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Lot Essay
Paul-César Helleu (1859-1927) was one of the most successful and popular portraitists of the Belle Epoque and his oeuvre in oil, pastel, pencil and print provides a wonderful visual record of prominent individuals of his day. Despite attending the Ecole des Beaux-Arts as a pupil in the studio of Jean-Léon Gérome, Helleu was greatly attracted to the emerging Impressionists, and after the Second Impressionist Exhibition in 1876, he developed a close affiliation with the group, though he never exhibited with them, retaining his independence.
Helleu was very close with the American painter John Singer Sargent, with whom he shared a studio in Paris. It was Sargent who encouraged Helleu to become a portraitist, and it was through portrait painting that Helleu met his future wife, Alice Louis-Guerin, who became his favorite model and is depicted here in Madame Helleu on the yacht Etoile. This painting depicts Helleu's other love-the sea-as he was an avid sailor and owned several yachts during his lifetime.
During the 1890s Helleu became acquainted with the elite of European society and was introduced to the fashionable women who became the sitters for his portraits, such as the Comtesse de Greffulhe, who invited him to stay at her chateau where he made over one hundred sketches of her. He also met the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, whose wife, Princess Alexandra, became the subject of one of his portraits. His other illustrious sitters included Princess Patricia of Connaught, Grand Duchess Kyril of Russia, and Consuelo Vanderbilt, the American-born Duchess of Marlborough. In New York Helleu sketched Ethel Barrymore and Mrs. Beekman, among others, and was also commissioned to decorate the ceiling of the Great Hall at Grand Central Station.
Helleu was very close with the American painter John Singer Sargent, with whom he shared a studio in Paris. It was Sargent who encouraged Helleu to become a portraitist, and it was through portrait painting that Helleu met his future wife, Alice Louis-Guerin, who became his favorite model and is depicted here in Madame Helleu on the yacht Etoile. This painting depicts Helleu's other love-the sea-as he was an avid sailor and owned several yachts during his lifetime.
During the 1890s Helleu became acquainted with the elite of European society and was introduced to the fashionable women who became the sitters for his portraits, such as the Comtesse de Greffulhe, who invited him to stay at her chateau where he made over one hundred sketches of her. He also met the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, whose wife, Princess Alexandra, became the subject of one of his portraits. His other illustrious sitters included Princess Patricia of Connaught, Grand Duchess Kyril of Russia, and Consuelo Vanderbilt, the American-born Duchess of Marlborough. In New York Helleu sketched Ethel Barrymore and Mrs. Beekman, among others, and was also commissioned to decorate the ceiling of the Great Hall at Grand Central Station.