Art Nouveau

This early 20th-century watercolour and gouache by British artist Reginald Pannett (1875-1924) depicts an Edwardian lady in a sumptuous black dress and white gloves. Pannett was imm...

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 🇫🇷 (1864-1901) is the image of the revival and decadence that blows on the Belle Époque. Painter of the nightlife of Montmartre, but also of the promiscu...

An original pen and ink by Barbara Macdonald 1892-1969, that was published on page 70 of the 1922 book, 'Princess Herminie and the Tapestry Prince,' written by Lee Ivatt. The second ...

"The Japanese Bridge, 1928" François Beauck (Belgian, 1876-1946) Oil on cardboard Signed and dated with inscriptions on the back 27.25 x 13.5 (33 x 19...

Graceful Portrait of the Countess Carrobio with elegant white dress. Pastel on Canvas with finely carved gilt wood frame. Signed CFroschl . Carl Forsche 1848- 1934 . Austrian Painte...

Original antique drink advertising poster for Sect Kellerei und Cognac Brennerei D Sandmann Berlin. Fantastic Art Nouveau style design depicting a decadent scene of a gentleman smoking a cigar and a lady in a fashionable yellow dress lying back in her chair with an empty champagne glass in her hand, an ice bucket on the floor, flowers and alcohol bottles...

Alfred Ekstam, a renowned artist from Mangskog, Sweden, is known for his exquisite landscape paintings. We are excited to present this painting by Ekstam, which is extra special because it is painted on both sides, offering two beautiful landscapes in one, with a reversible frame that can be turned over without having to take it down from the wall. On one side, you will be mesmerized by a stunning Art Nouveau landscape with a purple tone, featuring a mountain in the background, a lake, and trees in the foreground with shades of yellow, red, and green. On the other side, you will see a winter landscape with five red houses, likely to be Ekstam's own farm in Knaggen. The winter scene showcases sun rays shining down on the houses...

Émile Gallé  (French, 1846 - 1904) Title:                       Art Nouveau Glass Vase Fuschias Medium:                           Cameo Glass Vase Size:         Height               ...

Original linen-backed stone lithograph opera poster for Penelope. Done in 1913 by the great lithographer Georges Rochengrosse who created several opera ...

I made this sketch from nature while I was in one of the old and beautiful streets of Oxford. It was a gray day, sometimes it started to rain a little, and there were not many people...

Watercolour and Chinese ink on paper, signed and dated (upper right), 10cm x 17cm (30cm x 38cm framed). George Barbier was one of the great French illustrators of the early 20th century. Born in Nantes, France on 16 October 1882, Barbier was 29 years old when he mounted his first exhibition in 1911 and was subsequently swept to the forefront of his profession with commissions to design theatre and ballet costumes...

These beautiful and colorful lithographic posters were hand reproduced by the Mourlot Studio's Master Printer Henri Deschamps in 1969. They are not to be mistaken with later cheap di...

Plate 30 from Alphonse Mucha's Figures Decoratives, a folio of forty color lithographic plates published by Librairie centrale des beaux-arts in 1905. Issued during a period of incr...

Rare original Breger & Javal "Impressions su Metal" turn of the century (1899) original poster. Artist: Louis-Theophile Hingre. Art nouveau style, very similar to Alphonse Mucha's...

A turn-of-the-century fantasy illustration by female illustrator May Audubon Post features a charming fairy with expanded wings resting on Lilly s...

LOUIS J. RHEAD (1858-1926) THE BOOKMAN / CHRISTMAS NUMBER. Circa 1895. 19x11 1/2 inches, Dodd, Mead & Company, New York. Color Lithograph. Good condition. No rips or tears or folds. Good color. Framed. Ref: Das Plakat...

At a certain size, painting a small painting with precise and meticulous detail becomes an art in itself. So is the case of "Three Children" by English Childen's book illustrator Amy Millicent Sowerby...

This is an elegantly rendered and designed work with fine lines and flat colors by an accomplished female illustrator. Signed lower right Framed in an old simple wooden frame with...

Original “Le Jongleur de Notre Dame” vintage opera poster. The music was by Jules Massenet. Artist: Georges Rochengrosse. Archival linen b...

