The Prolonged Exile Of France’s Finest Artist | Portraits of Marie Antoinette Part 2 | Perspective

[Music] louise elizabeth vijay was born into a family of painters in paris in 1755 the same year as marie antoinette a child prodigy she began her career as a portraitist age 14 and soon became one of the best paid painters in france in 1775 she married an art dealer jean-baptiste libra who built up her standing summoned to versailles she became the official portraitist queen mary antoinette painting more than 20 portraits of the sovereign with revolution in the air elizabeth was soon stained by association with the increasingly discredited queen after the storming of the bastille elizabeth's life was in danger she knew she had to leave france fast she took the staged coach with her daughter julie in october 1789 the day after the royal family had been taken from versailles to paris and confined to the tuileries she didn't know then that her exile would last 13 years and she would cross half of europe [Music] elizabeth vijay lebron left paris with very little luggage and just enough money to pay her fare to rome hoping she would not be recognized and could pass the border without mishap opposite me in the stagecoach was a man who told me quite simply that he had stolen watches and other things not satisfied with relating his fine exploits to us the thief talked incessantly of stringing up such and such people on lamp posts naming a number of my own acquaintances my daughter thought this man very wicked he frightened her and this gave me the courage to say i beg you sir not to talk of killing before this child that silenced him and he ended by playing at battle with my daughter [Music] after a stop in lyon the traveler then reached chambery in the state of savoir once outside of france she finally felt safe but she was recognized by a pastillian while she crossed the molsony pass and simply because he'd seen an engraving of her self-portrait with her daughter madame lebron's celebrity had been fueled by the spread throughout europe of engravings of her most famous portraits reassured for a while she continued on her way to rome the young woman decided to leave on what would appear like a study trip to italy the grand tour in italy was a rite of passage for painters so off she went leaving her husband but taking her daughter [Music] in the late 18th century travel was fashionable exiles traders and artists in search of patrons crisscrossed europe in stagecoaches cabs and carriages new roads and repairs to old roads were shortening travel time in 1750 it took 12 days to cross france whereas 15 years later eight sufficed in 1780 the public coaches were still twice as fast on the royal roads while the invention of spring suspension eased the traveler's tiredness [Music] fresh horses awaited riders and carriages at post houses in order to accelerate mail delivery here inns would cater to travellers appetites and sometimes provide basic accommodation since the 17th century rome had been the homeland of all european artists the circulation of the paintings of italian artists and the creation of large collections ensured that the whole of europe was familiar with the works of the masters the grand tour as it was called was a study trip not just for artists but also for young gentlemen keen to round out their education [Music] italian landscapes were in fashion at the time in france joseph verni romanticized naples and rome whereas uber robert specialized in depicting ancient roman ruins [Music] the artist did break her journey first in turin then in parma finally she traveled to bologna where she stayed for some time in this town the first thing the young woman wanted to see was a picture she'd heard of by dominiquino the martyrdom of saint agnes soon after her arrival she was gazing at the painting at length moved by the youth and innocence of the young martyr suddenly the organ struck up the overture to efficiency on torrid one of marie antoinette's favorite arias saint effigener and the queen merged into one tragic image the traveller burst into tears [Music] a flood of memories of happy light-hearted times that seemed forever lost and for the first time she deeply felt the solitude of exile [Music] from bologna she journeyed to florence where she decided to linger in the ufc gallery enriched by the medicis she explored the masterpieces of michelangelo titian raphael and in the palazzo piti those of rubens and rembrandt for a time the wealth of wonders made her forget paris and the revolution and she set off once more for rome spiritual home of all artists [Music] you know dear friend that just a short distance from rome saint peter's dome is visible i cannot tell you the joy i felt upon seeing it i thought i was dreaming of what i had so long desired in vain [Music] only the satisfaction of living in rome could soothe my sorrow at leaving my land my family and so many beloved friends upon her arrival the portraitist was taken in by her friend the painter minajo director of the french academy he lent her a little money mina joe admired her greatly and she loved to hear him talk about painting it's possible that a platonic relationship developed between them founded in 1666 by colbert and later installed in the palazzo manchini the academy welcomed porcioners chosen by the academy royale her fame had crossed borders and orders from exiled emigrants and italian nobles came flooding in