PAUL CÉSAR HELLEU La Duchesse de

PAUL CÉSAR HELLEU La Duchesse de Marlborough, Consuelo Vanderbilt . Color drypoint, circa 1901. 400x295 mm; 15 3/4x11 5/8 inches, full margins. Signed in pencil, lower left. A superb, richly-inked impression. Consuelo Vanderbilt (1877-1964) was born in New York City, the daughter of William Kissam Vanderbilt, a railroad millionaire, and Alva Erskine Smith, a socialite from Mobile, Alabama. Her mother was adamant about Consuelo, a ravishing young beauty, marrying the most eligible and highest-ranking suitor, and forced her to wed Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough (their introduction was arranged by Lady Paget, an infamous matchmaker known for connecting American heiresses to British noblemen). The marriage, while socially advantageous for Consuelo (and monetarily advantageous for Marlborough, whose family was near-bankrupt before the marriage), ultimately did not last; the pair separated in 1906 and divorced in 1921. Consuelo nevertheless maintained ties with several of her former Churchill relatives, most notably with Winston Churchill, who was a frequent visitor to her château outside of Paris.