There is a mystique about the French Quarter. Traditionally, it is one of the few real bohemias in this generally utilitarian country. The Quarter has long been a favored haunt of artists, poets and writers—and just about everybody else who didn’t fit in. As recently as the early ’70s, it was a kind of colorful arts slum, and most of the major galleries were located there.
Now the Quarter is slicker and more touristy, and while some of the old scene still lingers, the major galleries are now located in the Warehouse District or along Magazine Street uptown, generally speaking. But there are some exceptions.
Yes, there are still some serious galleries scattered around the old French Quarter, and on a fine autumn day an ambulatory art tour can be a satisfying experience. Along with the real galleries containing real art, there are also a number of kitschy, touristy places. So what follows is a kind of brief guide to an admittedly arbitrary select few that will hopefully represent something of the best of the available range of offerings—especially focusing on contemporary and 20th century art.
A Gallery for Fine Photography, at 313 Royal Street, is the best photo gallery in the region and one of the best in the country. Located on three floors of a former townhouse, very contemporary as well as vintage and mid-century masters are featured. This place is like a photo history museum, with all the big names, and there is also a largish satellite gallery on Magazine Street, uptown.
There are a number of contemporary arts galleries in the Quarter that show mostly decorative or designer-oriented art. While a lot of this stuff is just fluff, there are some exceptions.
The Circle Gallery at 316 Royal Street offers a variety of contemporary decorative arts and jewelry on the main level. There is also an upstairs. On the second floor is a variety of optically-oriented art, including a selection by op-art masters such as Vaserely and Aglun, and in the adjacent room, animation art panels from the great cartoons, from Betty Boop to Daffy Duck.
Up the street a block, the Hanson Gallery at 229 Royal, offers a mixture of designer-decorative art (Peter Max is a staple here) and some more involved and psychological work by artists such as Adrian Deckbar, among others.
The Hall-Barnett Gallery, at 320 Exchange Alley (half a block toward the river from Royal Street), is a unique place offering a wide range of mostly local and emerging artists, work that is serious but fun. Unlike any other gallery, and the prices are reasonable. Another place featuring local and emergent artists is the Miriam Walmsly Gallery at 201 South Peters (near the river). An attractive, airy space, artists such as Eric Longo and Bunny Matthews will be featured through most of the month.
Cajun artist George Rodrigue is known for his sophisticated-primitive paintings of Acadian and other lifestyles from the hazy past, and has been exhibited far and wide (from Breaux Bridge to Moscow). The Rodrigue Gallery, at 721 Royal Street, is now open with a continuous ongoing exhibition of this artist’s colorful work. And across the street, the Bergen Gallery features perhaps the city’s best selection of posters.
The Posselt-Baker Gallery at 822 St. Peter Street features the Louisiana Creole-French-Caribbean influenced works of Malaika Favorite, through most of November, always an exotic, colorful experience. Equally exotic are the arts and crafts on view through the month at the Merrill-Domas Gallery, 824 Chartres Street, specializing in American Indian arts.
The Artist’s Showroom, at 612 Dumaine, in the same general area, features the work of Charles Richards through most of the month. The work in the first room is a bit effusive, but the early drawings of this veteran artist, on view in the back gallery, is primo, classic stuff.
So there you are. The places on our list all have something to distinguish them from the general run of galleries in the French Quarter. November is a fine time for an ambulatory art tour—on certain days, parts of the old Quarter take on magical qualities—so put on your walking shoes and wander.
