Paul César Helleu Figurative Prints

Paris: Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1892. Etching and dry point on cream laid paper. 7 9/16 x 5 7/8 inches (191 x 148 mm), full margins. Signed in pencil, lower right margin. A dark, ink...

Ellen de profil a gauche Drypoint, c. 1895 Signed in pencil lower right (see photo) Annotated "1e epreuve" or 1st proof lower left (see photo) A very rich impression with burr This image depicts the artist's daughter in profile. With an unidentified collector's mark "P.H." on the verso Reference: Not in IFF, extremely rare Condition: Excellent Plate size: 13 1/4 x 12 inches Frame size: 25 3/4 x 22 3/4 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...

Le Noeud Bleu (The Hat with the Blue Bow). c. 1905. Drypoint printed in four colors (black, brown, blue, red). Montesquieu 40. 21 x 13 (sheet 21/1/4 x 13 1/4). Edition 80. A fine im...

.c. 1901. Drypoint. . Montesquiou 8. 21 1/2 x 13 3/4 (sheet 24 3/8 x 12 3/4). Housed in a silk mat with a gold liner, in a gold leaf frame that measures 31 1/2 x 22 1/2. A rich impression printed on white wove paper with full margins. This portrait is the artist's master work. Signed in pencil in the image. In November 1896, Consuelo Vanderbilt...

This exquisite drypoint by Paul Cesar Helleu of his wife was created circa 1895. The drypoints that Paul Cesar Helleu made of his wife and family are considered the finest and most ...

Lady Carnarvon. c. 1901. Drypoint. 15 1/8 x 10 1/4 (sheet 17 5/8 x 12 5/8). Slight toning and mat line; otherwise fine condition. A rich impression printed on white wove paper. Signed, numbered in pencil and annotated 'Tireé à 10, planche detruite' (10 impressions printed, plate destroyed). Edition 10, #3. Housed in an archival French mat and a 25 1/2 x 20-inch silver leaf frame. A stunning presentation of the extremely rare image. Almina Victoria Marie Alexandra Wombell was the illegitimate child of Alfred de Rothschild, but grew up loved and pampered. She maintained a loving relationship with her father, who was exceptionally wealthy. The Carnarvon family needed an influx of money to maintain their estate at Highclere Castle...

Le Noeud Bleu (The Hat with the Blue Bow). c. 1905. Drypoint printed in four colors (black, brown, blue, red). Montesquieu 40. 21 x 13 (sheet 21/1/4 x 13 1/4). Edition 80, # 6. Good ...

An original signed drypoint etching on laid paper by French artist Paul Cesar Helleu (1859-1927) titled "Dormeuse sur un Canape", c. 1900. Hand pencil signed by Helleu lower right. A...