ART & ARTISTS: 2012-03-25

Friday, 30 March 2012

Paul César Helleu - part 3

This is part 3 of a 3-part post on the life and works of French artist Paul César Helleu (1859 – 1927), best known for his portraits of beautiful Society women. For biographical notes on Helleu and more works see parts 1 and 2 also.

Hydrangeas
pastel

Portrait of a Woman

Ladies at The Ritz, New York

Mary Ann
56 x 37 cm

Portrait of Olga Thompson Gazing Upward
chalk on paper 55 x 45.7 cm

Madame Helleu at Fladbury
oil on canvas 54 x 73 cm

Le Visage Encadre (Madame Helleu)
drypoint 27 x 39.5 cm

Portrait of a Woman

Parisienne

Portrait de Mme Ryan, née Arlette Warrain

Portrait of Clara Weil

Portrait of Madame Marcel Cassaguet

Portrait of a Lady Seated

Portrait of a Lady with a Fan

Portrait of a Young Lady with Hat

Portrait of a Young Woman

Reclining Nude

Seated Young Woman
chalk

Study after Madame Letellier

The Feathered Hat

The Lady with the Fur Hat

The Smile
45 x 35 cm

Young Woman on a Divan

Head of a Young Woman
chalk on paper 31.4 x 27.8 cm

Heads of Girls
drypoint

Portrait of a Woman
drypoint

Study of Heads
chalk on paper 32.5 x 24.7 cm

Wednesday, 28 March 2012

Paul César Helleu - part 2

Helleu painted by John Singer Sargent

This is part 2 of a 3-part post on the life and works of French artist Paul César Helleu (1859 – 1927), best known for his portraits of beautiful Society women. For biographical on Helleu and more works see part 1.
I'm afraid I do not have dates for all of the following works:

1901 The Duchess of Marlborough, Consuelo Vanderbilt
drypoint

1901 The Parisienne, Femme du Mode

c1902-04 Madame Helleu sur la plage de Deauville
oil on canvas 48 x 81.8 cm

1903 The Yacht Etoile

1905 Camara
pastel

1905 Elegant Woman at the Rail
pastel

1905 Mademoiselle Vaughan
pastel

1905 Peggy Letellier
pastel

c1908 Helena Rubinstein
etching 70.8 x 53.6 cm

1909 Portrait of a Woman
pencil and chalk 76.3 x 56.5 cm

1910 Lady with Flowers
oil on canvas

1911 The Harbour at Deauville

c1920c Portrait of a Young American Woman
pastel

A Family Dinner at The Ritz, New York

Alice Helleu with their son Jean and a Toy Wheel
etching 39.2 x 29.4 cm

Woman in a Hat
etching and drypoint 19.5 x 14 cm

Woman Reading - in Profile
etching and drypoint 23.5 x 155 cm

Four Head Studies, Madame Helleu with Hat
charcoal, sanguine and pastel 45 x 61 cm

Head Studies

Head of a Woman
drypoint

Monday, 26 March 2012

Paul César Helleu - part 1

I was recently reminded of the elegant portraits of Paul César Helleu’s by author and illustrator Ian Beck (Ian has a splendid, slightly esoteric blog that's worth taking a look at too – a link can be found in ‘Links’ in the sidebar). This is part 1 of a 3-part post on the life and works of Paul Helleu.

Paul César Helleu (1859 – 1927) was a French artist best known for his portraits of beautiful Society women. He was born in Vannes, Brittany in 1859. He started as a ceramist but at the age of seventeen, despite the disapproval of his widowed mother, he went to Paris to study with Gérôme and at the École des Beaux-Arts.

He became a close friend of John Singer Sargent, whom he met in Paris in 1878 when Helleu was 18 years old and Sargent 22. Already becoming known, Sargent was getting commissions for work. Helleu had not sold anything, was deeply discouraged and almost to the point of abandoning his studies. When Sargent heard this, he went to Helleu and picked one of his paintings, praising his technique. Flattered that Sargent would praise his work he offered to give it to him. Sargent replied, "I shall gladly accept, Helleu, but not as a gift. I sell my own pictures, and I know what they cost me by the time they are out of my hand. I should never enjoy this pastel if I hadn't paid you a fair and honest price for it." With this he paid him a thousand-franc note. This was perhaps the first thousand-franc note Helleu had ever seen.

Paul Helleu Sketching with his Wife by John Singer Sargent 1889

Helleu was commissioned to paint a portrait of a young woman named Alice Guerin in 1884. They fell in love, and married two years later (28 July 1886). She was undoubtedly his favourite model. Charming, refined and graceful, she helped introduce them to the aristocratic circles of Paris, where they were popular fixtures.

Portrait of Mlle Alice Guerin 1884

In 1904 he was awarded the Légion d’honneur and became one of the most celebrated artists of the Edwardian era in both Paris and London and an honorary member of the most important beaux-arts societies. He was a member of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Engravers and the Societaire de la Nationale des Beaux-Arts. He was decorated by the French Government with the Legion d’honneur in 1904. He was the creator of the astrological ceiling decoration in New York City's Grand Central Terminal completed in 1912.

The ceiling of the Grand Central Terminal in New York City

By the time of his last trip to New York City in 1920 he realised that the Belle Epoque was over. He felt out of touch and retired to his family life. He died in Paris of peritonitis in 1927.