Les Hortensias. Woman with a Vase of Hortensias. A Study of Mme Helleu. by Paul Helleu, 1859-1927

Paul Helleu, 1859-1927
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Les Hortensias. Woman with a Vase of Hortensias. A Study of Mme Helleu.

Original drypoint in black ink. c. 1895. Signed in pencil twice (below the image and again lower right sheet edge with the early signature). From a very small unissued edition - probably less than 10 impressions. Very rare.

Beautiful extremely rich impression with extensive burr and ink tone. On pale cream laid Arches paper. Excellent original condition, not restored. A trace of time soiling from previous mounting at the extreme outer sheet edge - top verso. Full margins. Sheet: 12 x 17 3/8ins. Plate: 8 x 11ins (200x280mm)

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A beautiful intimate study of Mme Helleu worked in drypoint rich in burr and with a hand-wiped tone of ink on the plate creating luminosity of surface.

Helleu was a draughtsman of incomparable style and elegance. His drawing captured to the ultimate the style and atmosphere of fin-de-sičcle Paris. His work was in many ways at its most beautiful and its most relaxed in the private studies he made of his wife and children. Never drawn with the intention of sale, they were made of the sheer pleasure and satisfaction of the art and it gives them a very special sense of intimacy.

Helleu drew such studies as this of his wife with a bunch of hortensias directly from life onto the copperplate using a diamond-point. They have tremendous immediacy of line, the strokes ranging from the most delicate shading to rich shadow filled with burr. It is not known how many impressions of this study exist, but other such works were only pulled in perhaps 4 or five proofs. The unworn surface of the copperplate means that the drypoint retains all the deepest texture and tone in the strokes.