Born in 1755 in Paris to minor painter, Louis Vigee. Died peacefully at age 87 in 1842 in Paris and buried under a stone that reads “Here, at last, I rest.” After her father’s death when she was twelve, Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun began to paint to support the family. She was so successful that by age 24, she was painting Marie Antoinette, whom she adored. When the Revolution started, Vigée fled to France with her beloved daughter, leaving behind a husband who was eventually forced to divorce her for abandonment. After twelve years wandering Europe supported only by her painting, she was granted permission to return to France, where she was viewed with suspicion. Her memoirs are laced with longing for a France that had disappeared almost fifty years before.
To see some of her work, check out this 2016 Met exhibit.