A L'Ombre (In Shadow) Etching & drypoint, 1905 Signed with the red stamp of the publisher Pellet (see photo) Edition: 50 on velin paper, signed and numbered Publisher: Gustav Pellet, Paris (his red stamp lower right, recto; Lugt 1193) Condition: Excellent Image/Plate size: 5-7/8 x 8-5/8" (14.8 x 21.8 cm.) Sheet size: 11 5/8 x 17 1/8" Reference: IFF 119 Exteens 229 Arwas 256 v/V Louis Auguste Mathieu Legrand (29 September 1863 – 1951) was a French artist, known especially for his aquatint engravings, which were sometimes erotic. He was awarded the Légion d'honneur for his work in 1906. Life Legrand was born in the city of Dijon in the east of France. He worked as a bank clerk before deciding to study art part-time at Dijon's Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He won the Devosge prize at the school in 1883.[2] In 1884 Legrand studied engraving under the Belgian printmaker Félicien Rops. Legrand's artworks include etchings, graphic art and paintings. His paintings featured Parisian social life. Many were of prostitutes, dancers and bar scenes, which featured a sense of eroticism. According to the Hope Gallery, "Louis Legrand is simply one of France's finest early twentieth century masters of etching." His black and white etchings especially provide a sense of decadence; they have been compared to those of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, though his drawings of the Moulin Rouge, the can-can dance and the young women of Montmartre preceded Toulouse-Lautrec's paintings of similar scenes. He made over three hundred prints of the night life of Paris. They demonstrate "his remarkable powers of observation and are executed with great skill, delicacy, and an ironic sense of humor that pervades them all." Two of his satirical artworks caused him to be tried for obscenity. The first, "Prostitution" was a symbolic drawing which depicted a naked girl being grasped by a dark monster which had the face of an old woman and claws on its hands; the second, "Naturalism", showed the French novelist Émile Zola minutely studying the thighs of a woman with a magnifying glass. Defended by his friend the lawyer Eugène Rodrigues-Henriques (1853–1928), he was found not guilty in the lower court, but was convicted in the appeal court and then given a short prison sentence for refusing to pay his fine. Legrand was made famous by his colour illustrations for Gil Blas magazine's coverage of the can-can, with text by Rodrigues (who wrote under the pseudonym Erastene Ramiro). It was a tremendous success, with the exceptional quantity of 60,000 copies of the magazine being printed and instantly sold out in 1891. In 1892, at the instigation of the publishing house Dentu, Legrand made a set of etchings of his Gil Blas illustrations. The etchings were published in a book, Le Cours de Danse Fin de Siecle (The End of the Century Dance Classes). Legrand took a holiday in Brittany, which inspired him to engrave a set of fourteen lithographs of simple country life called Au Cap de la Chevre (On Goat Promontory). It was published by Gustave Pellet who became a close friend of Legrand's. Pellet eventually published a total of 300 etchings by Legrand, who was his first artist; he also published Toulouse-Lautrec and Félicien Rops among others. He did not only work in graphics; he exhibited paintings at the Paris salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts starting in 1902. In 1906 he was made a chevalier of the Légion d'honneur. Legrand died in obscurity in 1951. A retrospective exhibition was held at the Félicien Rops museum in Namur, Belgium in 2006 to celebrate his graphic art. The art collector Victor Arwas published a catalogue raisonné for the occasion. Books illustrated de Maupassant, Guy: Cinq Contes Parisiens, 1905. Poe, Edgar Alan: Quinze Histoires d'Edgar Poe...

Monogram and date of etching in the plate bottom left. 220mm by 305mm (platemark) 310mm by 390mm (sheet)

Fernand Louis GOTTLOB (1973 - 1935) Lovers Walking in the Woods, 1897/98 Original lithograph Printed signature in the plate On vellum 40 x 31 cm (c. 16 x 12") INFORMATION : Publish...

