Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842)

Vigée Le Brun's self-portraits abound: paintings, pastels and drawings elegantly combine grace and feminine pride. As the Ancien Régime and its fine arts institution came to an end, the artist supplanted most of his portrait competitors. Her desire to overcome the constraints imposed on women artists allows her to develop a very personal technique and aesthetic criteria: she masters the science of colour and invents a whole range of poses and costumes that allow her to bring a great variety to her portraits and improvisations.