Helene Halstuch, Paintings and Monotypes

Helene Halstuch,Paintings and Monotypes

Curriculum Vitae

Helene Halstuch studied fine art at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY from 1972-1974. She received her BFA from the Central School of Art, London, England in 1977. Helene also studied at the London University Institute of Education and received an Art Teachers Certificate in 1978.

Helene lived in England and France for twenty years where she had exhibited extensively before she returned to the United States in 1995. Helene's landscape and still life paintings as well as her monotypes are expressive in her use of light and are reminiscent of Bonnard, Van Gogh and Cezanne. Helene currently paints in the Lot Valley in South West France near Cahors, where she resides part of the year. Helene chooses tranquil and very often, mysterious subjects for her landscape paintings. Her still life paintings are equally strong with vivid colors and luscious brush strokes. Helene reinvents the monotype and uses it as an underlay for pastel and ink, while creating a lively surface quality and vibrant image.

Artist Statement

Frequently while I paint, I feel like a conjurer as I take color, mix it and apply it to a board or canvas. I am fascinated by the way a mark, which is expressive, can also be representational and how a gesture or density of paint can have duality.

At times I feel akin to composing a piece of music, with each mark comprising a note. Applying, subtracting, enlarging, simplifying, until harmony is approached, I am attracted to both the mysterious and the subtle. The play of light, color and form of the three dimensional world is food for the visual appetite.

I attempt to achieve the recognizable but not the immediate, preferring the image to unfold with surprises to be discovered. Each painting has a strong relationship to the previous one and my ideas develop and evolve as I am continuously challenged by the pursuit.

Exhibitions

Helene has exhibited her works throughout England and France. In recent years, she has shown her works in the Philadelphia area including the Chestnut Hill Gallery, Muse Gallery, the Plastic Club and the Cosmopolitan Club in downtown Philadelphia. For more information: Exhibitions

dd

Studio Locations

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Cahors, France

Please Sign Guestbook