WHAT: Paul-César Helleu's portrait of Madame Helleu, 1901, in red, black and white chalk on paper
WHERE TO FIND IT: IU Art Museum
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: In a world before television and super models, an artist's vision often set the standard for female beauty. Such was the case with Paul-César Helleu, a young Impressionist painter and student of Jean-Léon Gérôme. Known as a superb draftsman who described himself as "the grandson of Ingres," Helleu is best remembered for his portraits of fashionable women. It was his wife Alice, however, who proved his perfect subject, posing for countless paintings, drawings and drypoint prints. Prompted by a blossoming feminist movement in France at the turn of the century, a new style of women's portraiture had begun to emerge, showing a femme nouvelle as more than mere decorative fodder. Pensive yet actively engaged, simple but elegant, she is devoid of frivolity.
