Louise-Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun

Born in Paris in 1755, Louise-Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun learned early from her father, the portraitist Louis Vigée, and built a remarkable career in a field that offered women few easy paths. She became one of the best-known painters of her time, admired for portraits that feel graceful, warm, and full of life.

Her rise was closely tied to the court of Versailles. She painted Marie Antoinette many times and was received into the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1783, an unusual achievement for a woman artist of the period. When the French Revolution began, she left France and spent years working across Europe, including in Italy, Austria, and Russia, where she continued to attract elite patrons.

She eventually returned to France and lived until 1842. Alongside her paintings, her memoirs helped shape her legacy, offering firsthand glimpses of artists, nobles, and political upheaval. Today she is remembered not only as a favorite portraitist of queens and aristocrats, but also as one of the most successful and resilient women artists of the eighteenth century.