Nymph with Child Feeding Swallows Richir Herman Brussels 1866 – 1942 Belgian Painter Signature: Attributed to Richir Herman Dimensions: Image size 140 x 235 cm, frame size 145 x 240 cm Medium: Oil on canvas Biography: Richir Herman Jean Joseph was born in Ixelles (Brussels), on November 4, 1866. He was a Belgian painter of portraits, still lifes, genre paintings, nudes and landscapes. He made decorative paintings to fit into private homes. Richir mainly painted portraits. His clients usually belonged to the higher circles. He portrayed amongst others King Albert and Queen Elisabeth, Cardinal Mercier and Countess d’Oultremont. Less known are the landscape paintings he made Limburg and Kempen, where he regularly stayed with befriended artist Emile Van Doren (1865 – 1949). Herman Richir first studied at the Sint-Joost-ten-Node Academy with Gustave Biot and Charles Hermans, continued his education at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels (1884-1889) with the master teacher and artist Jean-Francois Portaels (1818 – 1895). In 1886, during his studies, he won second Prize of Rome for Painting. Richir lived in Schaarbeek. In 1900 he became a teacher of drawing and in 1905 first teacher of painting after nature at the Brussels Academy. He was director there several times 1906-1907, 1910, 1911, 1915-1919, 1925-1927. He was retired in 1927. His pupils included Albert Alleman (1892 – 1933), Éliane de Meuse (1899 – 1993), Paul Hagemans (1884 – 1959), Maurice...

L'Angellus (The Angel) Etching, engraving and acquatint on Arches paper, 1908 Signed lower right by the artist (see photo) This is a first state impression printed in a brown/black ink There was also a color edition of 50 impressions published by Sagot Reference: Wurzer 27 Provenance: Edmund Sagot, the publisher Sagot Heirs Condition: Rich impression. Verso: print has staining. Printer's crease visibile from verso only. Image/Plate size: 19 1/4 x 15 1/2" (48.9 x 39.37 cm) Sheet size: 24 x 17 3/8 inches From the British Museum: "Colour etcher. Born in Livorno from a family of wealthy Swiss cotton merchants, studied with Giuseppe Ciaranfi and Michele Gordigiani in Florence. In 1886 exhibited with Fattori, Achille Lega and Tommasi in the Prima Esposizione delle Belle Arti in Livorno. In 1888 he and his family moved to Paris, where he studied first with François Flameng until 1892 and later with Carolus-Duran. Müller remained in the French capital until the outbreak of the First World War, taking French citizenship in 1913. He worked in the countryside at Barbizon, Suresnes and elsewhere, but also made frequent visits to his native country, where he exhibited regularly in Florence with the Promotrice Fiorentine. His early work was indebted to Fattori and Plinio Nomellini, but he soon became interested in the Impressionists and was credited by the critic Mario Tinti with introducing the luminism of Monet into Italian art. Müller was a member of the Société des Artistes Indépendents and exhibited regularly in the Paris dealer...

The painting is signed on the right side "AVILLA". Aleardo Villa was a pupil of Giuseppe Bertini and Bartolomeo Giuliano and he graduated at the Fine Arts Academy of Brera, becoming ...

Original vintage poster made around 1900 to promote Veuve Amiot champagne on the Chinese market. It was Elisa Amiot who founded the Veuve Amiot house in 1...

This Illustration Boudoir style Illustration by Female Illustrator Suzanne Meunier was done on an assignment for a French Postcard. It's a very early ...

Sarah Noble Ives, artist (1864-1944). Original drawing of three Dutch children, with an ink inscription reading: “Full Page / 6 Buff / Three children sliding on the ice / upon a summer’s day” above image. Ink, watercolor, and gouache on linen. Illustration for Mother Goose...

Alphonse Mucha Salomé Original lithograph Printed signature, as issued 1897/98 Printed on paper Vélin (wove) Size 40 x 31 cm (c. 16 x 12") REFERENCES : Ann Bridges, Alphonse Mucha...

Golden Age of Illustration preliminary drawing with Art Nouveau influence that was most likely for a major magazine commission. Eastman captures the elegance, style, and self-confidence associated with the upper-class American woman. The work is masterfully crafted and demonstrates a deep knowledge of academic drawing skills. The female figure is depicted in a classic pose with her scarf blowing in the wind, geese at her feet, clutching a red umbrella, and isolated against a neutral background. Signed lower right. Providence: The Illustrated Gallery...

FRANK BRANGWYN ( U.S./U.K./Belgium, 1867-1956) watercolor, gouache, and charcoal on paper, "The Scourging of St. Alban," study for the mural painted for Christ's Hospital, West Horsh...

