Marie-Elizabeth-Louise Lebrun-Vigée
Born – Paris, France 1755
Died – Paris, France 1842
Elizabeth Vigée-Lebrun was taught by Louis Vigée, her father, a Parisian portraitist working in pastels. He died when she was fifteen, by which time her growing reputation allowed her to support her family. In 1776, she married picture dealer Jean-Baptise Lebrun. Her highly successful career led to a friendship with Queen Marie-Antoinette, whom she portrayed many times. Vigée-Lebrun fled the French Revolution in 1789 and travelled across Europe before finally settling back in Paris in 1814. Her many charming and delicately executed portraits were produced during the Rococo period. Portrait of the Artist and her Daughter should be seen in the context of new eighteenth-century ideas centring on the notion of the family, encouraging women to place greater emphasis on the emotional bond between mother and child. In this informal portrait the artist depicts the loving embrace between mother and child. A dedicated artist, Vigée-Lebrun’s memoirs revealed that she continued working, “in the intervals between labour pains,” during the birth of her daughter.
- Self Portraits in a Straw Hat
- Hubert Robert
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.