Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Paul Helleu
John Singer Sargent American
Not on view
Sargent formed a lifelong friendship with French painter Paul Helleu (1859–1927), whom he met while studying in Paris. Sargent commemorated their friendship in multiple images. This portrait is a very rare example of Sargent’s work in pastel, a medium that Helleu favored and may have encouraged Sargent to try. Sargent was devoted to his friend and often tried to advance his career. Helleu later told his daughter that Sargent "has been like a father to me throughout my life."
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