Miss Taylor Drypoint, c. 1900 Signed in pencil lower left (see photo) Small edition, about 10 Very rich impression, full of burr Condition: Excellent Image size: 21-1/4 x 13-1/4" Sheet size: 25 3/8 x 18 5/8" Reference: Montesquiou XII Paul César Helleu was born in Vannes, Brittany, France. His father, who was a customs inspector, died when Helleu was in his teens. Despite opposition from his mother, he then went to Paris and studied at Lycée Chaptal. In 1876, at age 16, he was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts, beginning academic training in art with Jean-Léon Gérôme. Helleu attended the Second Impressionist Exhibition in the same year, and made his first acquaintances with John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, and Claude Monet. He was struck by their modern, bold alla prima technique and outdoor scenes, so far removed from the studio. Following graduation, Helleu took a job with the firm Théodore Deck Ceramique Française hand-painting fine decorative plates. At this same time, he met Giovanni Boldini, a portrait painter with a facile, bravura style, who became a mentor and comrade, and strongly influenced his future artistic style. When he was 18 years old, Helleu established a close friendship with John Singer Sargent, four years his senior, that was to last his lifetime. Already becoming established, Sargent was receiving commissions for his work. Helleu had not sold anything, and was deeply discouraged 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 this, 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. Helleu was commissioned in 1884 to paint a portrait of a young woman named Alice Guérin (1870–1933). They fell in love, and married on 28 July 1886. Throughout their lives together, she was his favourite model. Charming, refined and graceful, she helped introduce them to the aristocratic circles of Paris, where they became popular fixtures. On a trip to London with Jacques-Émile Blanche in 1885, Helleu met Whistler again and visited other prominent artists. His introduction to James Jacques Tissot, an accomplished society painter from France who made his career in England, proved a revelation. In Tissot, Helleu saw, for the first time, the possibilities of drypoint etching with a diamond point stylus directly on a copper plate. Helleu quickly became a virtuoso of the technique, drawing with the same dynamic and sophisticated freedom with his stylus as with his pastels. His prints were very well received, and they had the added advantage that a sitter could have several proofs printed to give to relations or friends. Over the course of his career, Helleu produced more than 2,000 drypoint prints. Soon, Helleu was displaying works to much acclaim at several galleries. Degas encouraged him to submit paintings to the Eighth Impressionist Exhibition in May and June 1886. The show was installed in a Paris apartment at 1 rue Laffitte, which ran concurrently with the official Salon that year to make a statement. Although 17 artists joined the famous exhibit that included the first Neo-Impressionistic works, Helleu, like Monet, refused to participate. Paul Helleu Sketching with His Wife (1889), by John Singer Sargent, The Brooklyn Museum, New York In 1886, Helleu befriended Robert de Montesquiou, the poet and aesthete, who bought six of his drypoints to add to his large print collection. Montesquiou later wrote a book about Helleu that was published in 1913 with reproductions of 100 of his prints and drawings. This volume remains the definitive biography of Helleu. Montesquiou introduced Helleu to Parisian literary salons, where he met Marcel Proust, who also became a friend. Proust created a literary picture of Helleu in his novel Remembrance of Things Past as the painter Elstir. (Later, Helleu engraved a well-known portrait of Proust on his deathbed.) Montesquiou's cousin, the Countess Greffulhe, enabled Helleu to expand his career as a portrait artist to elegant women in the highest ranks of Paris society, portraits that provide the basis for his modern reputation. His subjects included the Duchess of Marlborough, the Marchesa Casati...

Beautiful poster by Jules Chéret in 1895. One of the many products promoted by Chéret's cheerful redhead was Quinquina Dubonnet, a fortified wine made from herbs mixed with quinine....

Presenting a magnificent early Art Nouveau bronze by Belgian artist Jef Lambeaux(1852-1908.) “Leda and the Swan”, is an original Art Nouveau Bronze,...

Complex Art Nouveau patterns intertwined with gracefull figures define this work by American Artist and illustrator, teacher and lecturer Mildred Bailey Carpenter. Signed in cartouc...

Art nouveau style poster from the beginning of the 20th century presenting Le Bruyant Alexandre in his realistic cabaret printed by the Thill printing ho...

