Marie-Lousie-Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun
kjs on 27th May 2022
Marie-Lousie-Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun also known as Lebrun was born in the year 1755 in Paris, France. She was one of the most successful women artists of her time. She is known for portraits of women. She always portrayed the subjects of her paintings, mostly women, to make them look gracefully beautiful by giving a touch of flattery. She made use of loose brushwork and bright colors.
Early life and patronage
At a young age, she created about 66 portraits and nearly 200 landscapes. This helped her to grow in popularity enough to be elected to the art academies in 10 cities. Because of her phenomenal success, she was attracted to a wealthy dealer in Paris, Jean Baptists Pierre Le Brun, whom she married in 1776. Julie Le Brun, her daughter born out of this wedlock, became the new subject of her passion for painting.
She earned appreciation from people from all walks of life like actors, painters, and writers, and patronage from aristocrats and the Royal Family. Noticing her fame as a painter, the office of the Royal Family of France sent for her for painting the portraits of Queen Marie Antoinette as the Royal Family was intending to extol the queen’s motherhood.
She has mentioned her brother only a couple of times in her memoir, albeit with fondness. He grew up to be a well-liked and admired young man of the French society. He was an actor and poet. He married a lady from an illustrious family and had one child. This niece of Marie was very dear to her. (?)
Marie Antoinette
Le Brun painted nearly 30 portraits of the queen before the queen met her tragic end. Her efforts earned her the rank of ‘the painter to the king’. At the time when she was displaying her brilliance at transforming the beauty of the queen into the painting canvas and immortalizing her life, the revolutionaries were preparing for taking the royal family to the guillotine.
Early Fascination for Painting
In her memoir, Souvenirs of Madame Louise-Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, Lebrun quotes many instances where she, in spite of lack of support and personal strife, was able to continue to nourish her passion for art. She mentions her early years in her memoir as a time when she would try to paint and draw whenever she had the chance to do so. She spent her formative years, between years eight and eleven, in a boarding school. During these years, she continued to draw on the sand, on the corners of notebooks, and anywhere she could.
Loss in Her Father’s Early Death
Her father was a well-to-do citizen of Paris who himself indulged in painting. He painted many pastels, some of which were oil paintings. Lebrun wrote of many instances during her childhood with her father where he would be so engrossed in thinking and brooding about art that he would behave absentmindedly. She was deeply saddened by his death due to complications post-surgery. She felt his loss deeply as she found him to be her first source of encouragement for her ongoing interest in art. After her father’s death, Lebrun and her family had fallen on hard times after her father’s untimely demise. Hence, Lebrun’s mother had to marry a rich merchant who was unlike her father in many ways. Due to differences in attitudes between her father-in-law and her father, Lebrun did not take too much after him and she began to despise her time spent in her father-in-law’s house.
A Keen and Studious Learner
Patronage for Lebrun’s talent began at an early age where members of the elite society of France and also other countries in Europe began paying her for her portraits. This helped her to lead a more independent life financially. Lebrun began to be counted as one of the sought-after artists of the pre-revolution era of France. She espoused help and guidance from many well-known painters of that time including Vernet. Lebrun visited museums and art shows in places such as the Louvre, Luxemburg Palace, and other places where art was put up for admiration by the general public. Beautiful artworks of Rembrandt, Raphael, Vandyck were put up in these museums and the young artist was ever so keen to admire and learn from the styles of these famous masters.
She mentions a time when she was encouraged by the then queen consort of the king of France to continue walking in the royal gardens. these passages give us a glimpse of the circle of people she moved within those times. She later on, in 1779, painted a portrait of the queen. She appears to be frustrated by the fact that she was unable to get the likeness of her complexion to her liking. She remembers the beauty of Marie Antoinette’s face; with her pale face that exuded a brilliance that was difficult to capture with the colors that she had at the time.
Lebrun made several paintings of the queen, many of which were given to friends, foreign dignitaries, and ambassadors. She recalls how her model, the Queen, was always calm with her and how the king always spoke to her with graciousness. Once during her second pregnancy, Lebrun was delayed in her arrival for an appointment for a painting session with the queen. But the queen not only was gracious to her but also was considerate of her condition. Marie appeared to be especially touched by this act of kindness from the queen.
