La Bohème is a charming scene, two contemporary youn men aht-out the 19th-century romantic image of the wild, unkempt artist and his model.But obviously, it is merely play-acting: the ‘model’ takes-on an exaggerated and artificial posture, while the ‘artist’ prepares his groundbreaking brush strokes in the manner of a toreador. As the silvery backdrop seem to indicate, here, faith in uncontrolled emotional impulses should invoke the genius of romanticism, and ideal far removed from our more sober contemporary culture. Yet, Heldens depicted youthful idealism widening from the background at the left towards the right foreground suggests more volume than the relatively small canvas permits, a perspective set in motion by the shortening of the ‘artists’ right arm. This complex and effective handling of volume and perspective is one of Heldens’ recognizable finger prints.