Élizabeth Vigée Le Brun
Illustration inspired by Élizabeth Vigée Le Brun, Comtesse de la Châtre, 1789, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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Élizabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842) was one of a few highly sought after female painters in Paris in the 18th century. Primarily a portraitist, she was a favorite of Marie Antoinette and French royalty. One of her many portraits of Marie Antoinette is featured on the cover of the 2010 Hole album, Nobody’s Daughter. In the wake of the French Revolution, she fled France with her daughter for several years, painting Europe’s nobility, while still exhibiting widely.