Marriage and Financial Constraints
Soon thereafter, Lebrun married M. Le Brun. Although she found him pleasing and well-mannered, she was soon too distressed to learn that he was involved in bad habits such as gambling and keeping company with women of ill repute. Such was the extent of these problems that very soon he not only lost all his fortune but also that of hers, too, which she had accumulated through many years of hard work of painting portraits. Faced with severe financial constraints, Lebrun was forced to take up teaching painting to students in order to make ends meet.
Her marriage was one of the few regrets she talks about with a heavy heart in her memoir. She remembers how many of her friends had warned her of the problems with M. Le Brun’s character and how she later felt deeply saddened upon recollecting these warnings. This was because she thought that her marriage to M. Le Brun was due to a sad twist of fate. But Lebrun was under instructions to hide this fact from the rest of the world as her husband had to first break away from a highly unfavourable business arrangement that existed between him and another trader.
Loss of Near and Dear ones to the Revolution
Lebrun was a hard worker and used to spend many hours in her workshop as a paintress and in the guidance of her students as a teacher. Many of her students grew to be famous artists due to her guidance. Despite her fame as a painter and the acquaintance that she had earned among the royalty and diplomatic circles, Lebrun had to lose many of her friends and acquaintances to the revolution. She reminisces disdainfully about the sorrowful loss of her near and dear ones and the changed atmosphere of Paris after the revolution.
Brutal face of the Revolution
Mary LeBron remembers her time with the elite of the French society with fondness. In her memoir, she recollected her visits to various palaces and the houses of the rich dignitaries of that period of time. She narrated stories of the period before the revolution when she noticed rich country folks helping out the countrymen who had lost their crops.
There was a specific mention of one instance when some rich countrymen doling out large sums to four farmers who had lost their crops that year. They embraced the poor farmers and subsequently paid out large sums of money to them to cover their losses. She regrettably expresses her sadness while remembering later on how one of that very country gentleman was later killed by the revolutionaries when the revolution began.
Julie Le Brun
She became pregnant two years after marriage. She immediately fell in love with her daughter and cherished every moment she spent with her. A mother’s love for her child can be clearly seen in many of her paintings of her daughter. She insists that one of her patrons, Duchesse de Mazarin, had eyes very much like those of Julie, her daughter. Her memoir mentions her at great length due to the duchess’s resemblance to her daughter.
She saw her daughter as an extension of herself and showered her love for the child by painting the various levels of her childhood in a passionate manner. ‘Julie Le Brun’ is one such wonderful piece of painting that accentuated her artistic excellence in using the brush, the colour, and her imagination to give ultimate effect to the portraits. Julie Le Brun Looking in a mirror is one such painting. The double image plays on reality versus illusion and shows even more so how talented artist Le Brun really was. The painting is famous for its impossible ‘perspective’.
In this portrait depicting her daughter, whom she lovingly called ‘brunette’, Vigee Le Brun has displayed her dramatic artistic skill by portraying both the profile of the subject and the full face in one canvas. The experts are of the opinion that the composition was short of the laws of perspective. The depiction of the face as well as the profile of her daughter in one picture by placing the mirror at an angle away from the object looking into it was special and exciting. This painting proved to be one of the important highlights of her artistic journey. Apart from this painting, she created many more portraits of herself with her daughter.
She was indeed the darling of the rich and famous of France during her time as ‘the portrait artist’ of the French society. She recalls having had the good fortune of staying in and visiting various palaces and houses of the famous merchants, ambassadors and relatives of the royal family.
Escape From Paris
Lebrun loved her time in the village. She remembers her experiences in the mansions of the rich country folk. Sometimes she also mentions the idiosyncrasies of certain country gentlemen while remembering their courtesy and kindness towards her during her stay with them. Lebrun remembers her misery and suffering when the revolution started and she was forced to quit Paris and move away from France to other neighbouring countries as the revolution picked up the pace. Lebrun had to disguise herself and into the large crowds during this period while finding her way out of France. In certain instances, she was recognized by the soldiers of the revolution. However, Lebrun managed to escape due to the show of kindness by some strangers that helped her family to stay alive and intact. She remembers these kind people and credits them with her escape.
