The LSU School of Art Glassell Gallery unveiled its newest exhibit Saturday commemorating a University art professor who died last fall.
Robert Hausey, a professor at the University for 32 years, died Oct. 16 from suspected complications with diabetes at the age of 59.
“He was extraordinarily gentle — just a really gentle guy — laid back in that particularly Louisiana way,” said art professor Rick Ortner, a long-time friend and colleague of Hausey.
The exhibit isn’t complete, as there are a number of Hausey’s paintings absent from the show, but it “gives a glimmer of his    accomplishments,” Ortner said.
One of the paintings missing from the gallery is the only collaborative work Hausey ever did, left unfinished after his untimely death, according to his former student and collaborator Jonathan Mayers who was set to work with Hausey.
Mayers recalled the painting and the story that led him to work with Hausey.
According to Mayers, Hausey had gone swimming with a friend and his daughter, he and his friend having had a few beers. Hausey, sitting with his friend’s daughter, turned to her and said, “I think your dad is hanging out of his shorts,” and her father was indecently exposed.
Before his death, Hausey was painting the young crying girl, said Mayers, who was working on Hausey’s friend.
“He was more like a really good friend and not just any other professor,” Mayers said.
Hausey’s kindness and willingness to work with everyone touched his students who were motivated by his discipline in his art, Mayers said, and people could see Hausey painted the things he loved.
Hausey painted the women he loved — his ex-wives, his neighbors and even waitresses at Chelsea’s Cafe, Ortner said.
Born on Nov. 25, 1949, in Baton Rouge, Hausey studied fine arts at the University and later received a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Pennsylvania.
Hausey also spent some time as a resident at the American Academy in Rome and became deeply involved in Italian Baroque painting, which served as inspiration for his later paintings, Ortner said.
“He was also very influenced by contemporary figurative painting,” Ortner said.
Hausey taught at several universities before returning to LSU in 1977.
The second half of Hausey’s painting career is “part-Valentine, part-memorial,” according to biographical information from his funeral.
“He was loved by all,” said LSU School of Art Director Rod Parker.
A celebratory reception will be held at the gallery Sept. 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
The exhibit runs until Oct. 16, the anniversary of Hausey’s death.
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Contact Julian Tate at [email protected]