автопортрет художника Мари Элизабет Луиза Виже-Лебрен
Aвтопортрет художника
Мари Элизабет Луиза Виже-Лебрен
Мари Элизабет Луиза Виже-Лебрен (фр. Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun, урождённая Виже, Лебрен по мужу; 16 апреля 1755, Париж — 30 марта 1842, там же) — французская художница.
Self-Portrait - 1781
This self-portrait shows the artist at about age twenty-six, at the height of her youthful beauty, looking both ingenuous and self-possessed.
Her flair for costume as well as self-dramatization is shown in the simple elegance of her hairstyle and dress: her white gown is adorned with only the highly saturated coral bow and sash and black lace-trimmed shawl; her unpowdered hair falls naturally into curls.
The effect is achieved with a palette limited to black, white, and red. Finely nuanced flesh tones are built up by layers of transparent glazes. The eyes reflect the flicker of light, as does the crystal earring.
Vigee-Le Brun with her daughter Julie - 1789
The Louvre, Paris
Between 1783 and 1789, her most creative and productive years,she exhibited more than forty portraits and historical compositions at the Academy's biennial Salon, earning success not only as a portraitist at the court of Versailles but as one of the most glamorous women in Parisian society in the final years of the ancien regime.Julie was age 9
Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat (age 22) - 1782
National Gallery, London
Through her talents as a portraitist Vigee Le Brun became one of the most successful of all women painters. Before the French Revolution she was painter and friend to Queen Marie-Antoinette, and she moved in the highest social circles.
In this self portrait of 1782 the pretty, youthful artist looks out, with a candid gaze. The self portrait is closely based on Rubens's portrait of his sister inlaw Susanna Lunden which is also in the National Gallery. Vigee Le Brun saw Ruben's painting in Antwerp in the van Havre collection.
self portrait with daughter Julie (age 6) - 1786
The Louvre, Paris
In 1789 Vigee Le Brun fled France to save her head. The first stop was Italy where she was welcomed like a head of state.
At Florence she was asked to paint her portrait for the celebrated collection of portraits of famous artists by their own hand at the Uffizi gallery. Vigee Le Brun started the self portrait while in Florence but finished it in Rome.
The self portrait in Florence is of the most exquisite heads she ever painted, sunny, smiling, happy, and youthful. The painting on the easel is of marie Antoinette done from memory.
Self Portrait - 1800
Hermitage, St. Petersburg
This self portrait for the Hermitage may be the last painting Vigee Le Brun completed in Russia. Vigee Le Brun portrayed herself painting a portrait of Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich's wife, Elizabeth Alekseyevna.
For this self portrait Vigee le Brun was given the title of "honorary free associate" of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts.
