August 23, 2023
Emilie Rhys is a third-generation artist who specializes in depicting New Orleans musicians, French Quarter rooftop views, and other delightful subjects. In her serene French Quarter gallery, Scene by Rhys Fine Art at 1036 Royal St., she paints portraits on canvas and smaller images on copper plates. Often spotted at music venues, she spontaneously draws pen and ink drawings of musicians in performance with remarkable accuracy. Her renderings capture the immediacy of improvisation. The only thing she enjoys more than hearing music is to “draw the music” while it’s playing. You may see her out and about sketching the essence of musicians in their moment as if her pen were a conductor’s baton. Look for her at some of her favorite traditional jazz halls such as Fritzel’s European Jazz Pub, Palm Court Jazz Café, Spotted Cat Music Club, Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro, and Bayou Bar at the Pontchartrain Hotel. For each piece sold, she gives a portion of the profit back to the musicians, paying homage to the inspiration and talent in the musical city she loves so much.
Her father, Noel Rockmore, the son of two artists, was a famous New Orleans artist who moved to New Orleans from New York City in 1959. He is renowned for his portraits of Preservation Hall jazz musicians. Despite growing up without her father, she shares his artistic proclivities and follows in his footsteps while blazing her own creative trail.
Rhys moved to New Orleans in 2012 from Santa Fe, New Mexico. While visiting Preservation Hall in 2011, she did something she had never done before. She illustrated the traditional jazz performers as they played. It was particularly special for Rhys to sketch there with the spirits of her father and the old musicians he portrayed during the 1960s gracing the venue walls. They looked down on her as a new generation of musicians performed and as she created new artwork of them in action. She had not sat in the Hall since 1995 when she visited for her father’s memorial service.
Over the course of her 47-year art career, first in San Francisco, then in New Orleans, Paris, New York City, Santa Fe, and finally back in New Orleans in 2011, she has produced artworks on paper and canvas that appear in collections around the United States and Europe. In July 2021, her book New Orleans Music Observed: The Art of Noel Rockmore and Emilie Rhys was published. It commemorated the exhibition at the Jazz Museum displayed in 2020 and 2021. The book introduced significant new original material and featured several hundred illustrations, many in full color.
It has been two years since Rhys relocated her 6.5-year-old gallery from Toulouse Street to Royal Street, but Dirty Linen Night in August 2023 felt like a true launching of the space due to the large number of new artworks filling the walls. Oil paintings, many begun years ago yet awaiting completion until now, are the exciting continuation of what people encountered in the Jazz Museum exhibition, New Orleans Music Observed. The paintings take Rhys a long time to develop because the paint is applied in a variety of ways, thin then thick, followed by accents applied with palette knives, allowing each layer to fully dry before proceeding. Subjects include many new drawings of musicians created during performances in music venues and themes Rhys is known for, but also French Quarter rooftop views and cityscapes. She is starting a series of Mardi Gras themes, the first of which is of “The Mermaid of Chartres Street,” aka Laura Kamenitz.
No trip to the French Quarter is complete without visiting Rhys in person and enjoying her art. Make an appointment to visit Rhys in her gallery seven days a week by using the contact form found at scenebyrhys.com.
Her father, Noel Rockmore, the son of two artists, was a famous New Orleans artist who moved to New Orleans from New York City in 1959. He is renowned for his portraits of Preservation Hall jazz musicians. Despite growing up without her father, she shares his artistic proclivities and follows in his footsteps while blazing her own creative trail.
Rhys moved to New Orleans in 2012 from Santa Fe, New Mexico. While visiting Preservation Hall in 2011, she did something she had never done before. She illustrated the traditional jazz performers as they played. It was particularly special for Rhys to sketch there with the spirits of her father and the old musicians he portrayed during the 1960s gracing the venue walls. They looked down on her as a new generation of musicians performed and as she created new artwork of them in action. She had not sat in the Hall since 1995 when she visited for her father’s memorial service.
Over the course of her 47-year art career, first in San Francisco, then in New Orleans, Paris, New York City, Santa Fe, and finally back in New Orleans in 2011, she has produced artworks on paper and canvas that appear in collections around the United States and Europe. In July 2021, her book New Orleans Music Observed: The Art of Noel Rockmore and Emilie Rhys was published. It commemorated the exhibition at the Jazz Museum displayed in 2020 and 2021. The book introduced significant new original material and featured several hundred illustrations, many in full color.
It has been two years since Rhys relocated her 6.5-year-old gallery from Toulouse Street to Royal Street, but Dirty Linen Night in August 2023 felt like a true launching of the space due to the large number of new artworks filling the walls. Oil paintings, many begun years ago yet awaiting completion until now, are the exciting continuation of what people encountered in the Jazz Museum exhibition, New Orleans Music Observed. The paintings take Rhys a long time to develop because the paint is applied in a variety of ways, thin then thick, followed by accents applied with palette knives, allowing each layer to fully dry before proceeding. Subjects include many new drawings of musicians created during performances in music venues and themes Rhys is known for, but also French Quarter rooftop views and cityscapes. She is starting a series of Mardi Gras themes, the first of which is of “The Mermaid of Chartres Street,” aka Laura Kamenitz.
No trip to the French Quarter is complete without visiting Rhys in person and enjoying her art. Make an appointment to visit Rhys in her gallery seven days a week by using the contact form found at scenebyrhys.com.
