Paul César Helleu

Paul César Helleu (1859–1927) was a French Belle Époque painter and printmaker celebrated for his elegant depictions of fashionable Parisian women, known as 'mondaines.' Closely associated with the Impressionist circle, he was a friend of John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, and James McNeill Whistler, whose influence is evident in his refined, linear style. He is particularly renowned for his drypoint etchings and pastel portraits that captured the grace and sophistication of high society at the turn of the twentieth century.