Her 1783 painting, Marie-Antoinette in a Muslin Dress, shocked many as it pictured the queen in a simple, informal white cotton gown rather than in full regalia.
Whilst she was never granted any official titles, Vigée Le Brun painted over 30 portraits of the queen and her family, often with a relatively intimate feel to them. She was a favourite of Marie AntoinetteĪs she became increasingly well-known, Vigée Le Brun found herself with a new patron: Queen Marie Antoinette of France. The couple had a daughter, Jeanne, who was known as Julie. Although she was going from success to success on her own merits, Le Brun’s contacts and wealth helped fund more exhibitions of her work, and gave her greater scope to paint portraits of the nobility. In 1776, aged 20, Elisabeth married Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Le Brun, a painter and art dealer based in Paris. Dan talks to her about the ways in which these women were far more violent and aggressive than previously assumed, and the ways they fought for power in a patriarchal world. Suzannah Lipscomb's latest work unearths the lives of women in 16th and 17th century through a series of court sources that few have looked through. She became a member of the Académie de Saint-Luc in 1774, admitted only after they unwittingly exhibited her works at one of their salons. Her father was a portrait painter and it’s believed she first had instruction from him as a child: he died when she was just 12 years old.ĭenied formal training, she relied on contacts and her innate skill to generate clients, and by the time she was in her early teens, she was painting portraits for her patrons.
She was painting portraits professionally by her early teensīorn in Paris in 1755, Élisabeth Louise Vigée was sent to a convent aged 5. Here are 10 facts about one of history’s most successful female portrait painters, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. With supreme technical skills, and an ability to empathise with her sitters and thus capture them in new lights, she quickly became a favourite at the royal court of Versailles.įorced to flee France following the outbreak of revolution in 1789, Vigée Le Brun found continued success across Europe: she was elected to art academies across 10 cities and was a favourite of royal patrons across the continent. One of the most famous and well-respected portrait painters in 18th-century France, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun achieved remarkable success.
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