Elemore Morgan, Jr.

Elemore Morgan, Jr. (b. August 6, 1931, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, d. May 18, 2008, in Baltimore, Maryland) was recognized among the South's landscape artists. His paintings of rice farms in Vermilion Parish have been widely exhibited from Paris to Los Angeles. Elemore Morgan Jr. died on May 18, 2008.

An only child, he was raised on his grandfather's farm which influenced his affinity for nature and the rural life of Louisiana. His father influenced his decision to become an artist. Elemore Morgan Sr., a full-time photographer, had also worked and farmed with Louisiana architect A. Hays Town.

Morgan graduated from Louisiana State University with a fine arts degree in 1952. Immediately after he served two years in the United States Air Force as a supply officer for a fighter squadron during the Korean War. With the aid of the GI Bill, Morgan attended The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art at the University of Oxford in England, earning a CFA in 1957. He then returned to Louisiana, settling in Lafayette to work with his friend and architect Neil Nehrbass. He served as an associate professor from 1965 to 1998 at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (then named the University of Southwestern Louisiana).

Morgan contributed photography for a 1984 book titled The Makers of Cajun Music, which he co-produced with Cajun folklorist Barry Jean Ancelet, who wrote the text.

Morgan's paintings and drawings were featured in "Where Land Meets Sky," an exhibit at University Art Museum, The University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette. The exhibit combined his works with the poetry of Darrell Bourque. It ran May 28-July 31, 1999. A book published on the exhibit includes and essay by Dr. Steven Bradley.

In 2007, Louisiana artist Brian Guidry traveled with Morgan to New York City to help facilitate Morgan’s America project.