over 60 works on display including mop makers, curtain cleaners, cooks, and Blache's newest series on Art Conservation.

This exhibition is made possible in part by Richard C. Colton.

Blache and Black on Art, Pilot premiered on 10/3/16 on BRIC TV

Gustave Blache III - Lil Lagniappe Monday - Fox 8 News, 9/26/16