she was even invited by the vatican to execute a portrait of pope pius vi elizabeth refused the commission as custom would have insisted on her being veiled for the sittings which she saw as incompatible with the quality of her work when she arrived in rome she came across an already established female painter even more successful than herself angelica kaufman like elizabeth angelico kaufman was a precocious artist born in switzerland also into a family of painters she traveled throughout europe at a young age acquiring a cosmopolitan clientele in london she was one of the founders of the royal academy and her portraits were sought after among the gentry angelica coffman has a rather different background she started out an international artist she had a father who was a journeyman painter [Music] she was in fact a history painter a good part of her life and that's one of the great differences between the two of them and she was traveling all over switzerland and north italy when she was very young i daresay was a more international artist than even than vijaya lava speaks of angelica kaufman saying she was very intelligent and that what she did was pretty you could sense she didn't want to say she was a good painter she just said she was very cultured but rather boring despite the unfavorable review elizabeth was flattered to appear at the theater or the opera alongside the most famous of her colleagues she was thrilled that all the spectators finally acclaimed them as the two most famous female artists in europe [Music] though the male written history books may have forgotten their names great museums and international collectors have fought over the masterpieces of rosalba carrier angelica kaufman adelaide la bigiar and elizabeth vijay libra female painters were prisoners of their category but some such as married mean benoit did break free despite the critics elizabeth's former pupil launched herself into genre painting like this portrait of a black woman which would become a symbol of the emancipation of slaves and a feminism there were very few women painters or artists and that the men far outnumbered them but you gradually realized that there really were quite a few but they were kept in the shade and forced into the background in regard to the men noting that lots of foreigners were leaving to spend the summer in naples elizabeth decided to go there after spending several months in rome we reached naples at about three or four o'clock i cannot describe the impression i received upon entering the town that burning sun that stretch of sea those islands seen in the distance that vesuvius with a great column of smoke ascending from it i was enchanted by all of it in naples one of the first people she got to know was lord hamilton in whose entourage was the famous lady hamilton or rather the soon-to-be lady hamilton whom the artist painted many times owing to her extraordinary physique she was already sitting for reynolds and her likenesses were well known throughout europe emma hart the future lady hamilton began her career in a london tavern thanks to her astonishing beauty she found with several english gentlemen the protection she required despite her scandalous reputation emma managed in 1791 to wed lord hamilton british ambassador to naples the portrait of her as sybil would be used by elizabeth as a reference work to acquire new clients [Music] this portrait would be very important in her career she carried it with her and at each stage of her european tour would unroll it pin it in a frame and thus advertise her talent in naples she was soon introduced to the royal family more particularly to marie caroline who was marie antoinette's elder sister [Music] elizabeth was very moved by the striking resemblance between the two sisters and painted a portrait of mary caroline in virtually the same pose as marie antoinette of this fine portrait only copies remain [Music] one morning in the summer of 1790 french ambassador baron de tajong brought her a commission from the queen of naples that of the portrait of her two daughters whom she sought to marry the hour of noon was appointed for the sittings and to attend i was obliged to follow the kia road in the heat of the day the sun's reflection was so vivid that i was almost struck blind to save my eyes i put on a green veil which i had never seen anyone else do and which must have looked rather peculiar since only black or white veils were worn but a few days after i saw several english women imitating me and green veils came into fashion the fashion was launched and with a hint of vanity she boasted of inventing a style that other women adopted though a pioneer of fashion abroad she didn't want to be forgotten in france so using menageo as go-between she sent off a portrait to the salon du louvre for the 1791 salon she said rolled in a painting by mena zhou her portrait of paiselo the musician a magnificent portrait which was exhibited with the paintings of david etc she painted him in 1790 and she recounted the sitting both of them were extremely cold he found it hard to play the harpsichord and she had trouble painting because their fingers were frozen and she painted him in a moment of inspiration his eyes were raised heavenward he was composing on the harpsichord and seem to be seeking divine inspiration it's a recurrent image in madame vijay lebron's body of work she also painted angelica catalani a soprano one of paisiello's