This is a lovely and regionally important Fine Vintage Old Louisiana Cajun Landscape Oil Painting on canvas, by the talented and renowned early Louisiana Impressionist painter, Colette Pope Heldner (1902 - 1990.) This artwork depicts a bucolic and tranquil Louisiana Bayou scene, with a lavender hued palette, the artist portrays weeping willows, calm waters, small watercraft, and a small cabin in the center of the scene, with a glint of candlelight visible through one doorway. Colette, the wife of esteemed painter Knute Heldner (1875 - 1952,) devoted her artistic energy toward capturing the traditional Cajun way of life during a time when very few artists were interested in this important Louisiana culture. Signed: "Colette Pope Heldner" in the lower left corner. This artwork likely dates to the 1950's - early 1960's. Approximately 24 1/4 x 28 1/2 inches (including frame.) Actual visible artwork is approximately 15 3/4 x 19 1/2 inches. Very good condition for age, with some light edge wear to the original period gilded frame. Photo 24 in my listings is a portrait of Colette Pope Heldner, with her beloved dog, painted by her husband Knute Helder. Colette Heldner's artworks are in the permanent collections of the LSU Museum of Art, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, The Mr. and Mrs. Amon Carter Evans Collection in Columbia, Tennessee, and others. Priced to Sell. If you like what you see, I encourage you to make an Offer. Please check out my other listings for more wonderful and unique artworks!
About the Artist:
Born: 1902 - Waupaca, WisconsinDied: 1990
Known for: Urban-landscape, structures
Name variants: Collett S Pope
Colette Pope Heldner, 1902-1990, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, was known for her paintings of the city and surrounding southern landscape. Her style was Impressionist and personal, as seen in paintings like "Patio, Little Theater, New Orleans," and "St. Augustine City Gates, " depicting vegetable and flower vendors in a park-like city environment.
Colette Pope Heldner (maiden name Dorothy Colette Pope) was born in Waupaca, Wisconsin on May 18, 1902, and raised in Duluth, Minnesota. Heldner studied at the Rachel McFadden Art Studio in Duluth and married her instructor, the noted artist Knute Heldner. Her husband’s impressionist style and their trip to Europe was very influential on the change to Colette’s style. They moved to New Orleans and returned to Duluth for the summer, painting both Louisiana and Minnesota throughout their careers.
Colette was known for her French Quarter scenes as well as her Swamp Idyl paintings which proved to be financially successful for her. Colette innovated traditional French Quarter scenes through the replacing a brown tonality with bright colors and distortions on realistic form. The Heldner’s were less concerned with precision of elements, instead repeating stock elements such as cypress trees, shacks with porches, docks, moss, and fishermen. Many of her works include a dark, atmospheric quality. For decades Colette Heldner produced paintings for residents and tourists, which brought her much recognition. After her husband’s death in 1952, her paintings became more expressive with looser brushstrokes and bolder colors. She worked to meet the demand for her “swamp Idylls” paintings. Towards the end of her life, Heldner acquired many imitators in New Orleans.
Colette Pope Heldner received critical acclaim for a recent retrospective called “In a New Light; America’s Brush with Impressionism,” which was exhibited at the Morris Museum of Art. Her work was included in the exhibit along with some American masters such as William Merritt Chase and Ernest Lawson. Her paintings can be found in several private and public collections including the LSU Museum of Art and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.
(1902-1990)
A fiery redhead and an outspoken, adventurous spirit, Colette was very much influenced by the artistic style and subject matter of her teacher and husband, Knute Heldner. After his death in 1952, her art became more expressive, looser and often with an atypical color palette, especially in her famous “Swamp Idylls”, which she produced in abundance for the tourist market. Her French Quarter scenes are prized; and as Knute’s, they were instrumental in raising the public awareness of the architectural treasure of the old French Quarter. As a favorite artistic subject, the Artist Colony knowingly championed the cause and foundation of the Vieux Carre Commission in 1937.