Paul César
Helleu
1859-1927
John Singer
Sargent's close friend
Paul Helleu had a dazzling career as a society portraitist. But
it
might not have ever started if it weren't for JSS (See Paul
Helleu Sketching, 1899)
It may come as a
surprise to many
that Helleu was also the creator of the astrological ceiling decoration
in New York's Grand Central Station (1912)
When John Singer
Sargent sketched
the informal portrait of his friend (the Portrait of Paul Helleu above)
the use of pastel as a medium is very deliberate on Sargent's part.
John,
from what I can tell, hardly ever used pastel, but his friend Helleu
used
it quite extensively (though the sampling of paintings here doesn't
fully
reflect it). By the use of pastel John has made it all the more
personal
to his friend.
The Columbia
Encyclopedia, Sixth
Edition. 2001.
1859–1927, French
drypoint etcher
and painter. He is best known for his drypoint studies and portraits of
fashionable women, which have the spontaneity of rapid sketches. His
nearly
1,500 drypoints were often printed in two or more colors. An example of
his painting, The Windows of Saint Denis, is in the Museum of Fine Arts
in Boston.
In 1884 he
undertook to paint
the young Alice Louis Guérin, then only aged 14 years old, with
whom he fell in love. After a two year courtship her parents relented
and
the couple were married. Their first child was "Ellen", later to
become one of her fathers favorite models, was born in 1887.
From:
kaylopatafineart
La Belle Epoque
(the Beutiful time)
Helleu knew as a young
boy in Vannes
that he wanted to be an artist and even the premature death of his
father
and subsequent
loss of financial
security did not
deter him from seeking an education in the arts in Paris. He enrolled
at
the Ecole des Beaux
Arts and supported
himself with
an apprenticeship at the ceramist Theodore Deck where his marvelous
plate
decorations
established him as a
gifted painter
of women's portraits. He soon became friends with some of the leading
artists
of the day,
including Tissot,
Whistler, Monet,
Sargent, Rodin and Alfred Stevens, who recognized his great talent and
encouraged him to
continue his endeavors
not only
in oils and pastels, but in prints as well. It was, in fact, Tissot, in
a state of despair after the
death of Kathleen
Newton and determined
never to make etchings again, who gave his engraving diamond and tools
to Helleu
and effectively opened
up a new
medium of expression to this budding artist.
In 1884, Helleu was
commissioned
to paint a portrait of a young Alice Guérin with whom he fell
madly
in love and married two
years later. He adored
her throughout
their life together and the image of Alice and their children was the
subject
of many of his
drawings and
prints.
In 1886 Helleu had
the good fortune
to meet le compte Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac, who became his patron
and introduced him
to
the aristocracy of Paris. He was very well liked and soon the society
ladies
were clamoring to have Helleu do their
portraits. Soon his client list read like a "Who's Who" of Paris and
London
with the Duchess of Marlborough and the Countess
of Greffulhe among his better known models.
Helleu's portraits
were usually drawn
in a large format with sweeping lines and with the face and head
occupying
most of the space.
This
style of drawing was very well suited to be printed as a drypoint
engraving
which emphasized the sketchy quality
without heavy
tonalities. Helleu's
drypoints were only published in very small editions, often less than
20
examples, and he was
able to maintain very
high standards
in the quality of the prints.
Of all the famous
and beautiful women
whom Helleu immortalized in print, it was his wife whom he drew with
the
greatest
respect and
admiration. His many
portraits of the enchanting Alice are among his most outstanding images
&endash;
emotionally intimate,
delicately
colored, and imbued with love.
Helleu also moved
among literary
circles and became great friends with Marcel Proust who based the
character
of the painter
Elstir in "A la
recherche du temps
perdu" on his friend. He requested Helleu do his portrait on his
deathbed
&endash; and in
1922 Helleu obliged
with a profile
done in drypoint.
Helleu traveled
often to England,
Holland, and even the United States. In 1912 he received the commission
to paint the ceiling
of New York's Grand
Central Terminal,
a masterpiece which was recently cleaned and restored to the great
pleasure
of the
commuting public who
still pause
to look up at his nighttime sky en route to their trains.
However, by
Helleu's last trip to
New York, in 1920, the fashion had changed and his popularity had
faded.
