Colette Pope Heldner
Swamp Idyll
Oil on Canvas
18″ x 36″ (22″ x 40″ framed)
$2000
Framed and ready to hang, a VERY fine, sharp and bright example one of Colette Heldner’s iconic swamp paintings.
Married to artist Knut Heldner, Colette Pope Heldner lived with him in the French Quarter in the early 20th-century, when it was a run-down area that hosted bums and bohemians only. (In fact, there was serious talk of tearing the Quarter down – perish the thought!). The couple painted scenes of the French Quarter and of the nearby swamplands, and their styles are somewhat similar. They sold their paintings out of a French Quarter shop.
Colette Heldner’s paintings are instantly recognizable for their exuberant impressionistic style and brave colors. She sometimes placed people, swamps shacks and various water-craft in the paintings, but her emphasis was not on articulating any one thing with great detail.
Heldner’s paintings hold a place alongside those of Alexander Drysdale, George Dureau and a few others as iconically New Orleanian.
Here’s a link to a good article about Heldner.