Vigée-Lebrun, Elisabeth, << vee zhay luh BRUHN, ay lee za BEHT >> (1755-1842), was one of the most fashionable portrait painters in France before the French Revolution (1789-1799). Vigée-Lebrun was a friend of Marie Antoinette, the French queen, and painted the royal family as well as most notable members of French society. The artist produced more than 800 paintings. She had a graceful style, devoting much attention to rich fabrics and fine clothes. Her portraits flattered her subjects.
Elisabeth Vigée was born on April 16, 1755, in Paris and received some training from her father, Louis Vigée, a minor portrait painter. At the age of 15, she was already an established portrait painter. In 1776, she married Jean-Baptiste Lebrun, a leading art dealer of the period.
Because of her connections with the royal family, Vigée-Lebrun had to flee France at the outbreak of the revolution. For the next 12 years, she successfully continued her career painting portraits of nobility in Austria, Germany, Italy, and Russia. She returned to Paris in the early 1800’s and wrote Souvenirs, an informative but biased autobiography. She died on March 30, 1842.
