Hélène Bertaux (1825 - 1909)

Hélène Bertaux

Hélène Bertaux, born Joséphine Charlotte Hélène Pilate, was a French painter and sculptor who achieved equal rights with men.

Hélène Pilate trained as a teenager in the workshop of her stepfather Pierre Hébert, where she modeled designs for watches, then regularly received commissions for small decorative bronze pieces. Aspiring to become a professional sculptor, she completed her studies with Augustin Dumont (1801-1884) in the academic tradition. The support of the imperial couple enabled her to become one of the few women to make a name for herself in the field of monumental sculpture: in 1864 she created the Fontaine Herbet for the Place Longueville in Amiens and during her career she received several prestigious commissions for religious and public buildings.

After achieving success and official recognition, Hélène Bertaux advocated for equality between men and women in the arts. In 1873, Hélène Bertaux opened her first sculpture studio, and in 1879, she opened another one with a sculpture school for women. Her students, including Clémence-Jeanne Eymard de Lanchâtre (1854-1894) and Jenny Weil (1851-1933), later won prizes at the Salon. The creation in 1881 of the Union of Women Painters and Sculptors, of which she was president from 1881 to 1894, marked a new step in her fight for gender equality in academic education. Hélène Bertaux became the first female member of the Salon jury and received a gold medal at the 1889 World's Fair.