Portrait of a young lady – Paul César Helleu, ca. 1900

Portrait d’une jeune femme regardant vers sa gauche. Drypoint etching, made by Paul César Helleu around 1900. Pencil-signed at lower right. Size: 40 × 28 cm.

At the mention of the name Helleu, one immediately thinks of the Belle Époque: an era of elegance and cosmopolitan refinement that extended from the late nineteenth century until the outbreak of the First World War.

Paul César Helleu (1859–1927) began his career as an apprentice ceramicist while also taking drawing lessons. In 1876, following the death of his father, he moved—against his mother’s wishes—to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts. There he quickly became part of artistic circles associated with Impressionism and came into contact with artists such as Edgar Degas, James Jacques Tissot, and Giovanni Boldini, as well as influential figures from the literary and social world, including Robert de Montesquiou.

In 1884 Helleu received a commission to portray the young aristocratic woman Alice Guérin. Two years later she became his wife. Through her, he was introduced into the highest social circles of Paris, where he rose to become one of the most sought-after portrait artists of the beau monde.

Helleu’s style, characterized by exceptional feminine grace and refinement, was admired not only in Paris but also found great acclaim among high society in London and New York. His sitters included Consuelo Vanderbilt, Marchesa Casati, Belle da Costa Greene, Louise Chéruit, and Helena Rubinstein.

Helleu was also a virtuoso of drypoint etching, a technique in which a diamond-tipped needle is used to draw directly onto a copper plate. In this medium, he employed the same free, dynamic, and refined line as in his pastels.

Price: Euro 1.250,-