 Paul A. Dufour |
Teiresias II |
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Paul Arthur Dufour died in Baton Rouge on September 6, 2008. His passing was marked by the awesome destruction visited on southern Louisiana by Hurricane Gus. Thanks to Gus, his funeral couldn’t even be scheduled until the 16th. I’ll leave this – Nature’s surreal, bombastic exclamation point to a life well lived – for you to ponder with your own measure of poetic license... As I sat in the pew at St. Aloysius Church during Paul’s funeral, his glorious Journey Window streaming sunshine from above, I couldn’t help but notice the diverse group of family, friends, fellow artists, teachers, and students who had gathered to celebrate Paul’s life. This reminded me that I “knew” only a small facet of the dazzling, intense, multidimensional gem that was Paul. There are many who can better recount his life from the unique perspectives of wife, son, daughter, grandchild, business partner, neighbor, friend, etc. The following comments are from the very limited perspective of one of Paul’s former (and forever) students. When I transferred to LSU in the Fall of 1973, I was required to take a color theory class. Several professors taught the course but, as luck would have it, I ended up in the one taught by a professor named Paul Dufour. To us students it was just “Paul” – right off the bat he warned us not to call him Professor Dufour. Among the many gifted teachers I had the good fortune to study with during my days in academia, Paul was the one who, in my mind, soars far above all the others. And it wasn’t simply a matter of the thorough, creative way he covered the course material or the technical virtuosity he imparted. Paul was one of the only people I have ever known who actually personify the overused term renaissance man. This was inescapable each day in his classes. Every classroom lecture or studio critique was such a multidisciplinary tour de force that we students commonly were suffering mental whiplash as we stumbled out of Paul’s classroom, heads awhirl. In the midst of one of Paul’s carefully planned, highly personalized Color Theory lectures, we never knew when we might be whisked off beyond fine arts into an aside on enlightenment philosophy, or greek mythology, or tautology and logic, or the latest developments in molecular biology, or existential conundra, or Eastern metaphysics, or cutting edge sports car design, or comparative religion, or the hydrology of the Mississippi River, or the fine-points of Aristotle’s’ Poetics, or perception vs. illusion vs. reality, or... whew! WOW! The survivors of Dufour’s Color Theory class were either relieved to have escaped with their lives, never to look back, or, like me, were relieved to have escaped with our lives, but exhilarated and inspired and wondering about taking another class with Paul. During that semester we all had heard about the storied, groundbreaking, and degree-conferring stained glass program Paul had founded within LSU’s Fine Arts Department. “Well”, I had been thinking, “if that’ll allow further studies with Paul, I’m going to apply” and, “besides, stained glass would probably be a cool thing to learn to anyway.” I remained in Paul’s stained glass program for the remainder of my four years at LSU. Often we would skip other classes in order to sit in on more of Paul’s spellbinding critiques of student efforts in stained glass. Paul’s intensity and often over-the-top-seeming demands of students derived from at least two main sources. Paul understood the importance of informed creativity and disciplined work habits – his own efforts in numerous media served as sparkling examples of the rewards of such focus and dedication. Paul never demanded more of his students than he demanded of himself (and, in retrospect, he probably never held us students to his own intimidating standards). After the dust settled, it was obvious that he was steadfastly on our side from his heart outward. Furthermore, Paul understood that soon we’d find very few handouts or freebies out in the “real” world we were about to enter. His demanding rigor and no-nonsense teaching methods were more than justified (and successful). Paul loved his students like a father. And, it is important to note that this entire classroom experience was leavened with humor ranging from sublime wit to sophomoric inanity. During those visits I never lost a somewhat awed, student-esque feeling of intimidation around Paul, the ever-present benchmark and standard against which I’ll always gauge my own career. Maybe that’s why Paul continues to exhort me – to demand just a little more – to push me further than I might otherwise go. As he would remind me: (1) I’ll never create a perfect stained glass window and, (2) I will never have a chance of even coming close if I don’t always remember (1). Even if one only considers Paul’s teaching efforts, the full breath and scope of his influence on so many lives is hard to fully grasp. And the ripples continue expanding outward! How lucky I was that day when the stars aligned and I was assigned to Paul’s class. Thank you Paul! Bravissimo! Well done!, |
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"I am complete space. - Paul Dufour
LSU MA Thesis: |
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From the Baton Rouge Advocate, September 8, 2008: Paul Arthur Dufour Paul Arthur Dufour, professor emeritus of art at LSU and founder of Dufour/Corso Studios, passed away Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008, at Baton Rouge General Medical Center following complications with pneumonia. He is survived by his beloved wife of 59 years, Rita McCue Dufour; son, Jay Zoel Dufour and wife Jamie; son, Paulo Dufour and wife Jo Ellen; daughter, Stephanie Dufour Dixon; grandchildren, Jay Phillip Dufour and wife Nicole, Shelby Dufour, Jacques Dufour, Marc Dufour, Elyse Dufour, Camille Dufour, Elizabeth Richardson, Alex Richardson, Jeannine Dixon and Melissa Dixon; great-grandchildren, Paul Dufour and Sophia Rodriquez; sister, Lucille Roddy; and brother, Philip Dufour. He was preceded in death by his parents, Jay Zoel and Beatrice Dufour; and daughter, Julia Dufour Richardson. Visitation at St. Aloysius Catholic Church on Monday, Sept. 15, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., with a rosary at 7:30 p.m. Visitation resumes at the church on Tuesday, Sept. 16, from 10 a.m. until Mass at 11 a.m. Paul was born on Aug. 31, 1922, in Manchester, N.H., where he spent his early life before entering the U.S. Navy in 1943. He served on active duty in World War II and received the World War II Victory Medal. Upon an honorable discharge, he enrolled at Yale University, receiving his bachelor's degree in studio arts in 1952. After teaching at St. John's University, he was hired to join the painting faculty at LSU in 1959, eventually starting the only stained glass school in the United States. While at LSU, he received several research grants and sabbaticals, including work/study in Italy and Japan. His strong commitment to education earned him the H.E. "Hub" Cotton Award for Faculty Excellence in 1970. In 1965, after receiving a commission to design the stained glass windows for the Bishop's Chapel for the Diocese of Baton Rouge, he founded Dufour Glass Studio, from which he retired as president in 1992. Although retired he remained active in the arts and served as consultant to the business until recently. Paul's work in the liturgical arts can be seen in numerous churches throughout the United States. His stained glass windows grace many of the churches in this region. Honoring a lifetime of devotion to creating art, his works are included in permanent public and private collections in the United States, Europe and Japan. Among his many awards are the 1999 Governor's Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contributions to the Arts, the 1995 Mayor-President's Award for Excellence in the Arts, the 1994 Excellence in Education Award from the Stained Glass Association of America and in 1988, he received a Hambidge Foundation Fellowship. Paul's professional memberships included the Educational Committee for the Stained Glass Association of America, the board of directors of the American Glass Guild and the Glass Art Society. He was a member of St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Baton Rouge and a founding member of the Baton Rouge Gallery Inc. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to St. Aloysius Catholic Church or the Julia Dufour Richardson Scholarship at The Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge. |
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