Etching with drypoint, C. 1900. Pencil signed in the lower right. There is a repaired tear at the bottom of the print, not in the image. There are also some thin spots on the back of the paper. Plate measures 23 x 13 1/2 inches on 24 1/2 x 16 3/4 inch wove type paper. A well inked, captivating portrait. 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. He traveled between France and America, and in 1912 was commissioned to create the astrological ceiling decoration in New York's Grand Central Station.
