*This site is is best viewed on a PC or laptop.

 

Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

1755-1842 France/Rococo-Portraitist

 

Brief Biography-Louise Élisabeth Le Brun (Maiden name Vigée) was born in Paris in 1755. She received her first lessons from her mother, a painter of fans. Her father was a portraitist who died when Louise was twelve, and her mother married a vagabond who robbed her money and took her possessions. She later received instruction from Claude Joseph Vernet and was influenced by Jean-Baptiste Greuze. Louise Élisabeth painted copies of masters to support herself and her mother. In 1779, Versailles summoned her where she painted Marie Antoinette, who befriended her and made her painter to the Queen. She painted the Queen twenty-five times. In 1776, she married the grandnephew of Charles le Brun, and she kept a successful Salon in Paris. The Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture elected her in 1783. When the revolution occurred in 1789, she went to Italy, Austria, Germany, and Russia, becoming a success in each country and returned to Paris in 1802. However, she spent three years in England to escape the political turmoil in France at the time. When back in France in 1814, waring armies ransacked her country house, and she settled in Paris, where she continued her Salon for the remainder of her life, painting portraits of nobility and writing her memoirs.

 

Go to Page 2.

Click an Image to Enlarge

charles alexandre
de calonne

charles alexandre de calonne

alexandre charles
emmanuel

alexandre charles emmanuel of crussol florensac

caroline murat
napoleons's sister

caroline murat napoleon s youngest sister

duchess
de polignac

duchess de polignac

lady folding
a letter

lady folding a letter

madame
de stael

madame de stael

marie antoinette
and her children

marie antoinette and her children

marie gabrielle
de gramont

marie gabrielle de gramont duchesse de caderousse

portrait of
hubert robert

portrait of hubert robert

prince henry
lubomirski

prince henry lubomirski

self portrait
in a straw hat

self portrait in a straw hat

self portrait
with daughter

self portrait with daughter

with her daughter
jeanne lucie

self portrait with her daughter jeanne lucie

empress maria
feodorovna

empress maria feodorovna

alexandra and
elena pavlovna

alexandra and elena pavlovna

alphirtenfest in
unspunnen

alphirtenfest in unspunnen

amphion jouant
de la lyre

amphion jouant de la lyre

angelica
catalani

angelica catalani

antoinette elisabeth
marie of aguesseau

antoinette elisabeth marie of aguesseau comtesse de segur

arabella diane
duchess of dorset

arabella diane duchess of dorset

atelier of
the artist

atelier of the artist


bacchante

bacchante

baroness anna
sergeevna stroganova

baroness anna sergeevna stroganova and her son sergey

claude joseph
vernet

claude joseph vernet

comte
de provence

comte de provence

comte
de vaudreuil

comte de vaudreuil

comtesse
de la chatre

comtesse de la chatre

comtesse
de provence

comtesse de provence

count
giulio litta

count giulio litta

count grigory
ivanovich tchernyshov

count grigory ivanovich tchernyshov holding a mask

count
vaudreuil

count vaudreuil

countess anna
ivanovna tolstoy

countess anna ivanovna tolstoy

countess golovine
russian nobility

countess golovine russian nobility

countess of
tankerville

countess of tankerville

countess
von schoenfeld

countess von schoenfeld with her daughter

daughter of
the actor caillot

daughter of the actor caillot

baronesse stroganova
attributed to

baronesse stroganova attributed to

duchesse
de guiche

duchesse de guiche

ekaterina i
kutuzova

ekaterina i kutuzova wife of russian field marshal mikhail kutuzov

elisabeth
isabelle mnis

elisabeth isabelle mnis

elisabeth
mara

elisabeth mara

elisabeth philippine
marie helene

elisabeth philippine marie helene de france known as madame elisabeth sister of king louis the sixteenth

elizabeth alexeievna
louise of baden

elizabeth alexeievna louise of baden