Week #9, Joss Papers, Final Works from 1991 I

Untitled (Blue, Purple and Orange), 1991, watercolor on paper, 6 ¼” x 5 ½”

Happy Mardi Gras to all!

As many revelers across the globe celebrate their unique cultural versions of Mardi Gras, or Carnaval, we hope you get to partake in their festivities as much, or as little, as you desire. Meanwhile, given our location here on the Coast we are currently bombarded with a visual overload of gold, purple and green, which represent the colors of the holiday.

As such, I thought it might be nice to share a version of these colors as they happen to beautifully come together in this small watercolor by Dusti Bongé. In fact, I would argue that her delicately executed version is infinitely more visually appealing than any of the other version you may see out and about.

These three colors first appeared in New Orleans Mardi Gras celebrations, quickly spreading all along the Gulf Coast, and have become emblematic. However, their history is a bit complicated. The colors first appeared in the first Rex parade in New Orleans in 1872. Believing that a king must have a kingdom, and a kingdom must have a flag, it was decided that the flag should be tricolor, like other great kingdoms' flags, and the colors of said flag would be purple, gold and green. Purple, of course, is the color of royalty and gold is also easily associated with all things regal. The choice of green is slightly more dubious, apparently it is one of five colors allowed on royal coats of arms. Then, in 1892, the colors actually acquired their official symbolic meaning. Purple Represents Justice. Green Represents Faith. Gold Represents Power. 

Dusti created this delicate watercolor work in 1991, the last year in which she produced artwork before her passing in 1993. All the works from this year are small watercolor jewels like this one. It is unlikely that she had Mardi Gras in mind at the time, but then again, she was a child of the Gulf Coast.

Please note that the Foundation will be closed today in observance of Mardi Gras.

It's a Gulf Coast thing.