Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun

Starred review from November 1, 2005
In a biography as entrancing as its impressive subject, May chronicles the life story of a French woman artist who overcame the entrenched misogyny and bloody upheavals of her time to become the portraitist of choice for Europe's most powerful rulers. Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun (1755-1842) was blessed not only with talent but also with beauty, poise, and pragmatism. Already earning a good living with her luminous portraits--she was particularly adept at capturing the radiance of women and girls--Vigee Le Brun was reluctant to marry, and sure enough, her husband squandered her fortune. Vigee Le Brun was forced to flee Paris after the French Revolution, but she turned exile into a grand tour of Italy, Germany, Austria, Russia, and England as she was warmly welcomed everywhere she went and given plum commissions. Fearless, inquisitive, and clear-eyed, Vigee Le Brun climbed Mount Vesuvius, painted Catherine the Great, and hid her diamonds in her stockings, eventually returning to France in triumph. Like her irresistible subject, May is a superb portraitist, rendering with a rich palette and a light touch the exhilarating life of a remarkable artist and human being.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)