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10/31/2020 HUM-200 - Page 1.2.5 - Seeing Vigée Le Brun

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Applied Humanities

Learning to See Seeing Vigée Le Brun By James Romaine 1 Module One: Introduction to the Humanities / Page 1.2.5 Seeing Vigée Le Brun On this page: 0 of 2 attempted (0%) Objective: Apply the six strategies for analyzing art to a painting by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun.

Self-Portrait (Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun)

This is a self-portrait of the artist as a young woman. She is positioned slightly off center. She is seated at a partially finished portrait painting with a brush raised in her right hand. In her left hand, at waist height, she holds several slightly used brushes. She holds her palette on her left arm. She is dressed in a blue dress with a white lace collar and cuffs, and a red sash with a bow around her waist. She has a white turban with a bow on her head. Her hair is brown and curly. She has a slight smile. Her body is oriented toward the partially finished portrait on her easel, with her face turned toward the viewer.

Self-Portrait by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. Oil on canvas, 1790. The Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy. 3′ 3.5″ × 2′ 8″.

Click to enlarge

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10/31/2020 HUM-200 - Page 1.2.5 - Seeing Vigée Le Brun

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Finally, we will apply our six strategies for analyzing art to one more classic work.

Apply Strategies for Evaluating Visual Artwork

On this page, you will analyze a painting using the steps outlined on the previous pages.

The painting at the top of this page is a self-portrait, meaning that the artist created a representation of herself (likely working from a mirror). It was done by the French painter Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun in 1790.

1. Identify It

Artist: Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun Title: Self-Portrait Time Period: 1790 Medium: Oil on canvas Location: Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

2. Describe It

First impressions: engaging, joyful, confident, charming

What does the painting depict? As the title indicates, the subject of the painting is the artist herself. She is seated, in the act of painting. With one hand, she holds a palette and brushes. With the other, she paints a portrait. She is dressed fashionably but not ostentatiously.

How is the subject depicted? The figure is positioned close to the picture plane, or the boundary that separates the world depicted within the painting from the world of the viewer. Color is used sparingly but effectively. One example of this strategic use of color is the red and gold of the ribbon.

3. Analyze It

What is the relationship between the subject depicted and the means of representation? The closeness of the artist to the picture plane and the directness with which she looks out of the painting establishes an immediacy and intimacy between the painter and the viewer. The artist’s slightly open mouth suggests that she is speaking with us. Vigée Le Brun is thus breaking through the boundary between her world and ours.

10/31/2020 HUM-200 - Page 1.2.5 - Seeing Vigée Le Brun

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The composition is balanced between the left and right. At the left, Vigée Le Brun is painting. Since this is the only action in the work, it attracts the viewer’s attention. The way in which she holds her brush acts as an arrow directing the viewer’s eye. This visual pull toward the left is balanced, at the right, with a red bow. Red is a visually assertive color. It demands our attention. By subtly balancing the viewer’s interest in what she is doing with the inherent gravity of the red, Vigée Le Brun creates an understated movement within the painting while still maintaining herself, at the center, as the composition’s focus.

The refinement of her dress identifies Vigée Le Brun as a proper lady. At the same time, the way in which her hair is escaping from her cap suggests a sense of adventure.

4. Contextualize It

Who was Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun? Vigée Le Brun was one of the most celebrated and successful painters in France in the 1770s and 1780s. She was already working professionally as a portrait painter when she was a teenager.

In 1779, Vigée Le Brun became the favorite painter of Marie Antoinette, the queen of France. Vigée Le Brun painted more than 30 portraits of the queen. These paintings, some of which also included the royal children, were intended to promote the image of the queen as a refined woman and caring mother.

In 1789, after the arrest of the French royal family, Vigée Le Brun fled to Italy. She painted this portrait while in exile in Florence. She was 35 years old. Although Marie Antoinette was under house arrest at the Tuileries Palace in Paris at this time, Vigée Le Brun depicts herself painting a portrait of the queen.

Use the link below to view the “exhibition objects” from a Met exhibition of Vigée Le Brun. You’ll need to navigate through a number of her other paintings until you find this self-portrait.

Vigée Le Brun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary France The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Response Board In what ways is this self-portrait like a lot of Vigée Le Brun’s other work?

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10/31/2020 HUM-200 - Page 1.2.5 - Seeing Vigée Le Brun

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5. Interpret It

Vigée Le Brun painted this self-portrait at a time of tremendous personal and political uncertainty. She was living with her daughter in Florence, Italy. Her husband was still in France. Her principal patron, the queen, was under arrest (and would later be executed). Within this context, the self-confidence and grace with which Vigée Le Brun depicts herself is astounding.

The fact that Vigée Le Brun is simultaneously painting the queen and looking out at us situates the viewer in the place of the queen. Perhaps this is meant to cause us to sympathize with the imprisoned monarch.

The upbeat spirit on display in this work serves as evidence of the triumph of art and the creative imagination over difficult circumstances.

6. Evaluate It

This painting successfully captivates the viewer. Even if the viewer does not know anything about the artist or the historical/political context in which she was working, this self-portrait clearly identifies Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun as a painter. She is confident in her artistic talent without being pretentious, and, through this painting, she generously shares this gift of art with us.

Response Board Based on this painting alone, what do you think the woman depicted would be like as a dinner guest?

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