Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

Biography

Marie Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun was born on April 16, 1755, in Paris, France. She was a painter and writer, as well as a salon hostess and figure in the arts. Vigée Le Brun is recognized as a master of society portraiture and landscape genres, working in Rococo and Neoclassical styles. She became especially known as Queen Marie Antoinette's favored artist, creating portraits such as "Portrait of Marie Antoinette with a Rose" and "Portrait of Marie Antoinette with her Children." After the onset of the French Revolution, Vigée Le Brun was compelled to leave France. In the late 1790s, she worked in Russia. Her painting also encompassed landscape genres. Marie Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun died on March 30, 1842, in Paris.