Souvenirs of Madame Vigée Le Brun

This two-volume autobiography of painter Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun was published in France in 1835–7, and in English in 1879.

Louise-Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun (Author)

9781108080767, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 12 November 2015

322 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.8 cm, 0.41 kg

The most accomplished female painter of her age, Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun (1755–1842) is best remembered for her many portraits of Queen Marie Antoinette of France. Her two-volume autobiography was published in France in 1835–7, and this English version (of which the translator is unknown) in 1879. It begins with a series of letters to a Russian friend, Princess Kourakin, describing her family and early life, her artistic training, and her rise to the position of portraitist to the queen. The letters end with the Revolution and Vigée-Lebrun's flight abroad: the 'souvenirs' which follow describe her years of exile and her eventual return to France. Throughout her life, she supported herself and her family by her painting. Volume 2 recounts her extended stay in Russia, where she painted many of the aristocracy, a brief return to Paris, a visit to England, and her final return to France.

1. I leave Vienna
2. Peterhoff
3. Comte Cobentzel
4. I paint the two young grand-duchesses
5. The cold at St Petersburg
6. The lake of Pergola
7. Catherine
8. Paul I
9. Portrait of the empress Marie
10. My reception by the St Petersburg Academy
11. A bad road
12. Death of Paul I
13. Narva
14. I leave Berlin
15. I arrive in Paris
16. London
17. The Prince of Wales
18. The Chinnery family
19. I leave England
20. Louveciennes
21. The queen's portrait
22. Cruel losses I sustained in my family
Postscriptum by the editor.

Subject Areas: The arts: general issues [AB]