Revolution brewing…
She remembers the time before, during, and after the revolution started in the month of May 1789. She mentions how during one of her visits to the country, her chariot ride was interrupted by the country folk waving their fists at them and staring at them angrily. This interesting story helps the reader to visualize the change in attitudes of the poorer people of France towards the elites before the revolution started. The upheaval and change in loyalties of many servants during the gate revolution are also mentioned.
After the dust settled
Marie Le Brun recounts many sad and depressing accounts of her friends and their execution at the guillotine. After the revolution, she had lost many of her friends who were either executed during the revolution or had fled to other parts of Europe after the revolution ended. Many never returned to their homeland. Lebrun herself was attacked several times. There were attempts of sulfur being thrown at her through the vents of her house. On some other occasions, she was chased by criminals during her travels. She was also threatened with murder and that was one of the reasons for her fleeing Paris.
From Lebrun’s recollections, one gets to have an insight into the different perspectives of the revolution. The peoples’ revolution is often cited as a righteous uprising that left the monarchy of France in disarray and decline. From Marie Vigee’s accounts, one gets a view from the top!
Her Painting ‘Marie-Antoinette with the Rose’
In May 1783, Le Brun registered at the Academie Royale De Peinture et de Sculpture. She became the court painter of Queen Marie Antoinette of France and she painted ‘Marie Antoinette with a Rose‘ in that year. Marie Antoinette commissioned her to submit a picture of herself for the forthcoming Salon in that year. The painting depicted the queen in a chemise. But the visitors to the Salon ware were taken aback as they treated the dress as inappropriate to show the queen in that dress and the image was withdrawn. Thereafter, Le Brun produced five more versions with variations in costumes and styles.
‘Marie-Antoinette’ – Another Great Painting by William Hamilton
‘Marie-Antoinette Being Taken To Her Execution‘ is another famous painting by famous painter William Hamilton. This painting shows the renowned widow in a drab jail cell awaiting her final daybreak in October 1793. The queen had long been separated from her husband who was killed by the Revolutionaries. She had suffered from a trail of harrowing trials with allegations ranging from incest to treason. Her execution was the final defining moment of the French revolution. William Hamilton, the famous painter, painted the heart-rending picture of the queen consort of France and Navarre being led away from the prison to her tragic end.
Surviving the Post-revolution France
Lebrun tried to flee the revolution and succeeded in her efforts, finally. She was joined by many embattled countrymen in her fight and flight. Many times, she was recognized by her betrayers. She was however able to survive the dangers of post-revolution France. She took to drawing to be able to look on the brighter side of her life, which seemed to be full of unending upheavals. Instead of feeling a sense of despair and fighting an impulse to flee her home, she always looked forward to visiting cities, such as Rome, Naples, Berlin, Vienna, Petersburg.
Portrait Painter For The Nobility
Le Brun was famously known as a portrait painter for the nobility and the rich before the revolution of France. Even after the revolution she found many patrons and was able to sustain her lifestyle using the income derived from her art. Finally, she succeeded in finding her name etched indelibly in the pages of history as one of the finest examples of female Paintresses and the Paintress for the Nobility and the Royalty of France.
