Paul César HELLEU - Femme rousse, Lithographie

Paul-César Helleu : (1859-1927) is a french painter and engraver, who was a student of Jean-Léon Gérôme. He was a close friend of James Abbott McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent, and Claude Monet. At the end of the 1880's, he steps in the parisian society, and becomes a trendy portraitist. The "Helleu style" is characterized by elegance et refinement, feminine grace, and was very successful in Paris, London, as well as in New York, where he goes starting from 1902. He was commissioned to decorate the ceiling of Grand Central Terminal hall, with the theme of Zodiac signs: a starry vault, crossed by a zodiac with gold signs, and a silver milky way. His works can be found at the Musée des Beaux Arts de Nantes (France), Nykytaiteen museo Kiasma (Finland), Indianapolis Museum of Art (The USA), Musée d'Art moderne et contemporain de Strasbourg (France), Fondation Bemberg (France), Wichita Art Museum (The USA), Tate Collection (Royaume Uni), Auckland Art Gallery (Australia), Musée Bonnat (France), Musée des Beaux Arts, Rouen (France)...
César : (1921-1998) known as César, is a french sculptor, born in 1921 in Marseille and died in 1998 in Paris. He is the creator of the eponym bronze trophy (created in 1976) celebrating the French cinema. In 1935 he studied at The School of Fine Arts of Marseille with Raymond Normand. Then, in 1943, at the National Superior School of Fine Arts of Paris with Michel Guino, Albert Féraud, Daniel David and Philippe Hiquily, in Marcel Gimond's workshop. From 1947, he worked with plaster and iron. In 1952, in Trans-en-Provence, he first attempted welding and making sculptures in in scrap iron, using recovered materials. In 1954, he exhibited in Lucien Durand's gallery and obtained the « collabo » Prize. In 1956, he took part in the biennials of Venice, São Paulo and to The Documenta II in 1959. In 1961, he got closer to Marino di Teana, and joined The "New Realists" group (with Mimmo Rotella, Niki de Saint Phalle, Gérard Deschamps...). From 1960, César centered his work on « compression dirigée » (directed compression), which became his trademark : helped by an hydraulic press, he compressed diverse objets (cars, fabrics, papers, and even gold jewellery...). This appropriation act was a challenge to the consumer society and it kept him close to the New realist artists circle, of which he became member with his friend Arman. Reversing the spirit of compressions, César created his « expansions » (The great orange expansion, 1967) and began to work with crystal in fusion. He reached an international recognition starting from 1970. His participation to an exhibition dedicated to the hand, from Rodin to Picasso and the discovery of the pantograph enlarging process lead him to the realization of The "Empreintes" (prints) (finger, breast, fist...). From 1949 to 1966 he created more than 300 constructions with the arc welding technic (Centaur, Flying French man, 1983...). The artist multiplied exhibitions : Centre Pompidou, Tate Gallery, MoMA… Retrospective at Jeu de Paume in Paris in 1997, in Malmö, Milan, São Paulo, Mexico. César ended his career with a series of portraits and self-portraits.