What They Said Saturday: "I know nothing about painting, but you make me like it."

'What They Said' Saturday: a day for quotations of all kinds, including excerpts from letters written by Marie Antoinette and her contemporaries, memoirs, non-fiction, novels and everything in between.

"I know nothing about painting, but you make me like it."

--Louis XVI, on the family portrait of Marie Antoinette and her children by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

Women's History Month: A Self-Portrait by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, Circa 1808-1809.

Women's History Month: A month celebrating women of history! I will be posting media and book recommendations, highlighting women from (mostly) the 18th century, and otherwise sharing content with an emphasis on women in history. 

image: A self portrait by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, circa 1808-1809. From a private collection. Image via HyperAllergic.

This self-portrait by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun was done when the artist was around 52 years of old; it is a unique contrast to her earlier and more well-known portraits depicting her in popular English-style gowns and fashions of her youth. While it would be greatly exaggerating to say the artist depicted herself in an unflattering light here, even this self-portrait shows signs of the artist's maturity since the days of her more youthful self-portraits. Deeper fine lines, a slight double-chin, and more refined--rather than youthful--fashions help mark the passage of time. Yet her gaze and her smile retains the elusive mixture of kindness, sincerity, intelligence and even a hint of mystery that always graced Vigee-Lebrun's self-portraits, from her earliest pastel self-portrait at aged 16 to her famous 'Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat' and even, as this work shows, in the paintings the artist made well into the 19th century.

Book Thursday: Let's Read About Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun!

Book Thursday: a day for anything and everything books; reviews, highlights, and more.

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Lebrun (1755-1842) was one of the most prominent European artists of her era; today, she is recognized and celebrated as one of the most significant portraitists in 18th-century France and one of the most successful women artists of all time. If you've been itching to do some reading about Madame Vigée Lebrun but haven't made it out to the library yet, you're in luck: I've compiled a short list of recommendations on books about Élisabeth Vigée Lebrun that are sure to have you reaching for your late-night reading lamp.

If you want to get up close and personal, check out...

The Memoirs of Madame Vigée Lebrun by Louise-Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun

What better way to get acquainted with Madame Lebrun than reading her own reflection on her decades-long career and life that took her from the streets of pre-revolutionary Paris to the courts of nearly every monarch in Europe? The edition illustrated above includes a modern introduction, but if you don't want to wait, the original 1903 Lionel Strachey translation of Memoirs is available to read for free online.

If you're into art history or want something more nuanced, check out...

The Exceptional Woman: Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun and the Cultural Politics of Art by Mary D. D. Sheriff

Sheriff's focused study of Lebrun's career explores Lebrun's work through the lens of social, political, professional and even philosophical debates about women artists and the role o women in 18th-century France. Sheriff's work proposes ways that Lebrun's portraits undermined traditional assumptions regarding women in her era.

If you want an all-in-one illustrated book with historical essays and biographical information, check out...

Vigée Le Brun by Joseph Baillio, Katharaine Baetjer, and Paul Lang

This book was published in 2016 to coincide with an expansive touring exhibition of Lebrun's portraits. The book is illustrated with 85 of her portraits and drawings and includes a biography of her life along with essays from historians and art experts regarding specific portraits, her role as a woman artist, and more.

Madame Alexander Heads to the 18th-Century (Part 1)

Barbie isn't the only doll that time travels! Madame Alexander dolls have been around since 1923, when Beatrice Alexander--the Madame Alexander herself!--began designing and selling dolls with a unique look and quality styles. Over the year, Madame Alexander dolls have ranged from literary characters, movie characters, ballerinas, fashion icons and just about everything in between. By 1980, the company was producing 1 million dollars a year--an astonishing feat, especially considering that the original owner ran the company until she sold it in 1988.

Among the many offerings that Madame Alexander has released over the years are a selection of historical dolls, including both actual historical figures and simply 18th century inspired dolls. Let's dive right in! And who knows, maybe you'll find a new doll (or two or three) to add to your wish-list!