Artist: Louis Icart, French (1888 - 1950) Title: Conchita Year: 1929 Medium: Etching, signed in pencil Image Size: 20 x 13 inches Frame Size: 32.5 x 25 inches Reference: Figure 361 ...

Early 20th C Italian Art Nouveau Alabaster Sculpture of a young female bather. Bather is seated on a stone with arms crossed in a mode...

Paul Emile Berthon ( 1872- 1909 ), was a French decorative artist. He began studying painting in Villefranche. From 1893, he moved to Paris, where he attended the École normale d'enseignement du dessin. Among the courses taken at the time, those of the professor of decorative art Eugène Grasset had the greatest impact on him. The first works of Paul Berthon (around 1896) show a style close to that of Grasset. By freeing himself from the style of his master, his own style develops based on a palette of autumnal pastels with sharp lines and contours. This is his most famous lithograph, a portrait of Sarah Bernhardt in the title role of "La Princesse Lointaine...

The Woman On Chariot By Dogs is a drawing in China Ink and pen on paper realized by Adolphe Willette in the Late 19th Century. Very Good conditions. Monogrammed. Including a cardb...

La Toilette Drypoint, 1908 Signed and numbered in pencil by the artist (see photos) Edition: 65 this state (35/65) Published by Gustave Pellet (1859-1919),...

The Lady is a drawing in China Ink on paper realized by Adolphe Willette in the Late 19th Century. Very Good conditions. Monogrammed. Including a Greyish cardboard Passepartout (6...

Eugène Grasset’s medieval-inspired Art Nouveau poster, commissioned by Sarah Bernhardt to promote her 1894 role as Joan of Arc in Jules Barbier’s Jeanne d'Arc. Grasset portrays Bernhardt in the spirit of her historic role: standing bravely with a flowing flag embellished with fleur-de-lis amidst an onslaught of arrows and spears. This antique lithograph is the only color small-format edition of the original poster design, from an extremely rare folio published in conjunction with a landmark exhibition of poster design in St. Petersburg in 1897. This poster design for Jeanne d’Arc is especially important as being the collaboration that led Sarah Bernhardt to discover Alphonse Mucha, as she wanted a new artist...

Programme de Concert is a drawing in blue pastel on paper realized by Adolphe Willette in the Late 19th Century. Very Good conditions. Monogrammed. Including a cardboard Passepart...

Beautiful advertising poster of the beginning of the XXth century and of Art Nouveau style, signed P. F. Grignon. It is an advertisement for the brand A. A. Tunmer & Co and its vario...

