Size: 6.5 x 9.25 inches without frame; 12 x 14 inches with frame
Artist: Helleu, Paul César
A framed illustration from the well known and revered French magazine Cocorico, circa 1899. Cocorico was a French magazine first published in 1898. It was produced by the artist Paul-Émile Boutigny and featured many artists of the Art Nouveau movement including Alphonse Mucha, August Rodin, and Paul Helleu.
Helleu (1859 – 1927) was a French painter, pastel artist, drypoint etcher and designer, best known for his numerous portraits of beautiful society women of the Belle Epoque. He attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and was friendly with John Singer Sergeant, James McNeill Whistler and Claude Monet. Another friend, the Italian Giovanni Boldini, a portrait painter with a facile, bravura style, became Helleu's mentor and comrade, and strongly influenced his future artistic style.
The sketch has been double matted and professionally framed. I think it would look lovely in a woman's dressing room, a young girl's bedroom, or any place that could use a bit of Old World elegance.
A bit of Helleu Trivia: Paul César was the father of Jean Helleu and the grandfather of Jacques Helleu, both artistic directors for Parfums Chanel.