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French Quarter Life

French Quarter street scene showing at 710 Toulouse Street, and corner of shuttered building at 714 Toulouse, with a man walking along the street in the darkness, his shadow falling upon the wall. Shows cat beside colonnette supporting balcony, a street light, double doorway of the gateway, laundry hanging on second floor of 710 Toulouse, and ironwork balcony of 714 Toulouse. Shows partial view of balcony and building at corner of Toulouse and Royal Streets.
The Night Prowler, New Orleans, between 1930 and 1939, oil painting by Holger W. Jensen. HNOC, 1999.91.4

French Quarter Life

People and Places in the Vieux Carré

Artistic impressions of New Orleans’s most iconic neighborhood

Ongoing

520 Royal Street
Seignouret-Brulatour Building
3rd Floor

Included with free museum admission

“Don’t you just love these long rainy afternoons in New Orleans when an hour isn’t just an hour—but a little piece of eternity dropped into your hands—and who knows what to do with it?”

Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire

For more than 150 years, artists from around the world have worked to capture and share their impressions of New Orleans’s most iconic and historic neighborhood. This exhibition gathers paintings from the museum’s permanent collection, including gifts from Louisiana art collector Laura Simon Nelson. From the bustle of the French Market to the beauty of Jackson Square, these artworks explore the streets, buildings, and people of the French Quarter through time and a variety of techniques.

1976 181 no frame o10
Restaurant de la Renaissance, 1904, pastel by William Woodward.  HNOC, 1976.181
N101109 1 1 000 no frame o10
Woman on Balcony, between 1965 and 1985, oil painting by Rober Malcolm Rucker. HNOC, 2022.0038.1
2014 0484 2 o10
Court of Two Sisters, between 1935 and 1945, oil painting by Clarence Millet. HNOC, gift of Laura Simon Nelson, 2014.0484.2
1995 29 2 000 no frame polarizer o10
Orleans street, 1932, oil painting by Colette Pope Heldner. HNOC, 1995.29.2
2011 0236 no frame o10
Mother Cabrini Playground on Barracks Street, between 1939 and 1943, oil painting by Clarence Millet. HNOC, 2011.0236
2022.0038.5
Stoop Scene, 1970s, oil painting by Robert Malcolm Rucker. HNOC, gift of Laura Simon Nelson, 2022.0038.5

Explore the Virtual Exhibition

Shop the French Quarter Life Collection

Shop our curated selection of art prints from the French Quarter Life exhibition, now available at the Shop at the Collection.

Shop Shop
A view of the courtyard of the Court of Two Sisters showing people standing and seated at tables, with a fountain, trees, and a screened building in the background.

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First Draft

In Rolland Golden’s Sketchbook, a Changing, Timeless French Quarter

The New Orleans artist’s midcentury sketches of the Vieux Carré form a charming time capsule, showing how much has changed—and how much has stayed the same.

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First Draft

“One of the Great Literary Curiosities” of French Quarter Bohemia Turns 100

With a foreword by William Faulkner and clever portrait drawings, Sherwood Anderson and Other Famous Creoles is an offbeat who’s-who of 1920s New Orleans. 

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Related Collection Highlights

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A smiling woman with curly hair poses in a white outfit and heels. Text reads Chris Owens: Electrifying One Woman Show.

Chris Owens Collection

Maracas and more from the queen of Bourbon Street

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A vintage sepia-toned photo of two women. The left woman, labeled Stormy, wears a dark strapless dress. The right woman, labeled Torchy, wears a white blouse and dark pants. They pose together affectionately, with their arms around each other.

Dorothea “Torchy” Wilde Papers

HNOC expands its LGBTQ+ holdings with the papers of a nightlife fixture who chronicled the Quarter’s denizens.

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A vibrant, surreal painting with a woman in patterned clothing holding a fish and a kettle. A crowd of diverse people surrounds her, along with abstract elements like a clown face, pelican, and flag, set against a backdrop of buildings and swirling colors.

Homage to the French Quarter

The bohemian scene of midcentury New Orleans comes to life in this exciting acquisition.

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Related Books

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Cover of Garden Legacy featuring a classical illustration of an angelic figure with wings and a flowing pink robe, perched above a column amidst greenery. The background has a decorative geometric pattern.

Garden Legacy

by Mary Louise Mossy Christovich and Roulhac Bunkley Toledano
with a foreword by S. Frederick Starr

Learn More Buy Now Buy Now
Historical painting depicting the founding era of New Orleans. The scene includes sailors, Indigenous people, and European settlers alongside a ship. The title, New Orleans, the Founding Era, appears at the top in English and French.

New Orleans, the Founding Era

edited by / édité par Erin M. Greenwald
translated by / traduit par Henry Colomer

Learn More Buy Now Buy Now
Cover of Creole World by Richard Sexton. Features an old, weathered building facade with a mix of colorful, peeling paint. A gated window is prominent, along with text detailing the books focus on New Orleans and the Latin Caribbean.

Creole World: Photographs of New Orleans and the Latin Caribbean Sphere

by Richard Sexton
with essays by Jay D. Edwards and John H. Lawrence
 

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