En passant (Passing by) Drypoint, 1909 Unsigned (as issued in the deluxe portfolio) From the album "Les Bars" (8 plates plus cover illustration) Edition: 30, this state with remarque Published by Gustav Pellet, Paris A very rich impression wwith burr Condition: Excellent Image/Plate size: 9 7/8 x 6 3/8 inches Reference: Arwas 391a (remarque) Exteens 277 i/II IFF 148 (portfolio) Louis Auguste Mathieu Legrand (29 September 1863 – 1951) was a French artist, known especially for his aquatint engravings, which were sometimes erotic. He was awarded the Légion d'honneur for his work in 1906. Life Legrand was born in the city of Dijon in the east of France. He worked as a bank clerk before deciding to study art part-time at Dijon's Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He won the Devosge prize at the school in 1883.[2] In 1884 Legrand studied engraving under the Belgian printmaker Félicien Rops. Legrand's artworks include etchings, graphic art and paintings. His paintings featured Parisian social life. Many were of prostitutes, dancers and bar scenes, which featured a sense of eroticism. According to the Hope Gallery, "Louis Legrand is simply one of France's finest early twentieth century masters of etching." His black and white etchings especially provide a sense of decadence; they have been compared to those of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, though his drawings of the Moulin Rouge, the can-can dance and the young women of Montmartre preceded Toulouse-Lautrec's paintings of similar scenes. He made over three hundred prints of the night life of Paris. They demonstrate "his remarkable powers of observation and are executed with great skill, delicacy, and an ironic sense of humor that pervades them all." Two of his satirical artworks caused him to be tried for obscenity. The first, "Prostitution" was a symbolic drawing which depicted a naked girl being grasped by a dark monster which had the face of an old woman and claws on its hands; the second, "Naturalism", showed the French novelist Émile Zola minutely studying the thighs of a woman with a magnifying glass. Defended by his friend the lawyer Eugène Rodrigues-Henriques (1853–1928), he was found not guilty in the lower court, but was convicted in the appeal court and then given a short prison sentence for refusing to pay his fine. Legrand was made famous by his colour illustrations for Gil Blas magazine's coverage of the can-can, with text by Rodrigues (who wrote under the pseudonym Erastene Ramiro). It was a tremendous success, with the exceptional quantity of 60,000 copies of the magazine being printed and instantly sold out in 1891. In 1892, at the instigation of the publishing house Dentu, Legrand made a set of etchings of his Gil Blas illustrations. The etchings were published in a book, Le Cours de Danse Fin de Siecle (The End of the Century Dance Classes). Legrand took a holiday in Brittany, which inspired him to engrave a set of fourteen lithographs of simple country life called Au Cap de la Chevre (On Goat Promontory). It was published by Gustave Pellet who became a close friend of Legrand's. Pellet eventually published a total of 300 etchings by Legrand, who was his first artist; he also published Toulouse-Lautrec and Félicien Rops among others. He did not only work in graphics; he exhibited paintings at the Paris salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts starting in 1902. In 1906 he was made a chevalier of the Légion d'honneur. Legrand died in obscurity in 1951. A retrospective exhibition was held at the Félicien Rops museum in Namur, Belgium in 2006 to celebrate his graphic art. The art collector Victor Arwas published a catalogue raisonné for the occasion. Books illustrated de Maupassant, Guy: Cinq Contes Parisiens, 1905. Poe, Edgar Alan: Quinze Histoires d'Edgar Poe...

Original Germany, Mecklenburg. St Mary’s Church in Rostock vintage German travel poster. Conservation mounted and ready to frame. Ready to frame. Photo: Wilh. Miesler, Lippsta...

Beautiful poster from 1899 to promote the Salon des cent (also called "Salon des 100" or "Salon de La Plume") which was a French art exhibition. Conceived by Léon Deschamps, it was ...

Marble Sculpture titled “La Seine” in reference to the main Parisian River. Sculpture is signed "Denys Puech, OLRY-ROEDERER" and dated 1901. Presumably m...

Antique, Art Nouveau bronze of a beautiful maiden in the Neo-Classical manner by Emmanuel Villanis, Circa 1900. The bronze, titled "Phryne" depicts a beautiful Neo-Classical maiden, ...

Beautiful poster of the beginning of the XIXth century by Dudley Hardy : An Artist's Model - George Edwardes company Dudley Hardy (1867 - 1922) was an English painter and illustrator. His interest in illustration led him to produce posters of French graphic influence, including the Yellow Girl...

