"Self-portrait of the artist with her daughter" - a picture of the French artist Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun , depicting her herself, along with 9-year-old daughter Julie. “This highly progressive image of mother and child reflects the ideas of the Enlightenment about maternity and femininity” [1] .
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| Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun | ||
| Self portrait of the artist with her daughter . 1789 | ||
| fr. Madame Vigée-Lebrun et sa fille | ||
| Canvas, oil. 130 × 94 cm | ||
| Louvre Museum , 75th Hall of the Denon Gallery | ||
| ( inv. INV 3068 ) | ||
Content
- 1 Description
- 2 Julie
- 2.1 Other portraits of Julie
- 3 notes
Description
The artist depicted herself on the canvas in an embrace with her only child, Julie's daughter.
This is the second self-portrait of an artist of this type; the first was written three years earlier, was exhibited at the Salon of 1787 and was very popular, receiving the title of “Maternal Tenderness” (La Tendresse maternelle). Now it is also located in the Louvre [2] .
The second picture - the option "in Greek costumes", was painted by Elizabeth at the request of Count d'Angiviller , general director of the Royal Buildings. In the collection of the Louvre, the picture was after the revolution, being confiscated [3] .
“These two portraits struck their time because they express the change that occurred then in the mentality regarding the place of the mother and the concept of motherly love. Since the middle of the century, there has been a global enthusiasm for everything related to “nature” - an unprecedented development of the natural sciences, interest in the life of “wild” populations (...). The expressiveness of the natural feelings that were still hidden was an element of this movement. In society, both in art and in literature, emotions, especially in sentimental form, occupy the main place ” [4] . In culture, the attitude towards the expression of maternal love has changed, which they began to recognize as "instinctive." Society began to appreciate and glorify this love in the spirit of Jean-Jacques Rousseau - in contrast to the previous tradition, to alienate the child from himself, giving it to the nurse and tutor. These changes reached the very top of society - including Queen Marie-Antoinette , who spoke about daily meetings with her children, which was at odds with the traditions of palace etiquette [4] .
When creating these portraits, the artist, of course, was guided by the previous tradition of religious painting - images of the Madonnas, which for centuries remained the main illustration of motherly love in art. Portraits of real people - mothers with children, for centuries remained only ceremonial paintings, devoid of emotional interaction and demonstrating social relationships. “But two self-portraits of Vigee Lebrun and her daughter, written for pleasure and private use, avoid the conventions of an official portrait. Gentle gestures, a hugging pose express a doubled feeling of love and maternal protection ” [4] . Both models look into the eyes of the viewer, the impression of the paintings is very sincere and lively, the child is happy to pose.
In the future, the artist will repeat the scheme of this portrait for custom-made images of aristocrats with their children, including Russian noblemen.
Countess von Schonfeld with her daughter, 1793
"Alexander Golitsyn with his son", 1794
"Anna Stroganova with her son", 1795
"Sofia Stroganova with her son", 1795
Julie
The second person in the picture is the daughter of the artist Jeanne-Lucy-Louise, known by the diminutive name Julie ( Jeanne-Lucie-Louise Lebrun [3] [5] ; February 12, 1780-1819) from her marriage to the artist Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Le Bren. This marriage was unhappy, the couple lived separately, and when after the French Revolution the artist left her homeland, in exile she was followed by a young daughter and her governess, with whom they arrived in Russia. Julie knew how to draw, several pastels she created were known. Baron N.N. Wrangel mentions 2 such portraits of Elizabeth Alekseevna, their fate is unknown.
When Elizabeth worked in St. Petersburg, the already grown up Julie refused to marry the artist Gerin, whom her mother had chosen. And in 1799 or 1800, after a quarrel with her mother, she married Gaetan-Bernard Nigris (ca. 1766-1831?) - Secretary of the Director of Russian Imperial Theaters. According to Elizabeth, she was able to provide her daughter with a good dowry. A few years later, she broke up with her husband Julie, but did not make peace with her mother, returned to Paris, where she exhibited her paintings at least at one exhibition, but was not successful. At the age of 39, she died of pneumonia in poverty [6] .
Other portraits of Julie
1787
1789
The Bather, 1792
1792
"Portrait of Julie in the image of Flora", 1799
Notes
- ↑ Allison Lee Palmer. Historical Dictionary of Neoclassical Art and Architecture . - Scarecrow Press, 2011-02-11. - 313 p. - ISBN 9780810874749 .
- ↑ Site officiel du musée du Louvre . cartelfr.louvre.fr. Date of treatment July 3, 2018.
- ↑ 1 2 Louvre Museum Official Website . cartelen.louvre.fr. Date of treatment July 3, 2018.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Le nouveau visage de l'amour maternel (French) . www.histoire-image.org (19 octobre 2015). Date of treatment July 3, 2018.
- ↑ Full name is given according to the catalog of the Louvre; in other publications, other combinations and variations are found.
- ↑ Jayne Wrightsman. The Wrightsman Pictures . - Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005 .-- 454 p. - ISBN 9781588391445 .