women-artists
Madame Grand
by Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842)
Year:1783
Collection:Metropolitan Museum of Art
Medium:Oil on canvas
Size:92.1 × 72.4 cm (36 1/4 × 28 1/2 in.)
About this artwork
An enchanting portrait of Catherine Noele Worlée, painted with extraordinary sensitivity to fabric textures and skin tones. Vigée Le Brun employs her signature soft, diffused lighting to create an idealized yet believable image of feminine beauty. The sitter's transparent white muslin chemise and flowing silk shawl demonstrate the artist's technical mastery. The portrait's informal composition and direct gaze create unexpected intimacy for a formal commission. This work exemplifies Vigée Le Brun's ability to navigate between court portraiture's demands and emerging sensibility that valued natural expression.
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