We hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during this time. Just to give you an update: The LSU Museum of Art will be having an exhibition soon titled Conspicuous: Satirical Works by Caroline Durieux once we reopen after this temporarily closure due to COVID-19. Limited in scope, this exhibition will focus on satirical lithographs produced in the 1930s and to the early 1950s.

Who is Caroline Durieux?

For an introduction, watch this great video below by WYES PBS New Orleans.

Why the title Conspicuous?

While studying at Newcomb College, Caroline Durieux was exposed to the now famous theories of Thorstein Veblen, who coined the term “conspicuous consumption.” Durieux closely observed the behaviors of bourgeois circles in the United States, Mexico, and France and found patterns of consumption and leisure united the upper classes. Caroline Durieux translated the quirky, conspicuous behaviors she observed in Louisiana and abroad into sketches—often drawn directly on the lithographic stone—to produce the prints included in this exhibition.

How to decipher a Durieux print:

Our curator Courtney Taylor examines Durieux’s print Beauty Salon below in this diagram. Check it out!

Using this example above will give you the tools to know which elements to look for when you view Durieux’s satirical works. We can’t wait to serve our patrons again, but in the meantime let the museum come to you. Be sure to follow us @lsumoa on Instagram and Facebook for updates on the museum and this exhibition, and to check out our online resources on our website (www.lsumoa.org).