Femme Elegante au Manteau Haut-Col. An Elegant Lady with a High-Collar Coat. by Paul Helleu, 1859-1927

Paul Helleu, 1859-1927
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Femme Elegante au Manteau Haut-Col. An Elegant Lady with a High-Collar Coat.

Original chalk drawing in three colours (trois crayons) - black, sanguine and white - over drypoint in black ink. c.1900. Signed in pencil. Unique in this form - no edition.
Note: we have not traced any record of an edition of the drypoint plate alone, without the chalk drawing. Unique.

Extremely fresh chalk drawing over a rich impression of the drypoint. On pale cream laid Van Gelder paper. Excellent condition. Full margins. Sheet: 22 1/2 x 15ins. Plate: 15 3/8 x 8 1/8ins (390x208mm)

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A superb example of Helleu's draughtsmanship in a unique example worked in mixed media - blac, sanguine (red) and white chalk over drypoint.

Helleu's drawing epitomises all the elegance of style and way-of-life which was the essence of that unique period in Paris at the end of the 19th century, now so often known as 'La Belle Epoque'. Drawing was the crucial medium of Helleu's art; his line having a flow, an expressive delicacy, a quality of tone and an atmosphere of period which is unmatched. His two great drawing media were drypoint and 'trois crayons' - chalk drawings in which strokes of black and sanguine (sometimes with white heightening as here) are interwoven. In this study of an unknown society lady at the turn of the century he has, very unusually, combined the fine incision and textural richness of copperplate drypoint with hand-drawn chalk in three tones. The combination creates a richness of surface and light which is especially beautiful.

This mixed-media work is certainly unique, and no edition of the drypoint alone is recorded or known, so probably only a few proofs exist.