Knute Heldner

Knute Heldner
Born1875
Vederslöv, Sweden
Died(1952-11-05)November 5, 1952
Orleans Parish, Louisiana
Occupation(s)Painter, woodcarver

Knute Heldner (1875 – November 5, 1952) was a Swedish-American artist. [1]

Biography

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Knute August Heldner was born in the village Vederslöv in Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden in 1875; some sources say 1877,[2] or 1886 (also giving his first name as "Sven").[3] His early formal training was at Karlskrona Technical School and the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm. He migrated to the United States around 1902 and trained at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Minneapolis.[4] He lived in Duluth, Minnesota until 1934. He was married to Collette Pope Heldner (1902–1990) who was also a painter and his one time student from the Rachel McFadden Art Studio in Duluth.[5][6]

He won the gold medal at the Minnesota State Fair in 1915.[7] In 1921 he exhibited his work in the Swedish American Artist's Association in the Swedish Club of Chicago.[8] His style was modern expressionistic, derived from his training as an artist in Sweden. He was recognized for painting of Louisiana landscapes. His best paintings however were portraits. His work entitled Bearers of burdens was turned into a print.[9] Heldner and his wife eventually made their home in New Orleans, Louisiana, returning to Minnesota during the summer. They were part of a loosely organized collective of 1920s New Orleans artists sometimes called the "French Quarter School" which catered to tourists interested in American history.[10] He befriended playwright Tennessee Williams and helped him when the writer first came to New Orleans in 1938.[11] Williams called Heldner "brilliant and very good-hearted", and said that Heldner's work may have been too avant-garde to have easy commercial potential: "They are very modernistic so are not popular as decoration for homes."[12] He painted numerous views of the French Quarter over the course of his career, one of which, French Quarter Rooftops From His Studio, is now in the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. He worked for the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project during the Great Depression. He also expanded into woodcarving.[2]

Knute Heldner died in 1952 in Orleans Parish, Louisiana at 77.[13]

References

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  1. ^ "Knute Heldner". hirofineart.com. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Wilson, Charles Reagan; Pennington, Estill Curtis; Bonner, Judith H., eds. (2013). The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 21: Art and Architecture. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-6994-9. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  3. ^ Crump, Robert; Minnesota Historical Society (2009). Minnesota Prints and Printmakers, 1900-1945. Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-0-87351-635-8. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  4. ^ Knute Heldner — Porkopolis Art Museum
  5. ^ "Knute Heldner". hirofineart.com. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  6. ^ "Colette Pope Heldner". hirofineart.com. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  7. ^ Swedes in the Twin Cities: Immigrant Life and Minnesota's Urban Frontier (Philip J. Anderson and Dag Blanck, 2001)
  8. ^ Prominent Artists and Exhibits of Their Work in Chicago (Reidar Rye Haugan, Chicago Norske Klub. Nordmanns-Forbundet, 24: 371—374, Volume 7, 1933)
  9. ^ Library of Congress catalog record
  10. ^ Harlan, Raynie; Orgera, Ryan; Parent, Wayne, eds. (2014). The Louisiana Field Guide: Understanding Life in the Pelican State. EBSCO ebook academic collection. LSU Press. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-8071-5777-0. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  11. ^ Clark, Joshua, ed. (2003). French Quarter Fiction: The Newest Stories of America's Oldest Bohemia : an Anthology of the Best Works by Living Writers on the Heart of New Orleans. Light of New Orleans Pub. ISBN 978-0-9714076-7-1. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  12. ^ Williams, Tennessee (2006). Notebooks. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11682-3. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  13. ^ The Times-Picayune, 1952-11-07, Pg. 2 col. 7, Pg. 10 col. 1

Other sources

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