Paul Helleu commented on a version of his drawing of Belle Greene, which appeared in the New York Times on March 16, 1913, as part of a special section entitled “Truly American Women Drawn for The New York Times by Paul Helleu":
"See that line?—and that?—and that? Alive, eh? Truly American! See the cigarette? When I first drew the cigarette, Miss Green objected: she thought that perhaps it would be not well that she should be shown with a cigarette. 'Take it away, Monsieur Helleu,' she asked, but I said: 'Pardon, mademoiselle! I will not. I cannot. It completes the picture. I like it. It must stay.' And it stayed." (quoted in Ardizzone, 274)
Paul Helleu (1859–1927)
Belle da Costa Greene (with cigarette), 1913
The New York Times, March 16, 1913
