PAUL CÉSAR HELLEU (1859-1927)
Suzanne, Étude de cinq têtes Signed ‘Helleu’ & ...

Suzanne, Étude de cinq têtes Signed ‘Helleu’ & dedicated to ‘Carmen’ (lower right) Chalk and pencil on paper 59.69 x 75.56 cm Provenance: Nevill Keating; Private collection of Ros Palmer, Australia; Private Collection, United Kingdom
Paul César Helleu was a French oil painter, pastel artist and designer famous for his po- pular portraits of beautiful women from the Belle Epoque. Author of the sky constella- tions for Grand Central Station in New York City, he built himself a name internationally. Among his friends was Coco Chanel, for whom his son Jean Helleu and his grand- son Jacques Helleu became artistic direc- tors in the Perfume section. They kept in mind Paul César’s passion for the repre- sentation of glamorous and charming wo- men and worked many years with Chanel, portraying perfectly what she intended.