Lot Essay
The lifelong friendship between Paul-César Helleu and Sargent began in their early days as students in Paris, where Sargent was a pupil of Carolus-Duran and Helleu of Jean-Léon Gérôme.
According to Stanley Olson, their friendship began in 1877 when Sargent bought a pastel from Helleu. ‘They were constant companions, going everywhere together, having their meals together, seeing each other every day’. The two artists were near contemporaries (Sargent was the senior by just three years), but Helleu revered Sargent, who had inspired, promoted and supported him from the beginning of his career. In later years, Helleu wrote to his daughter: 'Sargent... has been like a father to me throughout my life.’ (Letter from Paul-César Helleu to Paulette Howard-Johnston, December 1922).
For a few summers in the mid-1880’s Sargent painted in Broadway in rural Worcestershire amidst a creative hub of American artists and visiting friends. For the next few painting seasons, Sargent revisited his Impressionist experiments in riverside settings at Henley (1887), Calcot (1888) and Fladbury (1889). Elaine Kilmurray observes, “The spirit of creative endeavour is reflected in his outdoor studies of fellow artists at work [in] Paul Helleu and his wife at Fladbury’.
During the summer of 1889 Sargent had a number of guests to stay at Fladbury Rectory in Worcestershire, near the northern edge of the Cotswold’s, where he was staying with his family. including Vernon Lee, Anstruther Thomson, Flora Priestly and Paul-César and Alice Helleu. Helleu's intimate portrait of his wife and favourite model, Alice (née Louis Guérin) at Fladbury was painted in that summer when both he and Sargent were experimenting in Impressionism. Both Sargent and Helleu had recently been introduced to Claude Monet at Giverney. In Fladbury, Sargent completed, among others, Two Girls with Parasols at Fladbury, A Boating Party and probably the best known of the Fladbury pictures Paul Helleu sketching with his Wife.
Of Sargent’s An Out-of-Doors Study (Paul-César Helleu sketching with his wife, Fladbury), William H. Gerdts writes about the shared impressionist development of Helleu and Sargent during this creative time:
What is certain is that it is an outdoor view, immediately recorded. Moreover, Helleu, like Sargent, was first and foremost a portrait painter, and by definition a portraitist of studio conceptions. Thus, Sargent presents Helleu as a convert to the new method, exploring new thematic interests. And it must be noted that Helleu is depicted doing exactly what Sargent was doing in his picture-painting out-of-doors. Helleu therefore becomes, in a sense, a surrogate Sargent himself, both men established artists in one tradition, sailing off into what was for them relatively uncharted waters’.
During the summer of 1889, Helleu painted two portraits of his wife reading in Fladbury. In one work she is depicted sitting indoors, her posture upright and tense, as if aware that she is being observed by the artist. The white tones of her outfit disappear into the cold tones of the wall around the window frames.
Our larger work is a far more intimate image. Alice Helleu is engrossed in her book. Her knowing taught pose is replaced by an engaged posture as she leans into her book. The cold flat surfaces of the wall are replaced by the scrolling decoration around the balcony. Sunlight dapples around the window and the walls. Nature reaches into the scene in the form of a blossoming branch which appears to gently touch the pages of the book, as if inviting Alice to view the outside world. The boat- which appeared to be moored at rest in the other painting - now has it’s canvas sail up and sails over the glimmering river in the distance. The movement of this boat accentuates the stillness of the sitter as she is absorbed in the story before her.
Creating this image called on Helleu the portrait artist to focus on the colourful and moving world outside of the window. It is a turning point akin to Sargent’s An Out-of-Doors Study (Paul-César Helleu sketching with his wife, Fladbury) – a moment when the artist’s brush successfully moves forwards into impressionism.
According to Stanley Olson, their friendship began in 1877 when Sargent bought a pastel from Helleu. ‘They were constant companions, going everywhere together, having their meals together, seeing each other every day’. The two artists were near contemporaries (Sargent was the senior by just three years), but Helleu revered Sargent, who had inspired, promoted and supported him from the beginning of his career. In later years, Helleu wrote to his daughter: 'Sargent... has been like a father to me throughout my life.’ (Letter from Paul-César Helleu to Paulette Howard-Johnston, December 1922).
For a few summers in the mid-1880’s Sargent painted in Broadway in rural Worcestershire amidst a creative hub of American artists and visiting friends. For the next few painting seasons, Sargent revisited his Impressionist experiments in riverside settings at Henley (1887), Calcot (1888) and Fladbury (1889). Elaine Kilmurray observes, “The spirit of creative endeavour is reflected in his outdoor studies of fellow artists at work [in] Paul Helleu and his wife at Fladbury’.
During the summer of 1889 Sargent had a number of guests to stay at Fladbury Rectory in Worcestershire, near the northern edge of the Cotswold’s, where he was staying with his family. including Vernon Lee, Anstruther Thomson, Flora Priestly and Paul-César and Alice Helleu. Helleu's intimate portrait of his wife and favourite model, Alice (née Louis Guérin) at Fladbury was painted in that summer when both he and Sargent were experimenting in Impressionism. Both Sargent and Helleu had recently been introduced to Claude Monet at Giverney. In Fladbury, Sargent completed, among others, Two Girls with Parasols at Fladbury, A Boating Party and probably the best known of the Fladbury pictures Paul Helleu sketching with his Wife.
Of Sargent’s An Out-of-Doors Study (Paul-César Helleu sketching with his wife, Fladbury), William H. Gerdts writes about the shared impressionist development of Helleu and Sargent during this creative time:
What is certain is that it is an outdoor view, immediately recorded. Moreover, Helleu, like Sargent, was first and foremost a portrait painter, and by definition a portraitist of studio conceptions. Thus, Sargent presents Helleu as a convert to the new method, exploring new thematic interests. And it must be noted that Helleu is depicted doing exactly what Sargent was doing in his picture-painting out-of-doors. Helleu therefore becomes, in a sense, a surrogate Sargent himself, both men established artists in one tradition, sailing off into what was for them relatively uncharted waters’.
During the summer of 1889, Helleu painted two portraits of his wife reading in Fladbury. In one work she is depicted sitting indoors, her posture upright and tense, as if aware that she is being observed by the artist. The white tones of her outfit disappear into the cold tones of the wall around the window frames.
Our larger work is a far more intimate image. Alice Helleu is engrossed in her book. Her knowing taught pose is replaced by an engaged posture as she leans into her book. The cold flat surfaces of the wall are replaced by the scrolling decoration around the balcony. Sunlight dapples around the window and the walls. Nature reaches into the scene in the form of a blossoming branch which appears to gently touch the pages of the book, as if inviting Alice to view the outside world. The boat- which appeared to be moored at rest in the other painting - now has it’s canvas sail up and sails over the glimmering river in the distance. The movement of this boat accentuates the stillness of the sitter as she is absorbed in the story before her.
Creating this image called on Helleu the portrait artist to focus on the colourful and moving world outside of the window. It is a turning point akin to Sargent’s An Out-of-Doors Study (Paul-César Helleu sketching with his wife, Fladbury) – a moment when the artist’s brush successfully moves forwards into impressionism.