Vigée Le Brun
Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and career of Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, the 18th-century portraitist who painted Marie Antoinette roughly 30 times. The experts analyze her rise in Parisian high society, her strategic exile across Europe after the French Revolution, and her success in courts from Naples to St. Petersburg. They explore her artistic style, characterized by flattering informality and engagement with Old Masters, while addressing contemporary skepticism regarding her gender and the reliability of her self-aggrandizing memoirs.
Topics discussed
Introduction to Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun and guests
Early life, family background, and artistic training
Marriage, entry into high society, and painting Marie Antoinette
Portraiture style, gender dynamics, and commercial success
The Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat and Rubens influence
Flight from the French Revolution and European travels
Meeting Emma Hamilton in Naples
Artistic legacy: informality and the 'Vigée smile'
Life in Russia: Catherine the Great and court politics
Portrait of Countess Golovina at the Barber Institute
Admission to academies and intellectual depth of her work
Visit to England and mixed critical reception
Memoirs, personality, and enduring reputation
Bonus discussion: Daughter Julie, business life, and lost works
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