Introducing Marie Colette
Marie Colette’s artistic work changes your inner compass: Tall, slender palm trees lean together, framing unlikely fields of golden wheat. Brightly colored exotic birds sit on the branches of trees bearing unique cultivars of fruit. The real world vanishes as you step into her imagination, revealing an inner beauty—paintings with more questions than answers.
Painting was her childhood passion, as her family divided their time between Paris and New York, and Marie Colette’s earliest memories involve studying the natural world. Having painted all her life, she has mastered the materials and historic techniques of the 17th-century folkloric tradition of L’art qui vient du cœur. As one of the pioneering women who worked to save this method of painting, her adaptation of organic materials resonates today among young artists seeking to pursue their own artistic visions in an environmentally sustainable fashion.
Unmistakably French in the best ways possible, Marie Colette was born in New York City and grew up in France. With a long list of international exhibitions, she now divides her time between the U.S. and France, where she has ateliers in Belle Île (Bretagne) and Champagne. After attending the Beaux-Arts school in Paris, Marie Colette married, had children, and moved to Alsace-Lorraine, where she developed a unique art practice.
Artist in Residence
Marie Colette DuPont-Nivet
It was in the small villages of this region that she discovered the 18th-century polychrome furniture and murals that would ultimately shape her work. Working with the founder of the Alsatian Art Museum, she helped establish the collection there from 1978 to 1985, restoring historic interiors and furniture that had been discarded during WWII—carelessly tossed away or recycled into chicken coops and receptacles for farm waste. As a conservator, she studied the patterns and iconography of 18th-century artifacts, employing a technique involving the use of natural pigments and a milk-based binding agent, casein. Beyond discovering vibrant floral and geometric compositions, Marie Colette also mastered the technique of natural wood graining, a painterly method for replicating wood’s texture.
Recognizing how historic European painting techniques were adapted by early American artists, Marie Colette developed an interest in their work and established an atelier in Philadelphia in 1984. From this base, she collaborated with conservators and collectors who commissioned her work for mural compositions in historic houses along the East Coast and for painted furniture and paintings. In this fashion, Marie Colette has expanded her expertise in the scientific restoration of historic objects, creating her own oeuvre with brightly colored visions—curious assemblages of flowers, trees, fruit, and scenes inspired by her experiences in nature. With vibrant color, imaginative composition, and fluent brushstrokes, the work of Marie Colette combines the best of both worlds.
Upcoming Workshop
Join renowned artist Marie Colette Dupont-Nivet for an exclusive four-day workshop at Husky Meadows Farm in Norfolk, CT. This immersive experience offers intensive painting workshops in the farm’s barn studio, where you’ll learn natural pigment making and casein-based techniques under Marie Colette’s expert guidance.
Beyond the studio, enjoy guided forest and garden walks, tea discussions, farm-fresh meals, evening cocktails, and a concert under the stars. Enjoy the serene landscapes, the company of artists, and freshly grown produce at Husky Meadows Farm this June.