ROLLAND GOLDEN
American | Louisiana, 1931-2019

Born in New Orleans in 1931, Golden was among a generation of artists in the mid-20th century mentored by John McCrady, the noted Mississippi regionalist who founded an art school on Bourbon Street in 1942. Golden enrolled at the academy in 1955 and became part of the thriving bohemian art colony in the French Quarter, befriending the likes of artist Noel Rockmore and Larry Borenstein, a gallerist whose Creole townhouse eventually became home to the Preservation Hall jazz band. Golden's studio sat in a patio on Royal Street, around the corner from Preservation Hall. Golden sketched and painted many of the jazz musicians in a visual style that encompassed realism and gradually developed into abstract realism, as shown in this masterful painting depicting members of the Olympia Brass Band playing their trumpets in a second line parade.

In addition to playing for parades and parties, the Olympia Brass Band had a weekly gig at Preservation Hall on Sunday nights for many years. The band also toured Europe on numerous occasions as well as Africa for the U. S. State Department. The band did a BBC Radio broadcast for Queen Elizabeth's 25th wedding anniversary in 1972 while they were in London and also played for Pope John Paul II on his visit to New Orleans. The Olympia Brass Band was a training ground for a whole new generation of jazz musicians. They are profiled in the book, "The Great Olympia Band" by the late English writer Mick Burns and "Keeping the Beat on the Street: The New Orleans Brass Band Renaissance" also by Mick Burns.

Golden’s prolific career spanned six decades. He participated extensively in solo and group exhibitions locally, nationally and internationally. His works are held in the permanent collections of the New Orleans Museum of Art, The Historic New Orleans Collection, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Mississippi Museum of Art, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA, LSU Museum of Art and many other fine institutions.