Artist

Paul César Helleu

Paul César Helleu prints bring the grace and glamour of Belle Époque Paris into your home. Helleu was famous for his portraits of beautiful society women, drawn with dazzling speed in drypoint and pastel, and he designed the celestial ceiling of New York's Grand Central...Read more

Paul César Helleu prints bring the grace and glamour of Belle Époque Paris into your home. Helleu was famous for his portraits of beautiful society women, drawn with dazzling speed in drypoint and pastel, and he designed the celestial ceiling of New York's Grand Central Terminal. Our collection of fine art prints includes his portraits of his wife Alice and daughters, society beauties, nudes and yachting scenes.

About Paul César Helleu

Paul César Helleu was born in Vannes, Brittany, on 17 December 1859. After his father's death he went to Paris, against his mother's wishes, and in 1876 entered the École des Beaux-Arts under Jean-Léon Gérôme. The same year he saw the second Impressionist exhibition and met John Singer Sargent, Whistler and Monet. He worked for a time hand-painting plates for the ceramics firm of Théodore Deck.

Sargent became a lifelong friend and bought one of his pastels when Helleu was close to giving up. In 1884 he was commissioned to paint the young Alice Guérin; they married in 1886, and she remained his favourite model. On a trip to London in 1885 with Jacques-Émile Blanche he met James Tissot, who introduced him to drypoint etching with a diamond point, and Helleu became a virtuoso of the technique, making more than 2,000 prints.

Robert de Montesquiou introduced him to the literary salons, where he befriended Marcel Proust, who drew on him for the painter Elstir in his great novel. Countess Greffulhe helped him become the portraitist of the most elegant women in Paris. In 1912 he won the commission for the ceiling of Grand Central Terminal in New York. He died in Paris on 23 March 1927.

Style and Subjects

Helleu drew with quick, sweeping lines that capture the turn of a head, a cascade of hair or the swirl of a gown. His drypoints and pastels have the freshness of sketches but the elegance of finished portraits.

His women are slender and graceful, often seen in profile, reading, resting or holding a fan. He loved yachts and the sea, and painted sailing scenes and his family aboard ship, as well as views of Versailles.

Famous Works

Portrait of a Lady (1884), Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida. An early portrait, possibly of Madame van Cleef.
On the Beach, Dieppe (1885), Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen. An early seaside view in grey tones.
In Front of the Watteaus in the Louvre (about 1895), National Gallery of Art, Washington. A woman studying Watteau's paintings, one of his best-known drypoints.
Woman Seated (1895), Brooklyn Museum. A society woman at ease.
The Yacht Nereus in Cowes Roads (1900), Musée d'Orsay, Paris. A sailing yacht at anchor off the Isle of Wight.
Madame Helleu Cradling Paulette in Her Arms (1904), National Gallery of Art, Washington. His wife holding their baby daughter.
Portrait of Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough. The American heiress in one of his famous society portraits.

Decorating with Helleu Prints

Helleu's elegant women suit bedrooms, dressing rooms and sitting rooms. His drypoints, with their fine lines and soft tones, look beautiful in slim gold or white frames, and a group of portraits makes a graceful gallery wall.

His portraits of his wife and children, such as Madame Helleu Cradling Paulette, are tender choices for a nursery or family room, and his yachting scenes, such as Madame Helleu aboard the Yacht Bird, suit a coastal home.

FAQ

Who was Paul César Helleu?

Paul César Helleu was a French painter, pastel artist and drypoint etcher who lived from 1859 to 1927. He is best known for portraits of society women of the Belle Époque.

What is drypoint?

Drypoint is a printmaking technique in which lines are scratched directly into a metal plate. Helleu used a diamond point on copper, a method he learned from James Tissot, and made more than 2,000 prints.

Did Helleu design the ceiling of Grand Central Terminal?

Yes. In 1912 he won the commission for the ceiling decoration of Grand Central Terminal in New York, showing the constellations of the night sky.

What was Helleu's connection to Proust?

He met Marcel Proust in the Paris salons, and Proust drew on him for the painter Elstir in In Search of Lost Time. Helleu later made a drypoint of Proust on his deathbed.