A list of her paintings are as follows:
| From 1768 to 1772. 1 My mother as a sultana, large pastel. 1 My mother, seen from the back. 2 My brother as a schoolboy. One in oil, the other in pastel. 1 M. Le Sèvre, in nightcap and dressing gown. 3 Monsieur, Madame and Mademoiselle Bandelaire. 1 M. Vandergust. 1 Mademoiselle Pigale, fashion seller of the queen. 1 His clerk. 1 My mother in a white coat. In oil. 1 Madame Raffeneau. 1 The Baroness of Esthal. 2 His two children. 1 Madame Daguesseau with her dog. 1 Madame Suzanne. 1 Madame la Comtesse de la Vieuville. 1 M. Mousat. 1 Miss Lespare. 2 Madame de Fossy and her son. 2 The Viscount and Viscountess de la Blache. 1 Miss Dorion. 1 Miss Mousat. 1 Mr. Tranchart. 1 M. le marquis de Choiseul. 1 The Count of Zanicourt. 1 M. Bandelaire bust, in pastel. A large number of heads of studies and copies after Raphael, Vandyck, Rembrandt, etc. 1773. 2 Mr. and Mrs. de Roisy. 1 M. de la Fontaine. 1 Count Dubarry 5 M. le comte de Geoffré. 1 Marshal Comte de Stainville. 3 Madame de Bonneuil. 1 Madame de Saint-Pays. 1 Madame Paris. 1 M. Perrin. 1 Copy of the Marquis de Vérac. 1 An American. 1 Madame Thilorié, bust. 1 Copy of the same. 1 Madame Tétare. 1 Copy of the Bishop of Beauvais. 1 M. de Vismes. 1 M. Pernon. 1 Miss Dupetitoire. 1 Miss Baillot. 1774 1 Father Giroux. 1 The little Roissy. 1 Copy of the Chancellor. 1 Copy of M. de la Marche. 1 Madame Damerval. 1 The Count of Brie. 1 Ms. Maingat. 1 Madame la Baronne de Lande. 1 Madame Le Normand. 1 Madame de la Grange. 1 M. Méraut. 1 The viscount of Boisjelin. 1 M. de Saint-Malo. 1 Mr. Desmarets. 1 Madame la comtesse d’Harcourt. 2 Mesdemoiselles Saint-Brie and de Sence. 1 Madame la Comtesse de Gontault. 1 Miss Robin. 1 M. de Borelly. 1 M. de Momanville. 2 Miss Rossignol, Americans. 1 Madame de Belgarde. 1775. 1 Madame de Monville with her child. 1 Madame Denis. 1 M. le Comte de Schouvaloff. 1 M. le Comte de Langeas. 1 Madame Mongé. 1 Madame Tabari. 1 Madame de Fougerait. 1 Madame de Jumilhac. 1 The Marquise de Roncherol. 1 The Prince of Rochefort. 1 M. de Livoy. 1 Madame de Ronsy. 1 M. de Monville. 1 Mademoiselle de Cossé. 1 Madame Augeard. 1 Copy of Madame Dameroal. 1 Ms. Deplan. 1 Mr. Caze. 1 M. Goban. 1 Mademoiselle de Rubec. 1 The Knight of Roncherol. 1 The Prince of Rohan Sr. 1 Prince Jules de Rohan. 1 Mademoiselle de Rochefort. 1 M. Ducluzel. 2 The Earl and Countess of Cologand. 1 Miss Julie, who married Talma. 1 Madame Courville. 1 Madame la Marquise de Gérac. 1 Madame de la Borde. 1 Mademoiselle de Givris. 1 Mademoiselle de Ganiselot. 1 M. de Veselay. 1776. Since my marriage . 1 The Princess of Craon. 1 The Marquis de Chouart. 1 The Prince of Montbarrey. 1 Mr. Gros, painter, child. 1 Madame Grant, since Princess of Talleyrand. 1 The count of Deux-Ponts. 1 Madame de Montbarrey. 1 A banker. 2 Mr. and Mrs. Toullier. 1 The Princess of Aremberg. 1 M. de Saint-Denis. 12 Sir, brother of the king. 2 Mr. and Mrs. de Valesque. 1 Little Vaubal. 1 Madame de Lamoignon. 4 M. de Savalette. 1 The Prince of Nassau. 1 Madame de Brente. 1 Milady Berkley. 1 Madame Saulot. 1 Countess Potoska. 2 Madame de Verdun. 1 Madame de Montmorin. 1 His daughter. 1777. 1 The Marquis de Crevecoeur. 1 Baron de Vombal. 1 Madame Périn. 1 Mr. Oglovi. 1 Mr. Saint-Hubert. 1 Madame de Nolstein. 