Paul César Helleu

One of the more highly sought after portraitists of his time, Paul-César Helleu began his studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under the great 19th-century master Jean-Léon Gérôme. Departing from his teacher?s highly academic style, Helleu developed his own technique of working in pastel in a very stylistic but more loosely applied application, which reflected the movements of late 19th-century art. His light touch and svelte lines earned him the title ?Le Watteau à vapeur? among his contemporaries.

Selected Museum Collections:
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux; Boston, Museum of Fine Arts; London, Tate Gallery; Minneapolis Institute of Art; Paris, Louvre; Saint-Petersburg, Hermitage; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco;