Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755–1842)

Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Le Brun, also known as Madame Le Brun, was born in Paris, France. Her parents were Jeanne and Louis Vigée, a portraitst who was her first art teacher. In 1760, at age five, she was sent to a convent for her education, and remained there for six years. By the time she reached her early teens, she was earning money painting portraits. In 1776, she married Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Le Brun, an art dealer, with whom she had a daughter. She began exhibiting her work at their home in Paris and held a salon there that helped win her many new and important contacts. Unfortunately, her husband turned out to be a spendthrift who gambled away most of the money she made. Vigée Le Brun created a name for herself in Parisian society by becoming the portrait painter to Queen Marie Antoinette beginning in 1779. At the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, she left France and lived abroad for 12 years, traveling widely to paint many European aristocrats, actors, and writers. In 1801, she moved to London, where she painted portraits of the English court and of Lord Byron. She eventually returned to Paris. Vigée Le Brun was one of the most successful women artists and was elected to art academies in 10 cities. In her career, she painted some 660 portraits, including many self-portraits, and was particularly known for her portraits of women. In addition, she created about 200 landscapes. Her works are in the permanent collections of major museums around the world, such as the Louvre in Paris, Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, National Gallery in London, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and in many private collections. In 1835-1837, when she was in her 80s, Vigée Le Brun published her memoirs in three volumes (Souvenirs), which also contained many pen portraits and advice for young portrait artists.