Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun

Happy Birthday Elisabeth Vigee-Le Brun!! Born in 1755 in France, she was recognized as the most accomplished woman painter of the eighteenth century. She was the daughter of a portrait painter with whom she first trained and followed in his footsteps. She painted in the Rococo style. She studied with various masters of the period and was painting portraits professionally by the time she was in her early teens. Vigee married Jean-Baptiste Pierre le Brun who was also a painter and an art dealer. As her career progressed, she was smiled upon by Queen Marie Antionette and painted her portrait many times. Following the arrest of the royal family, she fled France with her daughter Julie (pictured below in Self Portrait in Turban with Daughter Julie) and lived in Italy, Austria and Russia before finally returning to France, where she lived until her death.