Three studies of a young girl

Helleu often sketched his children Ellen, Jean and Paulette, and his wife Alice. They appear in some of his most intimate and charming drawings. Most likely the young girl depicted three times on this large sheet is the artist's daughter Ellen. The girl is recognizable by her bangs as she was drawn many times throughout her childhood by her father. She appears with the same haircut, for example, in a drawing aux trois crayons, dated 1893 (private collection; F. de Watrigant, Paul-César Helleu, Paris, 2014, p. 191, ill.).

The drawing bears two stamps with Helleu's signature (lower right and left corners). These were added by Paulette Howard-Johnston, one of the artist's daughters, on her father's unsigned drawings.