Elizabeth Vigee Le Brun — Portrait of the Artist with her Daughter Jean Marie-Louise (1789)

Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun, Self-Portrait with her Daughter Julie (à l'Antique), 1789

In this self-portrait, Le Brun and her daughter have their arms tightly wrapped around each other in a loving embrace. The plain, muted, dark green background contrasts with their luminous, alabaster skin, while the rounded, sloping forms, soft lighting, gentle gradations, and warm tones all evoke a sense of tenderness in this mother-daughter relationship. Additionally, she and her daughter are dressed rather plainly — not a frivolous embellishment or sheen of expensive fabrics is in sight — giving the painting an air of approachability, possibly emphasizing the intimacy of the moment and the pureness of their love. The usage of pure blocks of predominately primary colors as well as the flowing nature of their dress further reinforces this sense of naturalness and pleasant simplicity. Interestingly, the plain background and the purposely angled light, which conjure a staged effect, somewhat contradict this naturalness. Lebrun's clothing resembles a Greek chiton (Mida, n.d.), while the painting's triangular composition and usage of reds and blues recall Raphael's Madonnas. By associating herself with past masters (Mida, n.d.), Le Brun portrays herself as worthy of being respected and remembered by posterity. Additionally, as social conventions of the time viewed motherhood and career as two diverging paths (Nochlin, 1971), by highlighting her identity as a mother, Le Brun offers a powerful response to such claims and uses it as a survival tactic in a world so stigmatized against women engaged in the public sphere.

Bibliography

Nochlin, L. (1971). Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? ARTnews.

Mida, I. E. (n.d.). Vigée Le Brun, Self-Portrait with her Daughter. Retrieved from smarthistory: https://smarthistory.org/vigee-le-brun-self-portrait-with-her-daughter/