Drawings and paintings by George Izvolsky
*****The postcards and the background are copyrighted material and cannot be used without permission. Thank you so much to the children of Joe and Margaret Augustin---Ti Joe, Richard, Eileen, Frank, and Jack--for allowing me to use these drawings.****
If you have any information about George Izvolsky, please email me tarheel@mobiletel.com Thank you.
Not much is known about George Izvolsky.George Izvolsky was once the postmaster of Grand Isle. The post office was then located in the store that belonged to the Augustin family. Mr. Izvolsky also did some oil paintings--one of Fort Livingston and one of Nez Coupe's old house. There are only a few people alive who still remember him and they were children during the thirties and forties. The Augustin family also owns some of the oil paintings, although they are not pictured here. The drawings were originally copyrighted in 1933 by George Izvolsky, but the Augustin family now own the rights to them.
These are oyster boats that were docked at Bayou Rigaud. Bayou Rigaud is what is known as the Eastern end of the island.
This postcard was entitled "Windswept Trees". The trees grew this way because of the winds coming from the Gulf. There are still a few left on the island.
The Oleander Hotel
The palm tree-lined Ludwig Lane
Shrimp shed at Bayou Rigaud
Fort Livingston on Grande Terre Island
Drawing of Nez Coupez' house
Pirate Card that was the cover card for the previous cards when they were sold as a group.
This is a drawing that is supposed to be of Grand Isle harbor. It looks more like Manila Village, but I haven't seen anything Izvolsky has done other than of Grand Isle. This was taken from some Tulane archives.
Pirate Cemetery-picture by Izvolsky found in the book, Historic Jefferson Parish by Betsy Swanson
The following 2 pictures now belong to my dad, and I own the copyrights to them. They are both by George Izvolsky. A woman from Texas found these at a garage sale in Texas in Spring 2000. She had no idea who this artist was, so she decided to look his name up on the internet. That is how she found my site with the postcards. She wrote to me for more information on him. She wanted to put it up for auction on ebay. It was almost Father's Day so I asked if she would take an offer from me. She did, and that is why I now have them. I gave them to Daddy because I knew it meant a lot to him, having known Mr. Izvolsky.As I said, he was the postmaster of Grand Isle during the 1930's and 40's. He was European and spoke French. I doubt if he was from France. He may have been Jewish. A couple of authors wrote to me Not much is known of him. He had no family with him on the Island. Mr. Aubain Rigaud remembers going to the store for him to buy Vodka. He left Grand Isle after World War II. No one knows his whereabouts after that.
This is an inkwash of someone's home on the island. We can't figure out whose house it is. It was done on a brown grocery bag as a gift for Christmas. The bag possibly coming from Augustin's Grocery which the post office was attached to. The oleanders have pink and white paint on them. It seems a little unusual; maybe that was added by the recipient later. A 1945 calendar is attached to the drawing. It is signed Season's Greetings , Grand Isle Dec.1944, George.
Pen and ink- Shrimp Trawlers- Signed by George Izvolsky
Thanks again to the internet, we know of 4 more paintings by George Izvolsky . I was contacted by a woman named Dorie Flynn. Her father's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey William Flynn lived in New Orleans purchased the following four paintings from George Izvolsky.
Oil painting of Gulf waves- The words Grand Isle are written on it-- Signed by George Izvolsky
Windswept trees, young man riding a cart- Signed by George Izvolsky
Close-up of the dog
Close-up of the cart
Trawler
Men fishing on the beach.
Close-up of the men on the beach. Mom and Dad both think the man facing head on is Nocess Terrebonne.
. Colored postcard by Izvolsky, an oil painting of Nez Coupe's house down the street to the west of Augustine's grocery)
The Squall.....Eve Marostica in Boise Idaho bought this painting at an art auction given by the Boise Museum of Art. This is also in the gulf near Grand Isle.
This watercolor of Nez Coupez' house has an interesting story of how I got it. It starts out with a gentleman from Florida named Ron Broussard, whose Grandmother Elise lived in New Orleans and left it to him when she died. When he started searching on the internet for who George Izvolsky "Blattney" was, it led him to me. The inscription on the back said from Eunice to Elise. I asked my dad if he remembered anyone name Eunice. He said there was an old woman named Eunice who owned The Nook, a restaurant in Grand Isle in the 1940's. Dad remembers going to her home and seeing several small works done by George Izvolsky. So it must be Eunice from the Nook. Elise worked for LPL and demonstrated how to cook on an electric range, which is how she and Eunice probably met up. We don't know who matted the picture but it is printed in pencil underneath the mat "Grand Isle Pirates' House George Izvolsky Blattney. None of his other works that I have ever seen has Blattney written on it. The mat takes up about 1 1/2 to 2 inches of the painting all the way around, I think that the original signature was covered up with the mat and whoever put the mat on it, printed the information in pencil. The mat is glued with some green gook so it can't be removed.
These two paintings(one watercolor-Grand Isle boats- and one oil- a New orleans courtyard) were found for sale on the internet.
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