Marie Antoinette (1946) 

 [image: Theriault's]

This beauty is a composition doll created by Madame Alexander for her 1946 Portrait series. She was inspired by Marie Antoinette and is one of the first among Madame Alexander dolls inspired by the queen. This lavishly detailed gown includes handmade silk flowers, bows, trim, and a hand-painted face. Like all of the older Madame Alexander dolls, she is hard to come by, and had a very limited production.

Louise Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun

Yes, even Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun has her own doll! This charming doll features an outfit inspired by a self-portrait of the artist, and includes details such as her flowered straw hat, a lace shawl, and delicate earrings. This doll was a LE250.

Marie Antoinette (1987)

 [image: EBTH]

This doll was released in 1987 and is the second of Madame Alexander's dolls based on Marie Antoinette, though it was the first to be mass produced. This particular doll features miniature faux pearls, a decorative hand fan, and a youthful dress with pink and blue details that give the doll a more youthful "dauphine-like" appearance. This doll was LE325.

"1774" MetKids Collection

 [image source: Ebay]

This interesting doll was part of a collection created for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, featuring dolls with fashions from various historical eras. "1774" features a fashion inspired by the 1770s, with an embroidered gown, ruffled details, and of course, a giant feather. This doll was LE150.

Duchess of Devonshire

This depiction of the famous Georgiana Cavendish is from The Historical Collection,  and features an English-style striped gown with floral details and an extravagantly large hat, as befitting the famous duchess. This doll was LE350.

Marie Antoinette (2005)

This vision in pink and red is the third of Madame Alexander's Marie Antoinette dolls, and features bows, ribbon embroidery, miniature jewelry and a very large (and very white!) hairdo. This doll was LE700, much higher than many other Madame Alexander releases.

Marie Antoinette (2009)

 

[image: Matilda's Dolls]   

This is the fourth and so far latest Marie Antoinette from Madame Alexander. It was released in 2009 and features a pink dress with beautiful floral trim and a youthful, Sofia Coppola-esque aesthetic. This doll was LE300.

Coming in Part 2: Madame Alexander Meets Madame Pompadour...

Elisabeth Vigée Lebrun on Madame Elisabeth

 credit: (C) RMN-Grand Palais (Château de Versailles) / Gérard Blot

Elisabeth Vigée Lebrun on Elisabeth Philippine Marie Hélène de France, the youngest sister of Louis XVI, known as 'Madame Elisabeth':

'The features of [this Princess] were not regular, but her face expressed gentle affability, and the freshness of her complexion was remarkable; altogether, she had the charm of a pretty shepherdess. She was an angel of goodness. Many a time have I been a witness to her deeds of charity on behalf of the poor. All the virtues were in her heart: she was indulgent, modest, compassionate, devoted. In the Revolution she displayed heroic courage; she was seen going forward to meet the cannibals who had come to murder the Queen, saying, "They will mistake me for her!"'

Elisabeth Vigée Lebrun on the death of Madame du Barry

credit: Wikimedia Commons

"She was the only woman, among all who perished in those dreadful days, unable to face the scaffold with firmness; she screamed, she sued for pardon to the hideous mob surrounding her, and that mob became moved to such a degree that the executioner hastened to finish his task. This has always confirmed my belief that if the victims of that period of execrable memory had not had the noble pride of dying with fortitude the Terror would have ceased long before it did."

--the memoirs of Elisabeth Vigée Lebrun

Two portraits of the lovely duchesse de Guiche

Aglaé Louise Françoise Gabrielle de Polignac (7 May 1768 - 30 March 1803) was the first child and only daughter of Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron and Jules de Polignac. In 1780, she was married to the Antoine Louis Marie de Gramont, duc de Guiche. They had three children.

In 1784, the talented Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun painted the 16 year old Aglaé in a simple, pastoral dress that was popularized in the 1780s by the rise of country and hamlet inspired fashions.

image: a portrait of the duchesse de Guiche in 1784 by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun
credit: Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun Art

The artist would again paint the beautiful duchesse de Guiche, this time in 1794, now 26. In her memoirs, Lebrun wrote that the duchesse's "lovely face had not changed in the least," despite the misfortune which had befallen her family after 1789.

 

image: a portrait of the duchesse de Guiche in 1794 by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun

credit: Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun Art