Paul César Helleu

Paul César Helleu (Dec 17, 1859 - Mar 23, 1927) was a French oil painter, pastel artist, drypoint etcher, and designer, best known for his numerous portraits of beautiful society women of the Belle Époque He also conceived the ceiling mural of night sky constellations for Grand Central Terminal in New York City He was also the father of Jean Helleu and the grandfather of Jacques Helleu, both artistic directors for Parfums Chanel

Paul César Helleu was born in Vannes, Brittany, France His father, who was a customs inspector, died when Helleu was in his teens Despite opposition from his widowed mother, he then went to Paris and studied at Lycée Chaptal In 1876, at age 16, he was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts, beginning academic training in art with Jean-Léon Gérôme Helleu attended the Second Impressionist Exhibition in the same year, and made his first acquaintances with John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, and Claude Monet He was struck by their modern, bold alla prima technique and outdoor scenes, so far removed from the studio To survive following graduation, Helleu took a job with the firm Théodore Deck Ceramique Française hand-painting fine decorative plates At this same time, he met Giovanni Boldini, a portrait painter with a facile, bravura style, who became a mentor and comrade, and strongly influenced his future artistic style

When he was 18 years old, Helleu established a close friendship with John Singer Sargent, four years his senior, that was to last his lifetime Already becoming established, Sargent was receiving commissions for his work Helleu had not sold anything, and was deeply discouraged almost to the point of abandoning his studies When Sargent heard this, he went to Helleu and picked one of his paintings, praising his technique Flattered that Sargent would praise his work, he offered to give it to him Sargent replied, "I shall gladly accept this, Helleu, but not as a gift I sell my own pictures, and I know what they cost me by the time they are out of my hand I should never enjoy this pastel if I hadn't paid you a fair and honest price for it" With this he paid him a thousand-franc note

Among many of Helleu's friends was Coco Chanel, who picked beige as her signature colour upon the advice of the artist—the colour of the sand on the beach of Biarritz in the early morning Both his son Jean Helleu and his grandson Jacques Helleu became artistic directors for Parfums Chanel

Admitted into the École des Beaux-Arts in 1876, at the age of sixteen, Paul-César Helleu studied there with Jean-Léon Gerome, whom he accompanied to London in 1885 He developed a strong attachment to England, and was to return to London frequently throughout his career In Paris, his circle of intimate friends included his fellow artists Giovanni Boldini, Alfred Stevens, James Whistler, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet and, in particular, John Singer Sargent, with whom he briefly shared a studio and who bought a pastel from Helleu He exhibited a number of large pastel portraits at the Salons of 1885 and 1886, where they were greatly admired, and his career was launched with a large exhibition of pastels at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1888 Although friendly with many of the Impressionist painters and invited by Degas to participate in the eighth and final Impressionist exhibition of 1886, Helleu declined to do so, claiming a profound dislike of the work of Paul Gauguin The following year he met Comte Robert de Montesquieu, who was to become his leading patron and who, in 1913, published the first important monograph on the artist Helleu also enjoyed a long friendship with Marcel Proust, who based the character of the painter Elstir in A la recherche du temps perdu on him

Helleu was commissioned in 1884 to paint a portrait of a young woman named Alice Guérin (1870–1933) They fell in love, and married two years later, on 28 July 1886 Throughout their lives together, she was his favourite model Charming, refined and graceful, she helped introduce them to the aristocratic circles of Paris, where they were popular fixtures

On a trip to London with Jacques-Émile Blanche in 1885, Helleu met Whistler again and visited other prominent artists of the age His introduction to James Jacques Tissot, an accomplished society painter from France who made his career in England, proved to be a revelation From Tissot, Helleu saw, for the first time, the possibilities of drypoint etching with a diamond point stylus directly on a copper plate Helleu quickly became a virtuoso of the technique, drawing with the same dynamic and sophisticated freedom with his stylus as with his pastels His prints were very well received, and they had the added advantage that a sitter could have several proofs printed to give to relations or to friends Over the course of his career, Helleu produced more than 2,000 drypoint prints

Soon, Helleu was displaying works to much acclaim at several galleries Degas encouraged Helleu to submit paintings to the Eighth Impressionist Exhibition in May and June 1886 The show was installed in a Paris apartment at 1 rue Laffitte, which ran concurrently with the official Salon that year to make a statement Although 17 artists joined the famous exhibit that included the first Neo-Impressionistic works, Helleu, like Monet, refused to participate

