Paul César Helleu

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Paul César Helleu
PC Helleu, portrayed by John Singer Sargent in the 1880s ( watercolor )

Paul César Helleu (born December 17, 1859 in Vannes , Bretagne , † March 23, 1927 in Paris ) was a French painter, etcher and illustrator of realism . He is known for his portraits of the famous and most beautiful women in the Belle Époque and for the ceiling painting he designed in Grand Central Terminal in New York.

Life

Paul César Helleu did an apprenticeship as a ceramist and also took drawing lessons. Against the wishes of his widowed mother, he went to Paris in 1876 to study at the École des Beaux-Arts under the salon realist Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904). Within a very short time he made the acquaintance of the city's famous artists, including Henri Matisse , Edgar Degas , James Tissot and Giovanni Boldini and the writer and art collector Robert de Montesquiou . He soon became close friends with John Singer Sargent , but his circle of friends also included Auguste Rodin , Pierre-Auguste Renoir , James McNeill Whistler , Oscar Wilde , Coco Chanel , Charlie Chaplin and, above all, Marcel Proust . Helleu established himself as a successful painter of the rich and famous on Boulevard Saint-Germain in the 1890s . His wife, Alice Guérin (* 1874), was his muse and his preferred model .

Paul César Helleu's airily sketched paintings are sold at auctions at prices between $ 5,000 and $ 50,000.

Awards

Works (selection)

  • Peggy Letellier, pastel drawing, 1905

  • Mademoiselle Vaughan, pastel drawing, 1905

  • Elegant Woman at the Rail, pastel drawing, 1905

  • Camara, pastel drawing, 1905

  • Lady with Flowers, oil on canvas, 1910

  • Madame Helleu sur son yacht L'etoile, oil on canvas, around 1898–1900

  • On the sofa, pastel drawing, 1899

  • Madame Paul Helleu Seated at Her Secretaire, oil on canvas, 1900

  • Young woman in white (Mrs. Helleu), oil on canvas, 1900

  • Portrait of Mademoiselle Alice Guerin, oil on canvas, 1900

  • The Yacht Nereus in Roads Cowes, oil on canvas, 1900

  • Le Grand Pavois, oil on canvas, 1901

  • The Yacht Etoile, oil on canvas, 1903

  • The Harbor at Deauville, oil on canvas, 1911

  • Hydrangeas, pastel drawing, 1911

literature

  • Francesca Dini (Ed.): Boldini , Helleu, Sem . Protagonisti e miti della Belle Époque . Skira, Milan 2006, ISBN 88-7624-895-1 (catalog of the exhibition of the same name, Castello Pasquini, Castiglioncello, 7 July to 12 November 2006).

Web links

Commons : Paul César Helleu  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Glenn Palmer-Smith, Joshua McHugh, Graydon Carter: Les plus belles fresques de New York . Ed .: Laurent Lempereur. Gallimard, Paris 2014, ISBN 978-2-07-014685-7 , pp. 27 (Original Edition : Murals of New York City , Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 2013).
personal data
SURNAME Helleu, Paul César
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French painter, etcher and illustrator of realism
DATE OF BIRTH December 17, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH Vannes , Brittany
DATE OF DEATH March 23, 1927
Place of death Paris