A good man. A great artist.

He lived in Vermilion Parish, and his studio was a modest farmhouse. He taught at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette until 1998, and his paintings sold for more than a hundred thousand dollars.

You wouldn’t know it by his calm and humble composure, but Elemore Morgan Jr. was one of the most successful Louisiana artists of our time. David Houston, chief curator at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art where Morgan’s work has been featured since 2003, calls his work a cornerstone of art in the state.

Morgan Jr. died May 18 after four decades of creating a body of work that has been featured across the state and in New York, Paris and London. His life was a testament to the working artist, the honest man and that brand of human for whom curiosity never tires.

Morgan’s emotional renderings of the Louisiana flatlands have solidified his place in the region’s long but illustrious list of storytellers. His paintings draw upon the vibrancy he possessed and that which he sought out in others in order to express the beauty and intrigue of the landscapes surrounding him. But his work is more than its aesthetic appeal; it is a reflection of optimism and a product of devotion.

“Elemore is one of the most special people I’ve ever met,” says Roger Ogden, founding donor of the Ogden Museum. “His work ethic, focus and internal goodness have created a body of work that will secure his legacy even beyond our lifetimes.”

Born in Baton Rouge on Aug. 6, 1931, Morgan grew up on farmland along Essen Lane when the now four-lane street was a dirt road. His father worked for renowned architect A. Hays Town, taking photos of potential sites and completed buildings. In the process he exposed his son to the people and the landscapes of Louisiana. By documenting these elements in the 1930s and ’40s, the senior Morgan established himself as a noted photographer.

“His father was one of several important teachers,” says Houston. “They shared a passion and optimism.”

Morgan’s passion and optimism is a reccurring theme when those closest to him recall his progression as a painter. Friends recognized his gifts even in elementary school.

“We became friends in fourth grade and have been friends ever since,” says Henry Bradsher. “During class he would draw airplanes and tanks. This was during [World War II], so it was common for little boys to be fascinated with those things. He always had the ability to draw.”

The two attended Baton Rouge High School, and Bradsher recalls his friend’s gregarious and friendly nature.

“He was popular; he always had a good word to say about everyone,” he says.

In 1952 Morgan graduated from LSU with a degree in art and signed up for the Air Force during the Korean War. Even in the service Morgan continued sketching.

“He received a good education on abstract and modern painting at LSU,” Houston explains. “But his travels around Asia helped him relate his work to a Japanese style of landscape painting.”

After two years in a fighter squadron, Morgan attended the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art at the University of Oxford in England, with the aid of the GI Bill.

“At that time he had no particular style,” Bradsher says. “But that’s part of becoming established. You have to grow into it, and it’s not easy.”

Morgan’s time at Oxford provided him with conservative, traditional training that supplemented the abstract instruction he received at LSU. This intersection of abstraction and realism became his style.

“He could have stayed in Europe or gone to New York,” Ogden says. “But he felt a strong pull to return to Louisiana, even though he knew it would be harder.”

In 1965 Morgan accepted a position at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he and his wife Mary settled down to raise three daughters. Soon his work appeared in galleries across South Louisiana. Arthur Roger Gallery of New Orleans and New York started representing his work in 1989, and his paintings spread worldwide from there.

In total, Morgan’s work is a distinct and rare collection that embodies an inquisitive and dedicated character.

“He came from an era where being the best meant taking your work seriously, and Elemore was able to do that by using art as a form of investigating,” Houston says. “When we were putting together his show in 2003, we stopped to eat, and he began speaking to the table next to us, who were rice farmers. They had this deep and long conversation about irrigation. The land was more than just a study for him; he lived it.”

Morgan painted en plein air, using the multitude of colors that change with each hour and every season. But as Roger Ogden conveys, the work is much more than the palette or skill.

“Many, many times while he was still alive I had said that his art provides an eternal view into the soul of the man, and now Elemore still lives through his art,” Ogden says. “We should all be so lucky.”