I first discovered the art of Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, the French portrait artist, in 1990 at the Kimbell Art Museum in Ft. Worth, TX. While roaming the galleries I came face to face with this self portrait of the 26 year old Vigée Le Brun painted in 1781. It is one of those unusual portraits you cannot forget. A portrait that lets you see right into the soul of this artist who lived 200 years ago.

The purpose of the site is to spread some of the magic of Vigée Le Brun's art around. The collection started in October 1996 with only 20 images. After eleven years this site now includes 549 of her paintings and their stories.

Sources of information about the work of Vigée Le Brun are still limited but her paintings appear in many large and small art museums all over the world. Her autobiography is an excellent read and it covers events, people and the lifestyles of Europe and Russia in the late 18th century and the early 19th century. Vigée Le Brun knew and painted the portraits of many prominent figures in Europe and Russia from approximately 1770 to 1835.

As a Royalist, Vigée Le Brun fled France at the outset of the revolution. She lived an adventure in exile for 12 years traveling across Europe while increasing her fame and fortune. During her travels she became a member of the Academies of Florence, Rome, Bologna, St Petersburg and Berlin. Vigée Le Brun was one of the most in demand portrait artists of her time. She completed over 900 paintings including 700 portraits. This included many self portraits, 30 portraits of her friend Marie Antoinette and 67 portraits while living in Russia for six years. Vigée Le Brun was an intelligent, talented, fun loving and exceptional woman who enjoyed life and the people she painted and knew. She was admired by all who knew of her talent.

This site celebrates the story telling power of the portrait. Vigée Le Brun's portraits unique and captivating. She went to great lengths to make each portrait fit the subject and tell a little of the sitters story. The poses and props are unique and well suited to each person she painted. Each painting can be matched to periods in her travels during and after the French Revolution and to stories that appear in her autobiography about the friendships of the people she painted.

Black and white images, some of lower quality, have been included to tell the full story. The painting galleries are presented in several forms. This site also includes the text and paintings from biographies and articles on the work of Vigée Le Brun and five complete books on the artist. One of the most interesting items on the site is a copy of Vigée Le Brun's Memoirs. I have also included an updated and consolidated museum guide to her paintings in the U.S. and overseas as well as her updated chronological list of paintings (my favorite section) with active links to paintings and information at this site. Vigée Le Brun's own list was supplemented and annotated to produce this version. "Vigée Le Brun at the MET" is another unique addition to the site. This virtual museum presents the four Vigée Le Brun paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in their natural settings. Another key section of the site is Charles Stein's annotated painting list. Charles has compiled extensive details on each of Vigée Le Brun's paintings. Lucia Cardellini's entire Phd thesis on the art of Vigée Le Brun is now included at this website. In addition, the site also presents a series of special galleries that include self portraits, portraits of her daughter, drawings, portraits of Queen Marie Antoinette, and portraits of Vigée le Brun by other artists. You can now dowload a pdf file and view the thumbnails of the complete Gallery of Vigée Le Brun's paintings. The search function will help visitors find specific information in this large data base.

Thanks to the many other people(Credits) who have provided painting images and museum information.

Enjoy the art of Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun.

Kevin J. Kelly
kjkelly@batguano.com
February 2008