Consuelo Vanderbilt (1877-1964)
For the families of many successful American entrepreneurs of the late nineteenth century, wealth and the luxury it bought were not enough. By the 1880s it was becoming common practice among this country's more socially ambitious millionaires to marry off their daughters to impoverished European aristocrats in exchange for handsome settlements. One of the most celebrated of these alliances was struck by England's Duke of Marlborough and Consuelo Vanderbilt, the statuesque great-granddaughter of Commodore Vanderbilt. The lavish ceremony uniting this couple in 1895 ended with Consuelo's father, William, signing over several million dollars to his new son-in-law. This generosity, however, did not prevent the marriage from ending in divorce. By then, it was estimated that Consuelo's marriage had diminished the great Vanderbilt fortune by more than fifteen million dollars.
A familiar figure in the glamorous turn-of-the-century world of international society, the French artist Paul Helleu was particularly admired for his graceful and elegant depictions of women. The Duchess of Marlborough, whom he met in 1900, was one of his favorite sitters.
Paul Cesar Hellu (1859-1927)
Drypoint, 1900?
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; partial gift of Kathryn S. and John J. A. Michel
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