artists also in this attitude of divine inspiration while elizabeth was persona non grata in france her rival adelaide labia who rallied to the revolutionary cause portrayed robespierre and his friends thus attempting to ensure the support of the new strong men in paris back in rome madame vigila returned to her friend francois menageo and set to work once more two daughters of louis xv madame adelaide and madame victoire both in exile called her and during a sitting informed her of some tragic news in the night of june the 21st 1791 the royal family left the tuileries palace in secret and took a coach bound for lorraine towards the french troops that had remained loyal to the king traveling with fake passports the runaways were nonetheless recognized in varene and taken back to paris by the national guard the royal escape was viewed as a betrayal of the constitution the idea of a republic was gaining ground and supporters of the abolition of the monarchy used this event to accuse louis xvi of rallying to france's enemies the artist had planned to return to france after a three-year stay in italy on the way she lingered in tuscany where her love of nature was matched by the richness of the landscapes she made a visit to venice where she was charmed by its architecture on wooden piles and by the many parties she attended with a writer and engraver friend also a refugee dominique vivon de noe who had fun making an engraving of her self-portrait keen to return to france elizabeth headed for turin but the city was filled with emigrates fleeing the bloody massacres in paris from september the 2nd to the 7th 1792. on entering the town great heavens streets squares were all filled with thousands of people of all ages who had fled from french towns and come to turin in search of a home the sight broke my heart trembling i dared only ask for news of my mother my brother mr lebron and all my friends and abandon the plan of going to paris the young woman realized that she couldn't return to france shattered she turned back towards milan she was advised by count wilceck austrian ambassador to milan and decided to win over a new clientele in vienna elizabeth entered the holy roman capital in summer 1792 and there she stayed for three years her time was split between concerts melancholy strolls in schonbrunn and of course the production of paintings for all the poles and the diplomats in vienna i worked a great deal in vienna it would be difficult to express all the gratitude i felt for the reception i was afforded in this town not only did the viennese express their affection for me personally they thought it's stylish to place my paintings in a way that set them off best elizabeth was a perfect colorist who had learned to grind pigments into powder by binding them with various raw or cooked oils she claimed that these preparations were the secret of her colors freshness but the quick drying paint had to be used immediately not until 1841 did the revolutionary tinfoil tube of paint allow painters to carry their already prepared colours viewed as an immigrant madame vijay lebron lost her citizens rights in 1793 her husband published a long plea that his wife be permitted to return to paris a petition signed by 255 artists was handed to the authorities to no avail lebron was arrested and incarcerated for several months as was elizabeth's brother etienne lebron to protect himself and to preserve their assets filed for divorce which was granted in 1794. in vienna she was glad to find the compt de vodre whose closeness to the court had forced him into exile in 1789 but the pleasure of their meeting was soon overshadowed by echoes of the terror in early 1793 devastating news spread across europe i thus heard of the horrible occurrence through my brother who wrote it down and sent the letter without giving any further particulars whatever his heart broken he simply wrote that louis xvi and marie antoinette had perished on the scaffold afterward from compassion toward myself i always abstained from putting the least question concerning what accompanied or preceded that awful murder king queen friend i lost all of them elizabeth listened to the russian ambassador's suggestion that there was a new wealthy clientele to be found despite the distance and the risks of such a journey she decided to try her hand in saint petersburg she left vienna with a few letters of recommendation and a passport and a stage by stage itinerary berlin dresden potsdam reinsburg where she stayed with prince henry of prussia brother to the king koenigsberg riga and finally saint petersburg 3 000 kilometers of exhausting sometimes dangerous roads [Music] elizabeth and brunette moved into an apartment located on the main winter palace square [Music] from her windows she could gaze upon the splendor of the imperial residence and the nobility of the angles described by the avenues that opened up before her [Music] eleven she arrived in summer 95 the end of catherine the great's reign it was a time when all french immigrants looked upon russia as the new land of renaissance [Music] back then revolution all the kings were engaged in wars and the two countries where peace reigned were russia and the united states of america the new world [Music] sophie frederick august the future catherine the great was the daughter of german prince christian august von anheld serbs at 15 she married the future peter the third of russia immature