Adélaïde Labille-Guiard was an artist in Paris, France during the late 16th century. She fought long and hard to be recognized as a proficient artist, something that was affirmed through her 1783 admission to the Academy. She studied with many accomplished artists and painted many well-known people, including the king’s aunts. These accomplishments, however, were constantly overshadowed by her contemporary, Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, who painted the Queen many a time and was more well-known to the general public than Labille-Guiard.
Both women were highly talented and regarded; this was no little feat in the male dominated world of art in France in the 16th century. However, Le Brun had a little bit of a further reach than Labille-Guiard, and this caused there to be a great amount of scholarship that compared the women, their skills, and their reach. Many scholars have come to the conclusion that one was better than the other, but this is not supported by any actual evidence, nor is it helpful when discussing the things each accomplished and influenced. Rather, when looking at these women’s lives and art, one can simply compare without competition, looking at how their practices overlapped and diverged, how they were contemporaries yet distinct from each other.
Madame Élisabeth de France (1764–1794)
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, 1787
Pastel on blue paper, seven sheets joined, laid down on canvas, Oval, 31 x 25 3/4 in. (78.7 x 65.4 cm.)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007.441
Labille-Guiard had training with many acclaimed artists of the time, including studying oil painting with François André Vincent. Similar to the first Le Brun portrait shown after this, Labille-Guiard demonstrates her skills of painting in an idealized naturalism that was so popular in her time through this portrait of Madame Élisabeth, the younger sister of Louis XVI. Both Labille-Guiard and Le Brun were strong women who fought hard to be accepted in a male-dominated world, and found that a good way they could do so was through connections with well-known people, such as Marie Antoinette and Madame Élisabeth.
Madame Grand (Noël Catherine Vorlée, 1761–1835)
Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, 1783
Oil on canvas, Oval, 36 1/4 x 28 1/2 in. (92.1 x 72.4 cm)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 50.135.2
A painting style that both Le Brun and Labille-Guiard were well-known for was portraiture. The above piece by Le Brun depicts Madame Grand, who was born to a French colonial family in India. This was included in her very first submission to the Academy after Marie Antoinette’s patronage helped her gain admittance in 1783. The idealized naturalism of this painting reflects the popularity of this kind of smooth, high contrast portrait painting of late sixteenth century France. Submitting something like this allowed Le Brun to appeal to and demonstrate to potential patrons her skill.
Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Marie Gabrielle Capet (1761–1818) and Marie Marguerite Carreaux de Rosemond (died 1788)
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, 1785
Oil on canvas, 83 x 59 1/2 in. (210.8 x 151.1 cm)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 53.225.5
In her well-known and highly regarded self-portrait, Labille-Guiard continues to demonstrate an extremely high skill level in painting, especially in portraiture. This piece was very successful in the Salon of 1785, and was used both by Labille-Guiard and the rest of the art world, even up to today, to demonstrate how important women’s art education was in the sixteenth century. This emphasis on women’s art education and what it looked like in early modern Europe became a very important topic to Labille-Guiard, and was something that did not matter as much to Le Brun.
Self Portrait with Her Daughter, Julie (1780-1819)
Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, 18th century
Oil on canvas, 51.2 x 37 in. (130 x 94 cm)
The Louvre, INV 3069
This piece made by Le Brun that depicts her with her arms wrapped around her daughter echoes back to Madonna paintings of the High Renaissance, something that Labille-Guiard did not execute in her famous self-portrait. Le Brun continues to demonstrate high mastery of oil painting and conveying real textures and people. This piece was once again made for an audience of high-ranking, well-known people in sixteenth century France, as most of her paintings were. Being connected to many individuals in the monarchy and aristocracy granted Le Brun more opportunities to showcase her talents than Labille-Guiard.
Marie-Adélaïde de France, said Madame Adélaïde
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, 1787
Oil on canvas, 109.6 x 76.4 in. (278.3 x 194 cm)
Private Collection
This piece by Labille-Guiard created in 1787 really highlights the fact that the two women were contemporaries. The poses and dressing of the subjects is almost identical, as well as colors being similar. However, there are key differences that viewers can use to understand that each woman was distinct and valued individually. The subject of this piece, Madame Adélaïde, while a likely member of the aristocracy, was not as influential or well-known as the queen of France that Le Brun was painting. This piece is also depicting a woman painting, which would not have been a very common subject in Labille-Guiard’s time, and further communicates her support of women artists and their education.
Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France
Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, 1779/1788
Oil on canvas, 87.8 x 62.2 in. (223 x 158 cm)
Private Collection
Le Brun had a farther reach than Labille-Guiard, not because she was more technically skilled or overall a better artist, but because she gained some very influential patrons, including the person depicted above, Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France. She continues to demonstrate her skill and reinforce the fact that she is as talented as any male artist of the time, and deserves the place she gained in the Academy.
Joseph Vien
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, in or after 1790
engraving on heavy laid paper, plate: 37.6 x 25.5 cm (14 13/16 x 10 1/16 in.), sheet: 46.9 x 33.4 cm (18 7/16 x 13 1/8 in.)
National Gallery of Art, 1992.22.1
This piece by Labille-Guiard was similar to what Le Brun was doing at the same time: etching and engraving rather than their usual oil painted portraits. However, once again, the difference in reach of the two women in their artmaking is displayed by the subject, who is most likely a high-ranking aristocrat, but not quite at the level of the queen of France, who Le Brun was painting frequently. Both women were highly gifted and regarded during a time in which it was hard for women to be so. They created in similar ways, but painted differing subjects and for different purposes, but neither was better than the other. They were simply contemporaries who created art and influenced women’s art history in two different ways.
Portrait of Marie Antoinette
Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, 1786-1800
Stipple engraving and etching, printed in colors, plate: 17 5/16 x 11 3/4 in. (44 x 29.8 cm) sheet: 21 1/4 x 15 1/16 in. (54 x 38.2 cm)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 56.558.26
Another type of portraiture that both Le Brun and Labille-Guiard took part in was engraving and etching. The above etching of Marie Antoinette once again explains why and how Le Brun, despite not being all that more talented than Labille-Guiard, became much more well-known and regarded as a female artist of her day: her subjects were extremely famous and wealthy. This allowed Le Brun to jump hurdles and move ahead in the art world faster and further than Labille-Guiard.
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