1 Madame de Beaugoin. 2 Miss Dartois. 1 Madame Le Normand. 1 M. de Finnel. 1 M. de Lange. 1 Madame de Montlegiëts. 1 Madame de la Fargue. 1778. 1 Madame la Duchesse de Chartres. 1 Madame de Teuilly. 1 M. de Saint-Priest, Ambassador. 2 Mr. and Mrs. Dailly. 2 Mr. and Mrs. Domnival. 1 Madame Monge. 1 Madame Degéraudot. 1 M. le Marquis de Cossé. 1 The Marquis d’Armaillé. 1 The Duke of Cossé. 1 Mademoiselle de Ponse. 1 Monsieur, brother of the king, for M. de Lévis. 1 Madame la Marquise de Montemey. 1 Madame de Foissy. 2 The children of Brongniart. 1 M. de Raunomanoski. 1 Madame de Rassy. 1 Madam President of Bec de Lièvre. 1 Copy of a portrait of the queen. 2 Madame, wife of Monsieur, brother of the king. 1 Copy of a portrait of Madame Dubarry. 1 Miss Lamoignon. 1 My head. 1 Copy of a portrait of the queen for M. Boquet. 1 Madame Filorier. 1779. 1 The Marquis de Vrague. 1 Madame la Comtesse de Virieux. 1 President Richard. 1 Madame de Mongé. 1 Large portrait of the queen for the Empress of Russia. 2 Busts of the queen. 2 Copies of the same. 1 Madame de Savigny. 2 The same and her son. 2 Mr. and Mrs. de Lastic. 1 A Levite Woman for M. de Cossé. 1 Ms. Dicbrie. 2 Copies of the queen’s busts. 2 Madame Duclusel. 1 Madame de Verdun. 1 The Earl of Dorsen Jr. 2 Mr. and Mrs. de Montesquiou. 1 Portrait of the queen for M. de Sartines. 1 Madame de Palermo. 1 Little American. 1 Mademoiselle de la Ferté. 1 Head bowed for M. de Cossé. 1 Monsignor the Duke of Orleans. 1. Madame la Marquise de Montellon. 2 Copies of the Duke of Orleans. 2 Copies of the large portrait of the queen, for M. and Madame de Vergennes. 1 Madame de Vannes. 1 Madame la Comtesse de Tournon. 1 The Prince of Montbarrey. 1780. 1 Madame Lessout. 1 Large painting of the queen. 1 Idem. 4 Madame de Verdun, her mother, her sister-in-law and her husband. 1 Madame la baronne de Montesquiou. 1 Madame de Montaudrari. 1 Madame Foulquier. 2 Mrs. Genty. 1 The Duchess of Mazarin. 1781. 1 Head of a young girl, breathing the scent of a rose. 1 Mrs. Young. 1 M. le Comte de Cossé. 1 Madame la Princesse de Crouy. 1 Madame de Saint-Alban. 1 M. de Landry. 2 Portraits of me. 1 Study head for M. le Pelletier de Morfontaine. 1 Study head for M. Proult. 3 Study heads for M. de Cossé. 1 Sir, brother of the king. 1 Copy of the same. 1 Madame la Duchesse de Chaulnes. 1 Miss Dumoley. 1 The Countess Dubarry. 1 Sketch of my painting of Juno. 1 Study head of my Venus. 1 Madame d’Harvelay. 2 Mademoiselle de la Borde. 1 Miss Devaron. 1 Madame de Moreton. 1 Madame de la Porte. 1 Mr. Dumoley son. 3 The Princess of Lamballe. 1 Copy of M. de Moreton. 1782. 1 Madame, sister of the king. 1 Copy of the same. 1 Madame la Duchesse de Polignac. 1 Copy of the same. 1 Baron de Montesquiou. 1 Madame de Verdun. 1 Madame de Chatenay. 3 Prince Henry of Prussia. 1783. 1 Madame la Marquise de la Guiche. 1 Mrs. Grant. 1 The landgrave of Salm. 1 Madame la Maréchale de Mailly. 2 Madame la comtesse d’Artois. 2 Madame la comtesse de Simiane. 2 Madame la Duchesse de Guiche. 1 The queen with a hat. 2 The queen in full dress. 2 Madame Elisabeth. 1 Copy of the same. 1 Miss Lavigne. 3 Copies of the queen with a hat. 4 The queen in the velvet dress. 4 Copies of the same. 1 Mr. Dolphin. 1 Madame, daughter of the king. 1784. 1 M. le comte de Vaudreuil. 