THE BIG EASY IN THE BIG APPLE. The AXA Gallery show The Big Easy In The Big Apple: Two Centuries of Art in Louisiana From The Battle Of New Orleans To Katrina is a concise survey of holdings from the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOLA), which suffered major physical and financial damage due to Hurricane Katrina.

Greeting you at the gallery is a friendly security guard as well as a work that might be called the pride of NOLA: Portrait of Estelle Musson Degas, painted by Edgar Degas during his sojourn in New Orleans. It was purchased by the museum with money raised through a local campaign.



EDGAR DEGAS
French, 1834–1917
Portrait of Estelle Musson Degas, 1872
Oil on canvas
New Orleans Museum of Art: Museum purchase through Public Subscription, 65.1
















The exhibit unfolds in roughly chronological order as you circle the gallery in a clockwise direction. It includes the following works.



HAROLD RUDOLPH
American, circa 1850–1883/4
Louisiana Bayou, circa 1873–77
Oil on canvas
New Orleans Museum of Art: Bequest of Eugene Lacoste, 15.92




















WILLIAM HENRY BUCK
American, born Norway, 1840–1888
Swamp Scene, 1887
Oil on canvas
New Orleans Museum of Art: Gift of Miss Mary Bell Swanson Mayer, 80.41













WALKER EVANS
American, 1903–1975
Barber Shop, New Orleans, 1935
Gelatin silver print, 1971
New Orleans Museum of Art: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Newman, 73.9.11

























CLARENCE JOHN LAUGHLIN
American, 1905–85
Untitled, (Black Boy against Wooden House), circa 1947
Gelatin silver print
New Orleans Museum of Art: Bequest of Clarence John Laughlin, 85.118.26

























DOUGLAS BOURGEOIS
American, born 1951
Safe and Sound, 2002
Oil on panel
New Orleans Museum of Art: Museum purchase, Robert P. Gordy Fund, 2002.291























The Big Easy in the Big Apple runs through May 20, Monday through Saturday. It's at Seventh Avenue and 51st Street. Bring a checkbook if you'd like to make a donation on the spot.