In the towering shadow of her famous sister Simone, another de Beauvoir was quietly revolutionizing the art world. Hélène de Beauvoir, a painter, feminist activist, and confidante to the likes of Jean-Paul Sartre and Pablo Picasso, lived a life as radical and influential as the existentialist icon she called family. Yet history has largely overlooked her groundbreaking contributions – until now.
With a major exhibition of Hélène’s work set to open at London’s Amar Gallery, the world is finally waking up to the brilliance of this artist “ahead of her time,” in the words of her longtime friend Claudine Monteil. The show, titled The Woman Destroyed after Simone’s 1967 book featuring Hélène’s illustrations, aims to reposition the painter in the pantheon of 20th-century greats.
“Original” Praise from Picasso
Hélène’s talent was evident from the start. At her very first Paris exhibition in 1936, held at the prestigious Galerie Jacques Bonjean years before Simone published a word, Picasso himself paid her the ultimate compliment. Upon viewing her work, the master declared it “original” – high praise from an artist famously unimpressed by imitators.
“This is the best compliment Picasso could give to me, because he was so fed up with people trying to imitate him.”
– Hélène de Beauvoir
And yet, despite this early success, wider fame eluded Hélène. Amar Gallery director Amar Singh puts it down to being “overlooked” as a female artist, while Monteil notes her diplomatic husband’s postings took her away from the Parisian art scene at crucial moments. Figurative at a time when abstract expressionism reigned, Hélène forged her own path undeterred.
A Feminist Trailblazer
While Simone made her mark with words, Hélène did so through both art and action. A signatory of the influential 1971 abortion rights petition Manifesto of the 343 Women that her sister spearheaded, Hélène even claimed the feminist mantle first as she boldly navigated the male-dominated art world.
Hélène served as president of a women’s shelter in Strasbourg, using her position to extend a compassionate hand to those most in need. Residents were welcomed for tea in her garden, Monteil recalls, treated with the dignity and warmth Hélène was loved for. On canvas, she championed women, immigrants, animals, and the environment long before such subjects were in vogue.
“Hélène was ahead of her time. She did paintings of the 1968 student revolution and went on to women’s issues in the 70s, and the defence of nature and the environment.”
– Claudine Monteil, author and friend of the de Beauvoir sisters
Capturing the Spirit of ’68
Hélène’s series Le Joli Mois de Mai (The Lovely Month of May), inspired by the seismic protests of May 1968, exemplifies her finger on the pulse of social change. Monteil, then a young activist disillusioned by the sexism of the student movement, felt a special kinship with these works depicting the clashes between demonstrators and police.
This connection would lead to a decades-long friendship between the artist and the author, who went on to write six books about the de Beauvoir sisters. It was a meeting of minds and a passing of the torch from one generation of feminists to the next.
Hidden in Plain Sight
History is full of women overshadowed by their more famous brothers and husbands, their own accomplishments diminished or denied. Hélène de Beauvoir, a visionary talent in her own right, very nearly fell victim to the same fate – but the tide is turning.
With fresh eyes now appreciating her oeuvre, Hélène’s legacy and light are poised to finally shine through. For Monteil, this recognition is bittersweet; as her friend lay on her deathbed in 2001, she squeezed the author’s hand and asked, “My paintings – do you think they will last?”
At long last, the answer rings out as a resounding yes. Hélène de Beauvoir: overlooked no more.
Hélène de Beauvoir’s exhibition “The Woman Destroyed” runs from January 24 to March 2 at Amar Gallery in London. Her works can also be found in the permanent collections of major museums worldwide, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Uffizi in Florence.
