Ellen

Etching with drypoint, image size 15 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches, c. 1890, edition of 20, pencil signed. Helleu began his art career when he enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and worked as an apprentice for Theodore Deck, decorating ceramic plates with women's portraits. He became friends with many artists of La Belle Epoch, including John Singer Sargent, Whistler, Tissot, Monet and Rodin, and became well known for his elegant portraits of women of French society. The young girl in this portrait is Helleu's daughter Ellen.