Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun By: Shawleace Hill

Birth She was born April 16, 1755 in Paris She died on March 30, 1842, in Paris

Mini Bio. Elisabeth Louise Vigee was born 16 April 1755 in Paris, the daughter of portaitist Louise Vigee and his wife Jean Maissin, a hairdresser. Only 3 months old, Elisabeth was sent to a small farm near Epernon, and cared for by a peasant woman until, at the age of five, her parents enrolled her in the Couvent de la Trinite. After 7 years, she returned to her parents in Paris and was allowed to attend drawing classes under her father. She was able to spend only a few months with him before his death (9 May 1767). She continued to pursue drawing and painting by copying paintings in private collections and painting portraits of family members, learning her skills without apprenticing to a master. She has no quotes.

Family Her mother is Jean Maissin Her father is Louise Vigee

Career and Facts Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun was a French Painter. When she was eleven Elisabeth's education was considered complete. To her great delight she then left school for good, and returned to her home, "overjoyed", she writes, "at not having to leave my parents again." The atmosphere of the household was artistic and the child had every opportunity to indulge her natural tastes. The painter Doyen, an intimate friend of her father's, helped her in her efforts to draw, and Davesne, a professor at the Academy of St. Luke, asked to be allowed to give her lessons. The lessons do not seem to have amounted to much, for beyond a few suggestions as to setting her palette Elisabeth was allowed to follow her own devices.