PAUL CÉSAR HELLEU (Vannes, 1859 – Paris, 1927) - Elegant young woman on the Bird Bridge (c. 1900)

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Feb 25, 2026

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• Lot Description
  Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 81.3 x 60 cm. Signed lower left “Helleu”. Framed in profile. A refined and luminous scene depicting an elegantly dressed young woman on the deck of the Bird, the artist's sailing ship, around 1900. The figure, captured with naturalness and distinction, embodies the feminine ideal that made Helleu one of the great portraitists of the Belle Époque. The sea breeze suggests movement in the clothing, while the open atmosphere of the sea lends freshness and modernity to the composition. Helleu was one of the most admired painters and printmakers of his time, celebrated especially for his female portraits and his masterful drypoint etchings. A friend of James Abbott McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent, and Claude Monet, he masterfully integrated into his style the linear elegance and luminous sensitivity characteristic of the fin de siècle. He initially painted portraits of his wife, Alice Guérin (1869–1921), his favorite model, but soon established himself as the fashionable portraitist of Parisian high society. His fascination with the sea and sailing profoundly influenced his work: a passionate sailor, he spent long periods aboard his vessel, finding inspiration both in the seascape and in the sophisticated silhouettes of the women around him. His style, characterized by graceful lines, understated elegance, and the exaltation of femininity, was widely appreciated in Paris, London, and New York, a city he began to visit frequently from 1902 onward. In addition to his paintings, he distinguished himself as one of the great masters of drypoint, a medium in which he achieved a remarkable international reputation. Provenance: Christie's, November 25, 1988, lot 76. Private collection, Paris. Note: Les Amis de Paul-César Helleu, catalogue raisonné number APCH HU2-1560. Bibliography: F. De Watrigant, Paul-César Helleu, Paris, 2014, p. 217, reproduced in color on p. 216. Lot in international warehouse (outside the EU). For shipments to the ...
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