and unstable peter was overthrown six months into his reign by a coup d'etat organized by his wife and was strangled several days later no doubt by her lover count grigori olof french-speaking and extremely cultured catherine became sovereign empress and reigned for more than 30 years two days after her arrival in saint petersburg madame vijay was officially summoned to an audience with the sarina perhaps too sure of her standing as an international artist and wearing a simple white tunic unsuited to this situation she forgot the ceremonial kissing of the hand and simply bowed without kneeling to the empress this hiccup in protocol was considered offensive by the imperial courtiers who became hostile to the portraitist despite that her celebrity as mary antoinette's painter kindled the interest and curiosity of the saint petersburg nobility she asked her husband to send her grand portrait of the queen in a blue dress and a white petticoat as she put it she received the painting and duly hung it in her workshop and that painting would constitute a reference people would come to her workshop to admire the painting she could still be called the queen's painter at least that was how she wanted to present herself while artists can be itinerant works of art can also travel back then the most efficient method was to unpin them from their frames roll them up and send them that way upon reception they were unrolled and pinned in another frame usually the paint is rolled innermost and that's the way they are transported but i think she also says in her memoirs that some paintings she sent for arrived very damaged whatever the case she was still best able to restore them since they were her own madam lebron was particularly touched by the welcome bestowed on her by the russian nobility princess dulgurakaya invited her for a week to her dasha where she made the acquaintance of someone who was to be very important to her princess corykina who would later be the dedicatee of her memoirs and an extremely loyal friend all the young ladies of the russian nobility spoke french and they warmly welcomed this ambassador of fashion taste and french customs [Music] oh jesus christ in the 18th century all russians had to make a pilgrimage to paris not for studies obviously in paris they would learn how to dress to speak even how to cough blow one's nose and wear a hat properly in short to become a perfect parisian though her famous greek supper made headlines in france in 1789 her reputation for high living crossed borders in saint petersburg they still talk of a party costing 40 000 pounds the equivalent of 400 000 euros whereas elizabeth speaks only of 15 pounds she dressed her models in the greek style significant in russia and that she herself claimed to have made fashionable artists [Music] the artist was able to create for herself a certain dress style expressed in such a way that her charm and the attraction she exerted over her circle encouraged the desire to imitate her [Music] the mid-18th century witnessed an explosion of greco-mania with the spread of engravings that reproduce frescoes found in pompeii and herculaneum even the revolutionary celebrations were inspired by antiquity in france after the terror the first merveilleurs adopted eccentric fashions dressed in light or even transparent tunics high belts and large bonnets corsets and panniers were abandoned and the tall voluminous hairstyles gave way to a natural look it truly was a drastic revolution in clothing the like of which had never been seen [Music] elizabeth also excelled in another type of representation the world of childhood her self-portrait dubbed motherly love prompted russian ladies to commission their own portraits with their children in the 18th century a new sensibility arose around childhood previously the child wasn't really thought of as a person they weren't even sure whether it had a soul this idea of a child as a person in their own right gradually led to more and more family portraits [Music] the empress who loved her two granddaughters the archduchess's eleanor and alexandra placed an order for their portrait elizabeth painted them as rather languid in an atmosphere of innocence with bear arms and catherine took a great offense at that and she complained about it and vigilant had to scrape it off the canvas and start all over again even the portrait of these little girls had to embody the power of the nation as she herself embodied the strength of the world's greatest empire it was during this same period that she met stanislas pognatovsky deposed king of poland then under house arrest in saint petersburg sent by his uncle to russia stanislas benefited from the protection of catherine the great who became besotted with the young man and had him restored to the polish throne he was the last king of an independent poland she told an anecdote one day when she was painting he came to her workshop and she called out i'm not at home she then realized how bold she had been and in turn went to see him to proffer her excuses he told her he quite understood how a very busy artist shouldn't be disturbed and wasn't at all angry [Music] and there we have an insight into the character of this man she particularly liked she painted a very flattering portrait of him in words stanislaus was tall gentle kind etc you can tell that theirs was a beautiful friendship despite her mother's wishes to the country brunette was