5 Copies of the same. 1 The Countess of Grammont-Cadrousse. 1 Madame la Comtesse de Serre. 1 M. de Beaujou. 1785. 1 M. de Beaujon. 1 The Princess of Carignan. 1 Madame Fodi. 1 M. de Calonne. 1 Madame la comtesse de Ségur. 1 Copy of the same. 1 M. le comte de Ségur. 1 Copy of the same. 1 Madame la Baronne de Crussol. 1 M. de Saint-Hermine. 1 Grétry. 1 Madame la comtesse de Clermont-Tonnerre. 1 Madame la Comtesse de Virieux. 1 The Viscountess of Vaudreuil. 2 Copies of the queen in full dress. 1 Madame Vigée. 1 Copy of M. de Calonne. 1 M. de Beaujon for his hospice. 1786. 1 The little Fouquet. 1 Madame de Tott. 1 Le petit d’Espagnac. 1 La petite de la Briche. 1 Madame de Puységur. 1 Madame Raymond. 1 Madame Daudelot. 1 Ms. Davaray. 1 Madame la comtesse de Sabran. 1 My portrait with my daughter. 1787. 1 My daughter reading the Bible. 1 Madame de Rougé and her two sons. 1 Madame Dugazon, in Nina . 1 Cailleau, as a hunter. 2 His two children. 2 My daughter, in profile and in front in a mirror. 1 Madame de la Grange. 1 Large painting of the queen and her children. 1 My portrait. 2 Madame la Comtesse de Béon. 1 M. Le Jeune. 3 Monsieur le Dauphin, Madame, and Monsieur le Duc de Normandie, for Madame de Polignac. 1 Madame de Verdun’s aunt. 1 The Duchess of Guiche, holding a garland of flowers. 1 The same, in pastel. 2 The Duchess of Polignac, with a straw hat. 1 The same one holding a music paper and singing near a piano. 1 Madame de Chatenay the mother. 1 Madame Dubarry in full length. 1 The same in a bathrobe. 1 Madame de Polignac. 1788. 1 The Duke of Polignac. 1 His father. 1 Robert, the painter, for me. 1 Madame Dumoley. 1 Madame de la Briche. 1 Madame la comtesse de Beaumont. 1 The little Baron d’Escars. 1 Little Prince Lubomirsky. 1 The same in love of glory. 1 The little Brongniart. 1 The Marquise de Grollier. 1 The Bailly de Crussol. 1 Madame de la Guiche as a milkmaid. 1 M. d’Angevilliers. 1789. 1 M. de Chatelux, made up of memories. 1 Mr. the Duke of Normandy in foot. 1 Madame Péregaux. 1 Madame de Ségur, profile. 1 Large portrait of the queen for Baron de Breteuil. 1 The Duchess of Rochefoucauld. 1 Little love for M. le Pelletier de Morfontaine. 1 Madame la Duchesse d’Orléans. 1 My portrait with my daughter for M. d’Angevilliers. 1 Madame de Grollier. 1 The Bailly de Crussol. 1 Madame d’Aumont. 2 Madame de Polignac. 2 Madame de Guiche, pastel. 1 Madame de Pienne. 1 Madame de la Châtre. 1 Madame de Fresne-Daguesseau. 1 Marshal de Ségur. 1 Madame and Monsieur le Dauphin. 1 Robert, landscape painter. 1 Small oval of my daughter. 1 Madame Chalgrin. 1 My pastel portrait. 1 The portrait of Joseph Vernet, which is at the Museum. 1 The Prince of Nassau in full length. 1 My portrait holding my daughter in my arms. 1 Madame Raymond holding her child. 2 Madame de Simiane. 2 Madame Rousseau. 1 Madame Duvernais. 1 Madame de Saint-Alban. 1 Madame Savigni. 1 Miss Dorion. |
In any event, Marie led an adventurous life. All through her life, she continued to nurture her passion for painting. She stuck with it and made her passion her vocation when the time came for it. In all her experiences, she built friendships around herself and always cared for her family. She was chased out of her country but always maintained her loyalty to her homeland. What a fantastic life she led!