Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun
‘Self Portrait of Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun’ [1790], Oil on canvas, 100 x 81 cm
The ‘Self Portrait of Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun‘ [1790] shown above is delicate, forceful and gracefully timid of pose. The feathery handling of hair, elaborate white-cream fabrics and curious pose whilst looking to the mirror extols her professionalism.
Did you notice that this painting is actually a self portrait of Vigée Le Brun producing a working portrait?
Élisabeth married influential art dealer Jean-Baptiste Pierre Le Brun in 1776, himself born into an impressively artistic family. His great-great uncle was Charles Le Brun – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Le_Brun.
Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun herself is daughter of French portraitist Louis Vigée and sister to playwright Étienne Vigée. Skillful art heritage assisted Élisabeth Vigée in successfully competing within aristocratically lucrative landscapes. Eventually Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun is rewarded for her hardworking technical merit through membership to the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1783.
In addition to actively seeking industry connections quality reigns supreme, dot com.
‘Portrait of a Young Woman’ [c.1797] by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Oil on canvas, 70.5 cm x 82.2 cm
‘Portrait of a Young Woman‘ [c.1797] by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun incorporates a studio posing style Élisabeth was familiar with. Further research is required to understand the placing of arms, folded inside outer garments.
The backdrop is Renaissance in style whilst Vigée Le Brun’s work intermixes Baroque, Neoclassical and Rococo themes. A learned expert, without question, given to intensively study her past and contemporary art Masters.
We can see a sense of movement to her subject’s hair, windswept, traversing waves set sail across the Atlantic, Pacific or Mediterranean oceans. Her outer garments are perfectly defined and believably intricate.
Fashion, Fashion, Fashion with added Heart Eyes Emoji.
Supercool.
‘Portrait of Charles-Alexandre de Calonne‘ [1784] by Madame Vigée Le Brun, Oil on canvas, 155.5 x 130.3 cm
How does one begin to describe this painting by Madame Vigée Le Brun of Charles-Alexandre de Calonne?
Beyond Words.
I want to lean forward in an attempt to prevent his precariously placed paper document from falling to the ground. Her painting so breathtakingly real it positively interacts with us as the viewer. A calm, easy, attentive posture. Tremendous power emanates from the subject.
Digitalised Virtual Reality – the optical illusion provoking a sensory response with body and mind.
Here is a past The Unfathomable Artist article about John W Waterhouse, therein explaining his similar ‘VR-like’ ability:
‘Portrait of Madame Du Barry’ [1781] by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Oil on panel, 27 1/4 x 20 1/4 inches (69.2 x 51.4 cm)
I decided to include ‘Portrait of Madame Du Barry‘ for.. the.. straw.. hat. Spoken rather slowly to imagine my awe. Artistic painters enjoy certain textures. A past article about woven textural specialist Guiseppe Arcimboldo illustrates my point here: https://theunfathomableartist.wordpress.com/2014/10/31/guiseppe-arcimboldo/
Madame Du Barry wore a peignoir for this particular sitting, a dressing gown. The painting was commissioned for the Duc de Brissac, Louis Hercule Timoléon de Cossé-Brissac [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hercule_Timol%C3%A9on_de_Coss%C3%A9-Brissac] according to the artist’s ‘Souvenirs’ 1835-37.
Further information about the artist can be found by reading ‘Vigée Le Brun’ by Joseph Baillio, Katharine Baetjer, Paul Lang.
Madame Du Barry has her visual identity stored for us upon the canvas, and also digitally too.
Should we call this a UI or a Unique Identity?
Cue trailer.