Hélène de Beauvoir

Henriette-Hélène de Beauvoir (; 6 June 1910 – 1 July 2001) was a French painter. She was the younger sister of philosopher Simone de Beauvoir.

Early Years Hélène de Beauvoir was born on June 6, 1910 in Paris to an aristocratic family. Her parents, Georges Bertrand de Beauvoir and Françoise Beauvoir, had hoped for a son and often devoted more attention to her older sister, Simone. Hélène attended Cours Désir, a private Catholic school for young girls, with her sister Simone. At school, Hélène already displayed a rebellious spirit when she became editor and illustrator of “L’Écho du Cours Desir,” a student publication that made fun of classes and teachers.

Education Hélène's parents were far more lenient with Simone's intellectual pursuits, and initially refused to allow Hélène to take the agrégation.

Activism Hélène had long been frustrated by the sexism of the art world: women's painting was often dismissed as a hobby, women were barred from painting nude models, and the great female artists of history were rarely recognized or granted exhibitions of their own. Simone also named a character in The Blood of Others after Hélène. The sisters collaborated for the first time on The Women Destroyed, which was published in Elle Magazine and featured engravings by Hélène to accompany Simone's text. Hélène feared the destruction of nature by technology, especially when aligned with patriarchy. Her environmental concerns led her to protest nuclear power plants. Harper's Bazaar writing about the exhibition stated "The show offers a mere glimpse through the keyhole of her expansive artistry, but it's the most we’ve ever seen of de Beauvoir in this country: jewel-like landscapes, teetering on the brink of abstraction; canvases smeared with energy and passion."