Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun Quotes About Art

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun was a famous French female portrait painter generally associated with the Rococo and Neoclassical art movements. She is best known for her portraits of mostly women, including Marie Antoinette and her family. Famous Madame Le Brun artworks include “Madame Perregaux”, “Marie Antoinette and her Children”, “Peace bringing back Abundance”, “Muhammad Dervish Khan”, “Emma, Lady Hamilton as Ariadne”, “Princess Karoline of Liechtenstein”, “Varvara Golovina”, “Anna Ivanovna Baryatinskaya Tolstoy,”, “Charles-Alexandre de Calonne”, and “Madame de Staël as Corinne at Cape Miseno”.

Mini biography: Born Élisabeth Louise Vigée on the 16th of April, 1755 in Paris, France. Her mother was Jeanne Maisin and her father Louis Vigée was a portrait painter. Elisabeth married the painter and art dealer Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Le Brun in 1776. They had one child together: Jeanne Lucie Louise. The artist died on the 30th of March, 1842 in Paris, France at the age of 86. Le Brun is buried at the Louveciennes Cemetery in Allée des Arches in the village of Louveciennes in the Yvelines département of France.

List of Famous Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun Art Quotes

As I detested the female style of dress then in fashion, I bent all my efforts upon rendering it a little more picturesque, and was delighted when, after getting the confidence of my models, I was able to drape them according to my fancy. Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

I continued to paint furiously, sometimes taking three sittings in the course of a single day. After-dinner sittings, which fatigued me extremely, brought about a disorder of my stomach, so that I could digest nothing and became wretchedly thin. My friends made me consult a doctor, who ordered me to sleep every day after dinner. Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

Suffice to say I came to the conclusion that Raphael is the greatest master of them all. I had just visited several rooms within the gallery when I found myself standing in front of a painting which aroused in me an admiration far more intense than that normally inspired by the art of painting. It showed the Virgin, sitting among the clouds, holding the infant Jesus in her arms. Her face is so beautiful and so noble that it is worthy of the divine brush that painted it. Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

My indifference to money no doubt proceeded from the fact that wealth was not necessary to me. Since that which made my house pleasant required no extravagance, I always lived very economically. I spent very little on dress; I was even reproached for neglecting it, for I wore none but white dresses of muslin or lawn, and never wore elaborate gowns excepting for my sittings at Versailles. My head-dress cost me nothing, because I did my hair myself, and most of the time I wore a muslin cap on my head, as may be seen from my portraits. Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

At the first sitting the imposing air of the Queen at first frightened me greatly, but Her Majesty spoke to me so graciously that my fear was soon dissipated. It was on that occasion that I began the picture representing her with a large basket, wearing a satin dress, and holding a rose in her hand. Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

I was so fortunate as to be on very pleasant terms with the Queen. When she heard that I had something of a voice we rarely had a sitting without singing some duets by Grétry together, for she was exceedingly fond of music, although she did not sing very true. As for her conversation, it would be difficult for me to convey all its charm, all its affability. I do not think that Queen Marie Antoinette ever missed an opportunity of saying something pleasant to those who had the honor of being presented to her, and the kindness she always bestowed upon me has ever been one of my sweetest memories. Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

We returned to Flanders to see the masterpieces of Rubens. They were hung much more advantageously than they have been since in Paris, for they all produce a wonderful effect in those Flemish churches. Other works by the same master adorn some private galleries. In one of them, at Antwerp, I found the famous “Straw Hat,” which has lately been sold to an Englishman for a large sum. This admirable picture represents a woman by Rubens. It delighted and inspired me to such a degree that I made a portrait of myself at Brussels, striving to obtain the same effects. I painted myself with a straw hat on my head, a feather, and a garland of wild flowers, holding my palette in my hand. And when the portrait was exhibited at the Salon I feel free to confess that it added considerably to my reputation. Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

Art Quotes About Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun

Women painted women: Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Mary Cassatt, and so forth. And I thought, men always painted the opposite sex, and I wanted to paint men as sex objects. Elaine de Kooning Quotes

Madame Le Brun Self Portrait Painting

More on Famous French Female Artist Madame Le Brun

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Related or similar popular artists include: Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, and other Famous French Artists.