determined to marry a young and pecunius secretary from saint petersburg of italian origin gaetano nigris the rouse became increasingly violent madame lebron gave in to her daughter and obtained her husband's consent to julie's marriage owing to the distance her father's answer was long delayed and someone convinced her that i had only written to mr lebanon to prevent him from ascending to what she called her felicity she said to me one day i post your letters but i am sure you write others to the contrary [Music] i was stunned and heartbroken when at that very moment the postman arrived with a letter from mr lebron giving his consent [Music] but the cruel child showed not the least gratitude at what i had done for her in emulating all my wishes hopes and dislikes the wedding was nevertheless enacted a few days later after almost seven years in russia madame vijay tempted to settle instant petersburg for good bitterly faced the facts towards the end of her stay orders were fewer than at the beginning because in fact there weren't ever that many prospective clients [Music] the breakup with julie was complete mother and daughter no longer spoke to one another she held no official position her clientele was becoming scarcer and she had to go to moscow to consolidate her fortune her health deteriorated and she became prone to fits of melancholy [Music] in june 1800 she learned that she'd been removed from the list of emigres meaning that nothing stood in the way of a return to france despite regrets as she thought of russia as her second home she made up her mind to return to paris [Music] she returned to france alone and was amazed how much the smiling pleasant landscapes of her outward journey now seemed so for her it was a sad return [Music] after a long and arduous trip elizabeth entered the capital with a heavy heart on january the 18th 1802 john batiste was waiting for her on the steps of the hotel despite their divorce the emotion was palpable that night he made a laconic entry in his notebook arrival in paris of madame her absence from her departure on october the 6th to january the 18th 1802 lasted 12 years 3 months and 12 days [Music] she realized that the world had changed she could not get used to parisian life to french life customs had changed it was no longer the society she had known [Music] after the coup d'etat of november the 9th 1799 which overthrew the french directory the constitution of the year 8 established an authoritarian political regime headed by first council napoleon bonaparte a brilliant general swept to prominence by the success of his campaigns in italy and egypt five years later in 1804 bonaparte declared himself emperor of the french people and became napoleon the first a new nobility was established in the mansions of paris but madame lebron devoted to the bourbons and the aussie regime couldn't get used to their ways and displayed a hostility that soon displeased the new emperor [Music] she stays in paris just a short time and she fulfilled several commissions she had received while she was in russia and in she made pastel studies of certain people that she produced oil portraits of and then sent them back to russia and to germany [Music] in late 1802 madame vijay announced her intention to take a two-year trip to england in the hope of finding a new clientele she picked up her her brushes in her paint box and traveled to london at the time england boasted some 800 portraitists competition was fierce and the artist's extremely expensive fees tended to work against her very soon stepped back from english society which she found profoundly dull and monotonous and said i am not surprised english adopted the word spleen your mirth equates to our boredom a cabal headed by the painter hobner didn't help her status as a foreigner in the kingdom of great britain hopner never got anywhere near the prices that she got so he was very very upset and he was something of a poet so he wrote a poem and he really gives her you know like we say here he gives her what for as the emperor wished to portray the members of his dynasty madame vijay in paris once more received an official commission for the portrait of his sister caroline princess miura the artist unable to refuse grudgingly did her duty the thoughtless caroline's repeated lateness for her sittings exasperated the portraitist who observed i have painted real princesses who never worried me and never made me wait [Music] in the summer of 1807 paris was invaded by stifling heat madame vijay bowed to the alpine fashion and organized a trip to switzerland twice in 1807 and 1808 she travels a different circuit through switzerland on this occasion she stayed with madame de stall jermaine de stall was living in semi-exile in the chateau de copi the literary and philosophical salon she held in paris had aroused the suspicions of the emperor who forbade her from re-entering france elizabeth and madame destal shared a love of the arts and a hostility towards napoleon the author of korean ulitelli and the portraitist were two illustrious women defenders of the ancient regime and totally independent by then 50 years old madame lebron seemed to feel a new freedom and self-awareness finally released from commercial constraints she discovered the freedom of painting landscapes in the wild she set off to stroll around the houses and apartments where she lived and translate what she saw into pastels particularly the