Object Details
- Artist
- Gustave Blache III, born 1977
- Sitter
- Leah Chase, 6 Jan 1923 - 1 Jun 2019
- Exhibition Label
- Born Madisonville, Louisiana
- The undisputed “Queen of Creole Cuisine,” Leah Chase was a restaurateur and world-renowned chef who championed civil rights. After working as a server in “whites only” venues in New Orleans’s French Quarter, she married jazz musician Edgar “Dooky” Chase Jr. in 1946 and joined the family restaurant business.
- Defying segregation laws, Leah Chase seated both Black and white customers at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant. It was one of the few places in Jim Crow–era New Orleans where civil rights activists of all races could gather publicly to strategize. “In my dining room, we changed the course of America over a bowl of gumbo and some fried chicken,” Chase recalled.
- Later in her life, she advocated for the arts, an endeavor she considered an important part of her legacy. The artist Gustave Blache III, who often depicts people at work, documented Chase in the kitchen for a series of portraits.
- Nacida en Madisonville, Luisiana
- Indiscutida “reina de la cocina creole”, Leah Chase fue dueña de un restaurante, chef de fama internacional y defensora de los derechos civiles. Luego de trabajar como mesera en lugares “solo para blancos” en el Barrio Francés de Nueva Orleans, se casó con el músico de jazz Edgar “Dooky” Chase Jr. en 1946 y se integró a su restaurante familiar.
- Desafiando las leyes segregacionistas, Leah Chase recibía a clientes negros y blancos en el Dooky Chase’s Restaurant. Era uno de los pocos lugares de la época en Nueva Orleans donde activistas de todas las razas podían reunirse en público para discutir estrategias. “En mi comedor cambiamos el curso de Estados Unidos con gumbo y pollo frito”, recordó Chase.
- Más tarde fue propulsora de las artes, labor que consideraba parte importante de su legado. El artista Gustave Blache III, quien suele presentar a sus modelos trabajando, captó a Chase en la cocina como parte de una serie de retratos.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the artist in honor of Mr. Richard C. Colton, Jr.
- 2010
- Object number
- C/NPG.2011.144
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- © Gustave Blache III
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Dimensions
- Stretcher: 21.6 x 25.4cm (8 1/2 x 10")
- Frame: 37.1 x 43.8 x 3.8cm (14 5/8 x 17 1/4 x 1 1/2")
- Place
- United States\Louisiana\Orleans\New Orleans
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- 2025 Summer Rotations
- On View
- NPG, South Gallery 342
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Costume\Apron
- Container\Pot
- Home Furnishings\Dishes
- Equipment\Culinary Equipment\Kitchen utensil
- Food
- Interior\Kitchen
- Home Furnishings\Stove
- Container\Pot\Cooking
- Nature & Environment\Vegetable\Squash
- Costume\Headgear\Hat\Cap\Baseball cap
- Leah Chase: Female
- Leah Chase: Business and Finance\Tradesman\Culinary Arts\Chef
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_C_NPG.2011.144
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4571160f7-8497-4895-8c54-d7e47ebacf1e
