Jean Hélion

(French, 1904–1987)

Jean Hélion was a French artist known for his use of controlled color relationships and bold curving lines. He worked with both non-objective and figurative painting over the course of his career, often straddling the two. “I understand abstract art as an attempt to feed imagination with a world built through the basic sensations of the eyes,” he once reflected. Born on April 21, 1904 in Couterne, France, Hélion studied chemistry at l'Institut Industriel du Nord in Lille but never completed his degree. In 1921, he moved to Paris, working as an architect’s assistant and frequenting the Louvre. While visiting the museum, he encountered the works of Nicolas Poussin and determined to switch courses and become a painter. By the mid-1920s, Hélion had entered into a milieu of artists that included Otto Freundlich and Joaquín Torres-García. Quickly transitioning from Cubism to nonobjective abstraction, the artist adopted and implemented ideologies culled from artists such as Piet Mondrian and Max Ernst. In 1940, he joined the French resistance army, was subsequently captured, and lived as a prisoner of war for the next two years. Following his release, Hélion rejected pure abstraction in favor of more figurative elements, producing paintings which harkened back to Neoclassical compositions and the works of Fernand Léger. The artist died on October 27, 1987 in Paris, France. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the Tate Gallery in London, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, among others.

Jean Hélion Artworks

Jean Hélion (2,537 results)
Composition abstraite, 1934

Jean Hélion

Composition abstraite, 1934

Sale Date: June 23, 2016

Auction Closed

Abstraction, 1932

Jean Hélion

Abstraction, 1932

Sale Date: June 7, 2016

Auction Closed

Figures by a Table, 1978–1981

Jean Hélion

Figures by a Table, 1978–1981

Sale Date: June 15, 2016

Auction Closed

Scène de terreur, 1939

Jean Hélion

Scène de terreur, 1939

Sale Date: June 10, 2016

Auction Closed

SUITE AMOUREUSE, POMPISTE ET PROMENEUSE, 1974

Jean Hélion

SUITE AMOUREUSE, POMPISTE ET PROMENEUSE, 1974

Sale Date: June 7, 2016

Auction Closed

PORTRAIT D'HOMME AU CHAPEAU, 1939

Jean Hélion

PORTRAIT D'HOMME AU CHAPEAU, 1939

Sale Date: May 27, 2016

Auction Closed

Fanfare du cirque, 1970

Jean Hélion

Fanfare du cirque, 1970

Sale Date: May 18, 2016

Auction Closed

FESTIVAL D'AUTOHNE A L'ATELIER, 1980

Jean Hélion

FESTIVAL D'AUTOHNE A L'ATELIER, 1980

Sale Date: April 25, 2016

Auction Closed

ÉQUILIBRE, 1936

Jean Hélion

ÉQUILIBRE, 1936

Sale Date: May 9, 2016

Auction Closed

Équilibre, 1933

Jean Hélion

Équilibre, 1933

Sale Date: May 11, 2016

Auction Closed

Formes abstraites

Jean Hélion

Formes abstraites

Sale Date: April 24, 2016

Auction Closed

L’HOMME AU FRONT ROUGE, 1946

Jean Hélion

L’HOMME AU FRONT ROUGE, 1946

Sale Date: April 24, 2016

Auction Closed

SANS TITRE, 1957

Jean Hélion

SANS TITRE, 1957

Sale Date: April 24, 2016

Auction Closed

FEU DE FRACAS, 1968

Jean Hélion

FEU DE FRACAS, 1968

Sale Date: April 24, 2016

Auction Closed

COMPOSITION, 1938

Jean Hélion

COMPOSITION, 1938

Sale Date: April 24, 2016

Auction Closed

Sans titre, 1937

Jean Hélion

Sans titre, 1937

Sale Date: April 13, 2016

Auction Closed

LA CHUTE, 1975

Jean Hélion

LA CHUTE, 1975

Sale Date: April 5, 2016

Auction Closed

PORTRAIT DE FEMME, 1929

Jean Hélion

PORTRAIT DE FEMME, 1929

Sale Date: April 5, 2016

Auction Closed

EQUILIBRE, 1933

Jean Hélion

EQUILIBRE, 1933

Sale Date: April 5, 2016

Auction Closed

Homme au Chapeau, 1944

Jean Hélion

Homme au Chapeau, 1944

Sale Date: March 23, 2016

Auction Closed

Sans titre, 1963

Jean Hélion

Sans titre, 1963

Sale Date: March 18, 2016

Auction Closed

Jeune femme main sur la hanche, 1946

Jean Hélion

Jeune femme main sur la hanche, 1946

Sale Date: March 6, 2016

Auction Closed

Jeune femme main sur la hanche, 1946

Jean Hélion

Jeune femme main sur la hanche, 1946

Sale Date: March 6, 2016

Auction Closed

Etude pour Equilibre, 1935

Jean Hélion

Etude pour Equilibre, 1935

Sale Date: March 6, 2016

Auction Closed