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Lot Essay
We are grateful to Madame Paulette Howard Johnston who has confirmed the authenticity of this lot and provided the following additional information.
Helleu met the 'Kelly sisters' Margaret and Dorothy, in the elegant Normandy seaside resort of Deauville before the First World War. They were the daughters of wealthy Americans who resided there from 1910 until after the War. Madame Paulette Howard Johnston, the artist's daughter, although just a little girl at the time remembers them well as being snappy and sporty dressers, which she points out, was difficult for French women prior to and during the First World War. Helleu was always impressed by feminine elegance and 'Frenchified' their names to Marguerite and Dorothée.
Helleu met the 'Kelly sisters' Margaret and Dorothy, in the elegant Normandy seaside resort of Deauville before the First World War. They were the daughters of wealthy Americans who resided there from 1910 until after the War. Madame Paulette Howard Johnston, the artist's daughter, although just a little girl at the time remembers them well as being snappy and sporty dressers, which she points out, was difficult for French women prior to and during the First World War. Helleu was always impressed by feminine elegance and 'Frenchified' their names to Marguerite and Dorothée.