Portrait de petite fille, en buste, cheveux sur les epaules (Ellen 14 ans) Portrait of a little girl, bust, hair on shoulders) Drypoint, 1902 Signed lower right corner Very small edition Portrait of the artist's daughter Ellen, at age 14. Title inscribed into the plate upper left Brilliant impression full of burr No stated edition, proofs only, less than 10 imps Unidnetified collector's mark verso: Initials "PH", not in Lugt Reference: Laran, IFF No. 390 Condition: Excellent Image/Plate eize: 14 3/4 x 12 5/8 inches Sheet size: 25 x 16 inches "Paul César Helleu was born in Vannes, Brittany, France. His father, who was a customs inspector, died when Helleu was in his teens. Despite opposition from his mother, he then went to Paris and studied at Lycée Chaptal. In 1876, at age 16, he was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts, beginning academic training in art with Jean-Léon Gérôme. Helleu attended the Second Impressionist Exhibition in the same year, and made his first acquaintances with John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, and Claude Monet. He was struck by their modern, bold alla prima technique and outdoor scenes, so far removed from the studio. Following graduation, Helleu took a job with the firm Théodore Deck Ceramique Française hand-painting fine decorative plates. At this same time, he met Giovanni Boldini, a portrait painter with a facile, bravura style, who became a mentor and comrade, and strongly influenced his future artistic style. When he was 18 years old, Helleu established a close friendship with John Singer Sargent, four years his senior, that was to last his lifetime. Already becoming established, Sargent was receiving commissions for his work. Helleu had not sold anything, and was deeply discouraged 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 this, 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. Helleu was commissioned in 1884 to paint a portrait of a young woman named Alice Guérin (1870–1933). They fell in love, and married on 28 July 1886. Throughout their lives together, she was his favourite model. Charming, refined and graceful, she helped introduce them to the aristocratic circles of Paris, where they became popular fixtures. On a trip to London with Jacques-Émile Blanche in 1885, Helleu met Whistler again and visited other prominent artists. His introduction to James Jacques Tissot, an accomplished society painter from France who made his career in England, proved a revelation. In Tissot, Helleu saw, for the first time, the possibilities of drypoint etching with a diamond point stylus directly on a copper plate. Helleu quickly became a virtuoso of the technique, drawing with the same dynamic and sophisticated freedom with his stylus as with his pastels. His prints were very well received, and they had the added advantage that a sitter could have several proofs printed to give to relations or friends. Over the course of his career, Helleu produced more than 2,000 drypoint prints. Soon, Helleu was displaying works to much acclaim at several galleries. Degas encouraged him to submit paintings to the Eighth Impressionist Exhibition in May and June 1886. The show was installed in a Paris apartment at 1 rue Laffitte, which ran concurrently with the official Salon that year to make a statement. Although 17 artists joined the famous exhibit that included the first Neo-Impressionistic works, Helleu, like Monet, refused to participate. Paul Helleu Sketching with His Wife (1889), by John Singer Sargent, The Brooklyn Museum, New York In 1886, Helleu befriended Robert de Montesquiou, the poet and aesthete, who bought six of his drypoints to add to his large print collection. Montesquiou later wrote a book about Helleu that was published in 1913 with reproductions of 100 of his prints and drawings. This volume remains the definitive biography of Helleu. Montesquiou introduced Helleu to Parisian literary salons, where he met Marcel Proust, who also became a friend. Proust created a literary picture of Helleu in his novel Remembrance of Things Past as the painter Elstir. (Later, Helleu engraved a well-known portrait of Proust on his deathbed.) Montesquiou's cousin, the Countess Greffulhe, enabled Helleu to expand his career as a portrait artist to elegant women in the highest ranks of Paris society, portraits that provide the basis for his modern reputation. His subjects included the Duchess of Marlborough, the Marchesa Casati, Belle da Costa Greene, Louise Chéruit, and Helena Rubinstein. Looking for new inspiration, Helleu began a series of paintings and color prints of cathedrals and stained glass windows in 1893, followed by flower studies and landscapes of parks in Versailles. Helleu took up sailing, owning four yachts over his life. Ships, harbor views, life at port in Deauville, and women in their fashionable seaside attire became subjects for many vivid and spirited works. In 1904, Helleu was awarded the Légion d'honneur and became one of the most celebrated artists of the Edwardian era in both Paris and London. He was an honorary member in important beaux-arts societies, including the International Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers, headed by Auguste Rodin, and the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. On his second trip to the United States in 1912, Helleu was awarded the commission to design was the ceiling decoration in New York City's Grand Central Terminal. He decided on a mural of a blue-green night...

Beautiful art nouveau style poster by Lewis Baumer illustrating the seasons of fall and winter. Lewis Christopher Edward Baumer is best known as an Engli...

Beautiful art nouveau style poster by Lewis Baumer illustrating the seasons of Spring and Summer Lewis Christopher Edward Baumer is best known as an Engl...

Coleth The Lovers of Venice Carnival Original gouache and ink drawing (c. 1925) Signed bottom right On drawing paper 23 x 20 cm (c. 9 x 8 in) at view...

La Negresse (The Negress) Etching & drypoint, 1909 Unsigned (as issued in the portfolio) From the album "Les Bars" (8 plates plus cover illustration) Editi...

Dudley Hardy (1867 – 1922) was an English painter and illustrator. His interest in illustration led to the production of French graphic influenced poster imagery, most notably the Yellow Girl...

Ida Bagoes Ketut Diding, Artist on bali 1937 Signed with initials, dated and titled, bottom centre Black chalk on paper, 29 x 31 cm Literature: Ernst Braches en J.F. Heijbroek, W....