Provenance
Comte Charles de Damas. Comte Arthur de Vogüé. Saint collection. (Wildenstein & Co., Inc., Paris and New York); (Reinhardt Galleries, New York); William R. Timken [1866-1949], New York, by 1928;[1] by inheritance to his widow, Lillian Guyer Timken [1881-1959], New York; bequest 1960 to NGA.
[1] The painting was lent by the Timkens in 1928 to an exhibition in New York.
Accession Number
1960.6.41
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 92.7 × 73.1 cm (36 1/2 × 28 3/4 in.) | framed: 141.61 × 99.06 × 17.78 cm (55 3/4 × 39 × 7 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Timken Collection
Tags
Painting Neoclassical & Romantic (1751–1850) Oil Painting Canvas
Background & Context
Background Story
Marie-Antoinette after Elisabeth-Louise Vigee Le Brun is a version of one of the most famous royal portraits of the 18th century, depicting the Queen of France in the elegant, sympathetic manner that distinguishes Vigee Le Brun's best portraiture from the more formal royal portraiture of her contemporaries. Vigee Le Brun (1755-1842) was the most celebrated female portrait painter of the 18th century and Marie-Antoinette's favorite portraitist, painting numerous portraits of the Queen that combined aristocratic dignity with domestic intimacy. The after 1783 date indicates this is a copy made after Vigee Le Brun's original, demonstrating the enormous demand for portraits of the Queen.
Cultural Impact
Marie-Antoinette after Vigee Le Brun is important in the history of 18th-century portraiture because it demonstrates the enormous demand for portraits of the Queen that Vigee Le Brun's elegant, sympathetic manner had created. Vigee Le Brun's portraits of Marie-Antoinette—combining aristocratic dignity with domestic intimacy—revolutionized royal portraiture by showing the Queen as both a dignified monarch and a sympathetic woman, and copies like this one show how widely this revolutionary approach was disseminated.
Why It Matters
Marie-Antoinette after Vigee Le Brun is a copy of one of the most famous royal portraits of the 18th century: the Queen of France depicted in the elegant, sympathetic manner of her favorite portraitist. The after 1783 version shows the enormous demand for portraits that combined aristocratic dignity with domestic intimacy.
