Robert LaDuke

Robert LaDuke’s narrative paintings are a combination of memories, dreams, and everyday life. Some of LaDuke’s most vivid memories are of traveling cross country in the family Cadillac with an Airstream trailing behind. Combined with these memories is a fascination with 1940s era transportation and, because of an inheritance of antique steel toys, it comes as no surprise that these same vehicles often appear as subject matter in many of LaDuke’s paintings. According to the artist, his work “is pretty much transportation oriented — trains, ships, cars, trailers, everything that rolls or floats, and they always have that nostalgic 40s look to them.”

His vintage portraits of idyllic, Rockwell-esque American lifestyles stem from history but are often layered with surreal visions. Metaphors and narratives exist beneath LaDuke’s cartoon-like surfaces, which are painted with defined lines and candy-like color palettes.