The Animal Paintings of Helmut Koller

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Helmut Koller

Palm Beach resident Helmut Koller is mainly known for his colorful, bold and festive paintings of animals. Koller grew up in the Austrian countryside and after completing his training as a photographer, he became the official photographer for the Vienna State Opera. For seven years he photographed superstars like Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Leonard Bernstein and Rudolf Nurejev. Within that period Koller co-wrote, photographed and designed his first book -“Women Over 30.” Two more books followed - “Elektra” and “Opera Live.” Koller then moved to Manhattan followed by Palm Beach, where he now resides.

In 1987, with his first collection of paintings, "Homage to Egon Schiele", Koller made the transition from photography to painting. The artist then turned his interest to historic portraits of the Native Americans. Figurative paintings in acrylic on canvas followed. Since the beginning of 1997 Koller is working on a series of colorful animal paintings. In summer 1998, Suppan Galerie in Vienna, Austria, showed these new paintings for the very first time at an exhibition. Galleria di Sorrento at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas premiered these super realistic "new pop" paintings in the United States in the summer 1999.