Tea at Trianon: The Smile of Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

The Smile of Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

From Donga:

It is a portrait of a beautiful combination of a happily-looking mother and her young daughter in her arms staring out of the frame. Drawn by 19th-century French artist Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, the painting delivers the warmth of motherly love. However, it came under fire upon being released to the public. Here is why.

Le Brun was fortunate to learn drawing at a young age as her father was an artist. Working as a professional portrait painter from her early teen days, she earned enough money to support her family after her father passed away when she was 15 years old. Joining the Saint Luc Academy in Paris at the age of 19, she married a man who was a painter and art dealer two years later. Le Brun enjoyed enormous popularity among upper-class clients not only thanks to her excellent drawing skills but also to gorgeousness, fashionable tastes and sociability. As she captured the attention of Marie Antoinette, Le Brun garnered fame as the queen's official artist and member of the Royal Academy.

The drawing is a self-portrait of Le Brun that she completed at the age of 31. With her daughter Julie in her arms, she looks deeply happy. However, the painting stirred controversy when it was exhibited at the Salon of 1787. Not only other artists but also patrons pointed an accusatory finger at the painting for a single reason. Their criticism targeted the fact that the painting shows a woman grinning from ear to ear, which then was regarded as an outright infringement of traditional arts.

Le Brun was met with bigger troubles when she had to flee France with her daughter as her patrons were brought to justice in the aftermath of the French Revolution. She wandered around many countries while taking care of the little girl on her own for 12 years before coming back to her motherland. She drew portraits of celebrities and famous figures for money and served as a member of the Academy in 10 cities. (Read more.)