landscapes while madame lebron had a trained eye for finding the most beautiful views for her landscapes she also had an extremely fine ear and an acoustic sensitivity that enabled her to identify all manner of sounds her sense of hearing was not unlike the one we see among 20th century composers specializing in electro acoustic music they talk of acoustic sound listening without knowing where the sound comes from like a revving engine or a falling saucepan anything it's a sound that deserves to be heard and possibly used in music well hurrier was just like that it was a quite extraordinary modern side to here the painter sought a refuge and finally found peace of mind when she bought her own house surrounded by a large garden in the village of louisvien near paris after the disastrous russian campaign the frontiers of the french empire were trembling as napoleon's policy of conquest came to an end in the night of march the 31st 1814 the prussians sacked the village of louisville and barged into madame lebron's house emptying desks and wardrobes she owed her salvation to her servant joseph who spoke german and managed to engineer her escape on april the 3rd 1814 the senate proclaimed the deposition of napoleon charles count of artois and brother of louis xvi preceded his brother the future louis the 18th and made a triumphant entrance into paris on april the 12th loyal royalist madame lebron left her house in louisville and hastened to the capital where she cried tears of joy for the restoration of the bourbons but her happiness was short-lived shattered by news of her daughter brunette who had separated from her husband and was living in a modest boarding house in paris she was slowly sinking into poverty the links between mother and daughter had weakened destroyed by drink and occasional prostitution julie had contracted syphilis informed of her plight madame lebron hurried to her bedside i hastened to her as soon as i heard of her illness but the disease progressed rapidly and i cannot tell what i felt when all hope of saving her was gone when going to see her the last day my eyes fell upon that dreadfully sunken face i've fainted away [Music] the next day i was childless i saw her again i still see her in the days of her childhood alas she was so young why did she not survive me madame lebron didn't understand what mistakes she'd made with julie didn't she try to pass on her passion for painting closeness turned to incomprehension and then into violent disputes the independent young woman couldn't find her place alongside her too talented too famous mother madame lebron looked to her nieces for comfort and passed on to them her precious advice on portrait painting it is interesting to note just how much when you look at this work and read the advice she gives to eugenie trippier her counsel mirrors her execution [Music] she says the shadows must be both strong and transparent not thickened and in a mature tone accompanied by firm lively touches in the cavities such as the eye socket the recess of the nostrils and the shadowy internal parts of the ear and it's true that when you come closer and studied the recess of the eye you have a whole series of strokes in red and black chalk that provide the eyes with their shadow [Music] it seems to me that as a technical art artist fiji librarian is extremely gifted for a woman who did not have formal training she is an impeccable technician and one of the things about her works is that if they haven't been interfered with or suffered some accidental damage they're likely to be in an extremely good state of preservation she must have known a lot about color because you rarely see any of these disc discolorations which are caused by alterations in the material france underwent another revolution the july revolution of 1830 the people of paris rose up against the authority of charles the tenth barricaded the streets and clashed with the armed forces resulting in one thousand deaths the son of philippe garite who had voted for the execution of king louis xvi took the throne under the name louis philippe it was the start of a new era and no longer that of madame labar she gave herself over to memories of happier times for a dozen years she took notes and wrote aided by her nieces who copied out the manuscript she appended corrections in the margin presumably she began to write her memoirs when she wrote her first will it's as if she felt at peace with herself and that it was time to let herself write down her memories [Music] i think it was a much deeper desire that of wanting to live a second time and to relive those moments of happiness because there's something very characteristic in the writing of these memoirs that radiates a glow of happiness of discovery and the most negative things in her life were only to be found in the accompanying documents so she wanted to leave a portrait of herself that that that she herself sanctioned so she started uh she listened to the the advisors and she started to write them and uh it used to be said that she didn't actually write them there were ghost writers who who worked for her this is not true because we we know that there are big batches of her original manuscripts though these memoirs are a precious document in terms of the worlds she encountered they're equally important as an account of her own life madame vijay lebron recalled the scene with mary antoinette whose veracity still causes controversy