Vigee Le Brun ART Page 86

ART PAGE 86

	Count Mortiz von Fries - 1793 pastel, 54 x 44 cm, oval, Louvre, Painted in Vienna Count Mortiz I. Christian von Fries (1777, Vienna-1826, Paris) was the son of Count Johann von Fries and Anne von Escherny. He was the proprietor of the prosperous Viennese banking firm of Fries & Co. and treasurer to the imperial court. He was a patron of Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven composed for Fries two Sonatas for Violin and Piano (Op. 23 and 24), the String Quintet, Op. 29, and dedicated the Seventh Symphony of 1813 to him. Fries continued to provide regular financial support until his bank tumbled into bankruptcy in 1824 when he moved to Paris following the Napoleonic upheavals. Vigee Le Brun also painted his sisters, Countess Sopie von Fries, later Countess Haugwitz (below) and Countess Ursula Margaretha Agatha Victoria von Schönfeld née von Fries View two other photos of this painting. Photo version 2 and photo version 3.
	Woman Playing a Lyre - 17xx? oil on canvas, oval
	Elisaveta Alexeevna, Empress of Russia - 1801 oil on canvas, 63 x 52 cm Another version also exists. Vigee Le Brun apparently prepared pastels of Emperor Alexander I (Art Page 118) and his consort while in St. Petersburg, and prepared oils after her arrival in Dresden.