Private Collection, Paris;
Private Collection, New York, 2012
Buy with confidence: our assurance to you
Professional Associations
We have built up a strong reputation for the quality of the paintings, drawings and sculpture that we curate, exhibit and sell. Our professional associations with bodies such as The British Antique Dealers’ Association (BADA) and the Association of Art & Antique Dealers (LAPADA) are as a result of our reputation for integrity, our wide knowledge of fine arts and the high quality of our stock. Our business standards and expertise are reviewed regularly to adhere vigorously to enforced Codes. Our memberships and commitment to its Code of Conducts gives our buyers confidence when purchasing a work from us.
Authenticity
Condition reports and certificates of authenticity vary in their nature by artwork, for more information on your pieces of interest, please enquire with the gallery.
Artwork images
We take pride in the attention we give to our images of the artworks for purchase and invest in these to ensure outputs are aligned as closely as possible to the item in reality. We do not apply filters or modify images, we provide high-quality images to reflect the high quality of our artworks.
Your purchase process
Payment processing – You can be assured that payments are securely processed through Stripe’s trusted payment gateway.
The Trinity House promise to you
Shipping and packaging
Shipping and packaging requirements are assessed per piece to ensure the most suitable protection for the artwork. Trinity House will therefore call following purchase to agree the recommendations and costs.
Our After Sales services
We offer the following services which we will be happy to discuss with you following your purchase, alternatively, you can enquire for more information.
Insurance
We offer insurance appraisals to protect your prised artwork and help you find the right cover and policy for you.
Framing
We are able to advise on framing and have access to every type and style to suit any artistic period or room setting.
Conservation
The nature of the materials involved in a painting mean that on occasion some pieces are susceptible to movement and the effects of natural ageing. We are able to provide advice on practical measures to conserve the original condition of a piece and have relationships with restorers and framers to offer you a range of services to meet your needs.
Paul César Helleu worked as a painter and an engraver in France at the turn of the Century. His work epitomises the charm and elegance of French culture at the time – the belle Époque. He gained renown for his portraits of society ladies on commission, but a true graceful sensitivity arises out of his portraits of his wife, Alice. He met Alice Guerin when she was only fourteen, and obeyed her parents’ wishes to wait for her to turn 16 to get married and live at home two years after that.
Though he moved to Paris when he was a young man, Helleu was born in Vannes in 1859. His first job was painting on ceramics. He later became a pupil of Jean Leon Gérome at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts and befriended fellow student John Singer Sargent. Gérome was to buy his first painting. The Second Impressionist Exhibition of 1876 profoundly impacted Helleu and Sargent. It went so far that Helleu applied to the group and was accepted as one of them. However in 1886 when he was invited to the eighth exhibition, he was advised not to exhibit by his friend, Impressionist Claude Monet.
Helleu earned a living that enabled him to enjoy yachts and sailing – a pleasure he inherited from his father, a naval officer. He mixed with English and French society at Deauville and Cowes which served to increase his popularity. His wife enjoyed entertaining on their boat L’Etoile and Helleu painted many canvasses of life on board and other harbour scenes
This drawing is included in Mrs. Howard-Johnston’s archives. The image was published as a lithographed poster (of the same dimensions), titled La Lecture, by the Société des Artistes Lithographes in Paris in 1900. We are grateful to Frédérique de Watrigant for her assistance in the cataloguing of this work.