The elegance of
the Belle Epoque had
been replaced
by the Roaring Twenties and women no longer wished to be portrayed in
his
elegant,
romantic style. The
trip convinced
him that he was no longer in touch with the post World War I esthetic
and
he went into
retirement upon
returning to France.
He destroyed the copper plates from which his drypoints had been
printed
and retreated
into his family life.
Helleu died
of peritonitis in 1927
Forum
From: Collector
Cafe:
Paul Cesar HELLEU
(1859-1927)
By Christina Sanderson
April 14, 2000
Paul César
Helleu was born
in Vannes, France in 1859. As a young boy he immediately took a
passionate
interest in art. His father died when Paul César was still young
and his mother was not keen on her son following the unstable
profession
of an artist. Helleu was however, a determined young man and by the age
of seventeen he had moved to Paris to study at the Ecole des Beaux
Arts.
Helleu rejected the classical academic approach to painting that he was
taught at art school and instead embraced Impressionism. Helleu formed
close friendships with Degas, Rodin, Renoir and particularly Monet who
became a close friend and companion.
Helleu’s closest
friend was John
Singer Sargent and it was he who inspired Helleu to become a
portraitist.
In 1884, Helleu was invited by Monsieur and Madame Guérin
to execute a portrait of their fourteen year old daughter Alice -
Helleu
immediately fell madly in love with her. In 1886 they were married,
Alice
being only sixteen years old. During the early 1890s, Helleu and his
young
wife were popular figures in the aristocratic circles frequented by the
élite of European society. Helleu forged friendships with
many of the greatest authors of the time. Marcel Proust held Helleu in
high regard and used him as a model for the artist Elistir in his epic
work, A la recherche du temps perdu. Helleu adored the company of
beautiful
women and was introduced to many elegant, fashionable women who became
principle sitters for his portraits.
Helleu’s wife Alice
was undoubtedly
his favourite model, she was charming, refined and graceful and his
portraits
of her are drawn with intimate sensitivity. In his portrait of her,
Alice
Helleu is depicted with her back to the viewer, sitting at a secretaire
in her husband’s study, wearing an elegant white dress, which is in
harmony
with the colours of the room. Despite the fashion for sombre
interiors,
Paul and Alice Helleu decorated their homes entirely in shades of
white.
The walls were white and furniture upholstered in white Louis XIV
damask.
This innovative design scheme won instant approval from Oscar Wilde and
James McNeil Whistler and formed the background for Helleu’s paintings
and etchings.
(Collector Cafe)
Women
prints
French, 1859 - 1927
Helleu started his artistic career as a ceramist, but at the age of
17 he came to Paris to study under Gérôme, the academic
painter,
learning to paint such scenes as landscapes and churches. He soon began
his career of painting and etching portraits, for which he is know
universally
known. His subjects were the sophisticated ladies of the belle
époque
era - the society described in the novels of Marcel Proust . He was a
great
wit and dandy and was described by the greatest aesthete of the day,
Robert
de Montesquieu, as the 'Master of Elegance'. Amongst his close friends
were Monet, Whistler, Sargent and particularly J.J.Tissot. Tissot had
bee
the master etcher of the Belle Époque but he recognized Helleu's
great talent in drawing and persuaded him in 1885 to begin making
drypoints.
To encourage Helleu, Tissot gave him a diamond point which enhanced his
unique talent. His prints included the splendid society portraits of
elegant
ladies in superb hats and the intimate portraits of his own family and
close friends.
In 1904 he was awarded the Legion d'honneur and became one of the most
celebrated artists in Paris and London of the Edwardian era and an
honorary
member of the most important beaux-arts societies. His sitters included
the most famous and beautiful women of the times.
Helleu executed a few hundreds of these drypoint portraits and it is
deplorable that no catalogue raisonné exists of these important
works. Neither before nor since has anyone matched the virtuosity of
his
technique of capturing the grace and beauty of his sitters. The edition
sizes are not recorded but they varied from about five to perhaps as
many
as a hundred.
what is dry Point
Drypoint
In drypoint, the artist "draws" directly on a copper
plate with a sharp
stylus. No etching is involved. The point of the stylus creates a
"burr"
of copper on either side as it is scored through the metal. In the
printing
process, the burr holds additional ink, giving the finished print a
velvety
richness unique to this method.
In the United States the La Belle
Epoque was expressed most elequantely in the Gibson
Girls
Notes
4 paintings at the Boston Fine Arts no images online
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