one day i happened to miss the appointment she had given me for a sitting far gone in my second pregnancy i had suddenly become unwell the next day i hastened to versailles to offer my excuses her majesty was finishing her toilet my heart was beating violently for i knew that i was in the wrong [Music] but the queen looked up at me and said most amiably i was waiting for you all the morning yesterday what happened to you i'm sorry to say your majesty i replied i was so ill that i was unable to comply with your majesty's commands i am here to receive more now and then i will immediately retire no no do not go exclaim the queen i do not want you to have made your journey for nothing she revoked the order for her carriage and she gave me a sitting i remember that in my confusion and my eagerness to make a fitting response to her kind words i opened my paint box so excitedly that i spilled my brushes on the floor i stooped down to pick them up never mind never mind said the queen and for all i could say she insisted on gathering them all up herself [Music] naturally it's good for visual lebron's ego to say that the queen picked up her brushes and that's what you'd put in your memoirs many testimonies support the assertion that marie antoinette was a simple woman close to her suppliers who sometimes dispensed with protocol so this anecdote seems probable its inclusion in her memoirs indicates that visa lebron attached a lot of importance to this too there's a tendency to embellish the past that's quite natural and to favor you can at once be quite sincere and yet in reality it may be a lie from a strictly historical perspective but this doesn't mean her version is insincere aged almost 80 madame vijay was still a famous personality in paris summer's sundays in louisville winter in her parisian apartment in the san lazar neighborhood she threw parties where the younger generations drawn by her reputation would love to hear her anecdotes chateaubriand vinnie musee and balzac seemed fascinated by this woman a brilliant conversationalist who was once painted to marry antoinette and the courts of she had a europe sensibility and received vinnie at her salon she received shadow prion she liked reading la martin although she didn't really appreciate victor hugo's novel notre dame de paris politically she resembles a person like chateaubriand who was very much in favor of a constitutional monarchy i think she would she would have preferred the old regime as it was but a constitutional monarchy would have worked for her also this sensitivity to new forms and new poetry changed her taste she was on the lookout for what was happening she heard of chopin and things like that it was her musical gateway to what we might call modernity it heralded the romantic generation which interested her artists of 1840 rediscovered the charm of the middle ages and the renaissance and embraced neo-gothic fashion in painting the ruins of cathedrals replaced uber robert's roman remains knights in armor and princesses in headdresses relived the romance of 15th century epics the symbolic notre dame de paris had two new heroes victor hugo and the architect violet leduc and all the new generation of painters she knew them she was very close to to to to grow whom she had seen born and to whom she had given his first lessons in drawing the indefatigable madame lebron continued to paint with unfailing energy and though her pace no longer had the lightness of yesteryear the faces were still lit by that golden light that had made her famous [Music] in tandem with the troubadour-style nostalgia mid-19th century france was undergoing profound social economic and political change the accession of the bourgeoisie to manufacturing and financial affairs proved a huge shot in the arm for economic growth this was the industrial revolution which was accompanied by the rise of railways and technical advances in new energies textiles and metallurgy it might be fun to imagine the doubtful reaction of queen mary antoinette's portraitist faced with these curious miniatures bearing the strange name daguerro types which first appeared in 1835. the static bodies frozen expressions poor quality rendering and the crudeness of reality probably inspired thoughts of the end of a world her world that of a talented portrait artist who knew so well how to embellish the face and to convey the soul she passed away quietly in april 1842 attended by her nieces having painted more than 660 portraits known fame and criticism luxury and exile monarchies and revolutions the greatest artists and the most powerful europeans of her time having covered countless tens of thousands of kilometers the tireless traveler 87 years old chose this epitaph for her grave in louisville here at last i rest

Channel: Perspective

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Keywords: history, history documentary, marie antoinette, Arts, The Arts, Theatre, Music, Full EPisode, Full documentary, documentary, performing arts, élisabeth vigée le brun, vigée le brun, versailles, women artists, grand palais, paris, art, exposition, marie-antoinette, arts, the arts, music, full episode, full documentary, art history, painter, artist, french revolution, self portrait, le brun, élisabeth louise vigée le brun, elisabeth vigée le brun, louise vigée le brun, portrait

Id: QGm5HM_TTc0

Length: 50min 5sec (3005 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 06 2022