In 1886, Helleu befriended Robert de Montesquiou, the poet and aesthete, who bought six of his drypoints to add to his large print collection Montesquiou later wrote a book about Helleu that was published in 1913 with reproductions of 100 of his prints and drawings This volume remains the definitive biography on Helleu Montesquiou introduced Helleu to Parisian literary salons, where he met Marcel Proust, who also became a friend Proust created a literary picture of Helleu in his novel Remembrance of Things Past as the painter Elstir (Later, Helleu was to engrave a well-known portrait of Proust on his deathbed) Montesquiou's cousin, the Countess Greffulhe, enabled Helleu to successfully expand his career as a portrait artist to elegant women in the highest ranks of Paris society, for which he is now most renowned His noteworthy subjects include the Duchess of Marlborough, the Marchesa Casati, Belle da Costa Greene, Louise Chéruit, and Helena Rubinstein

The 1890’s found Paul Helleu and his young wife Alice popular figures in polite society in both France and England, with the artist receiving numerous portrait commissions and enjoying considerable financial success Encouraged by his friend Sargent, Helleu began travelling to America in 1902, where his reputation had preceded him, and where he achieved much success as a portrait painter (despite apparently only knowing one word of English, namely the word ‘charming’) It was in 1912, on his second visit to New York, that he completed his most public work, the vaulted ceiling of the main hall of Grand Central Station, painted with the signs of the zodiac and the stars of the Milky Way Helleu’s later reputation, however, has rested primarily on his etched work, executed in the medium of drypoint First introduced to the etching medium by James Tissot, Helleu produced a large number of portraits of fashionable women in this manner, for which he charged up to 1,200 francs The popularity of these drypoints has, however, tended to overshadow his less numerous oil paintings and pastels In 1931, four years after Helleu’s death, a retrospective exhibition of his work was held at the Galerie Charpentier in Paris

Looking for new inspiration, Helleu began a series of paintings and color prints of cathedrals and stained glass windows in 1893, followed by flower studies and landscapes of parks in Versailles Helleu took up sailing, owning four yachts over his life Ships, harbor views, life at port in Deauville, and women in their fashionable seaside attire, became subjects for many vivid and spirited works

In 1904, Helleu was awarded the Légion d'honneur and became one of the most celebrated artists of the Edwardian era in both Paris and London He was an honorary member in important beaux-arts societies, including the International Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers, headed by Auguste Rodin, and the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts

On his second trip to the United States in 1912, Helleu was awarded the commission to design was the ceiling decoration in New York City's Grand Central Terminal He decided on a mural of a blue-green night sky covered by the starry signs of the zodiac that cross the Milky Way Although the astrological design was widely admired, the ceiling was covered in the 1930s More than sixty years later, in 1998, it was completely restored and millions of visitors and passengers at the station still marvel at Helleu's ceiling mural today

Helleu made his last trip to New York City in 1920 for an exhibition of his work, but he realized that the Belle Époque was over He felt out of touch, and shortly after his return to France, he destroyed nearly all of his copper plates, retiring to family life While planning for a new exhibition with Jean-Louis Forain, he died of peritonitis following surgery in Paris, in 1927 at age 67

A gifted portraitist, Helleu enjoyed considerable success throughout his career with his portraits of the elegant women of the beau monde of Paris, London and New York His subjects included the Comtesse Greffulhe, Queen Alexandra and Consuelo Vanderbilt, the Duchess of Marlborough These works were greatly admired by his contemporaries As Edmond de Goncourt noted in a letter to the artist, written in February 1895, ‘Your work has for its inspiration that dear model who fills all your compositions with her dainty elegance It is sort of a monograph on Woman, in all the infinite varied attitudes of her intimate home life We see her with her head lazily resting on the back of an arm chair;or seated in a reverie as she holds in her hand the foot crossed upon her knee; or, reading, while one lock of hair strays down her cheek, the “tip-tilted” nose assuming a questioning air, as with lips barely parted she seems to be happily interpreting what she reads; or else sleeping, her head sunk in the pillow, the line of her shoulders vaguely seen, her profile lost except for a glimpse of her pretty little nose, and her eye closed beneath its dark curved lashes’
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