1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:04,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to steph you missed in history class from works 2 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:17,759 Speaker 1: Try and I'm trade Pob Wilson. And it hasn't actually 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 1: happened as when we are recording, but by the time 5 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: this episode comes out, we will have recently passed the 6 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,000 Speaker 1: birthday and a very important French artist and we do 7 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: not have an episode on her. This is what happens 8 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: when we have to record like an extra three week 9 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: buffer of episodes ahead of time. Yeah, time travel, time travel, 10 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:37,960 Speaker 1: which is fine. I kind of wish I had thought 11 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:39,480 Speaker 1: to do it sooner in the year so we could 12 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: land this nearer her birthday, but we didn't. Uh. And 13 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: a large part of her appeal as a portrait artist 14 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: was her ability to paint incredibly flattering likenesses. She brought 15 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: a lightness to her depictions that gives them great life, 16 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:54,319 Speaker 1: and she actually made a good living with her art. 17 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: Although she always had aspirations of working on sort of 18 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: grand historical art, she was kept very, very busy by 19 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: a steady list of commissions, starting when she was merely 20 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: a teenager and lasting throughout her life. Her works which 21 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:10,479 Speaker 1: captured the likenesses of many royals and nobles of her 22 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: time are seen literally throughout the world. So if you 23 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:17,240 Speaker 1: google Marie Antoinette, you will undoubtedly see several portraits painted 24 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:23,480 Speaker 1: by the subject of today's podcast, Elizabeth Louise Holly is 25 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 1: going to say that more beautifully than me consistently throughout 26 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:29,399 Speaker 1: this entire episode. No, I'm sure I'm clunking it up 27 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: in my own magical way. So. Elizabeth Louise Vijay was 28 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: born in Paris on April sixteen, seventeen fifty five. Her father, 29 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: Louis vj was a successful artist who specialized in pastel portraits. 30 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: Because of her father's work, the Vjay family was afforded 31 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: some access to intellectual circles and society that otherwise would 32 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: have been a little closed off to them. As a consequence, 33 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 1: even as a child, Elizabeth received lessons and encouragement in 34 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: her artistic pursuits by some of the most popular artists 35 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: of the day. Yeah, she really was clearly going to 36 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: be an artist no matter what. She went to boarding 37 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:11,079 Speaker 1: school from the ages of six to eleven, and, as 38 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 1: I said, an artist from the beginning. She spent most 39 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:15,799 Speaker 1: of her time there drawing on just about every scrap 40 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: of paper she came across. She basically couldn't stop making arts. 41 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 1: She told one story in her memoirs where she was 42 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: sent outside and she would draw in the sand and 43 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 1: the dirt, portraits and and little sketches while she was 44 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: just standing there in the yard because she would rather 45 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: be painting or drawing than doing anything else. Because she 46 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: was also a little bit of a frail child, her 47 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: parents would often take her out of school for a 48 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:41,359 Speaker 1: few days at a time so she could go home 49 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,920 Speaker 1: and kind of recover, and she apparently loved this because 50 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,079 Speaker 1: she absolutely adored her family. She loved spending time with them, 51 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: particularly her father, and she also adored her younger brother 52 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: at the Inn, who was born three years after her. 53 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: Once she was permanently removed from boarding school, she was 54 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:01,240 Speaker 1: quite happy, but her bliss was pretty short lived. Just 55 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: a year later, her father became seriously ill and he 56 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: never recovered. He died when Elizabeth was just twelve, and 57 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: his last words to Elizabeth and Etienne were be happy 58 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 1: my children. And the way her memoirs written, those might 59 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:20,240 Speaker 1: have been his last words period, but it's not entirely clear, uh, 60 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: which is so sad and poignant heartbreaking, and the death 61 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,359 Speaker 1: of her father was, as you can imagine, really intense 62 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: once she was very young too, he had kind of 63 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:34,240 Speaker 1: been the center of her universe, uh, and it really 64 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: halted her interest in art for a little while. She 65 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: describes herself as being unable to pick up her her 66 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: pastels for a while. But eventually the French painter Gabrielle 67 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: Francois Doyen, who had been a good friend of Louis, 68 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: vig urged Elizabeth to return to her passion of drawing 69 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: and painting as a way of coping with her grief, 70 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: and this is really when she started working in earnest 71 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: on portraiture. She also started visiting galleries and museum exhibits 72 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: with her mother, and she became more fully immersed in 73 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: studying the masters of painting. She copied their styles and 74 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: various portraits and studies. While Louis had left no financial 75 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:15,840 Speaker 1: Christian for the family when he died, she was able 76 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:18,719 Speaker 1: to make a little money with her portrait work, but 77 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 1: the money that was coming in really wasn't enough to 78 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: support Elizabeth, her mother and her brother, and so her 79 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:28,040 Speaker 1: mother remarried to a jeweler. But the young woman Elizabeth 80 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: continued to take portrait clients, and by the age of fifteen, 81 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: she had set up a studio and began painting portraits 82 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 1: basically as her profession, and she quickly grew a considerable clientele, 83 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: but the money that she was making at this point 84 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: went right to her stepfather, a man who she pretty 85 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:49,039 Speaker 1: frankly detested. Her clientele continued to grow, a fact that 86 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: Elizabeth attributed not only to her skill as a painter, 87 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: but also her own good looks. We have self portraits 88 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 1: of her as the artwork on our website for these episodes, 89 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: and I feel like I can see her kind of 90 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 1: staying in my mind. Yes, I am quite pretty, not 91 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: in an arrogant way. She has a matter of fact, 92 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: she's pretty frank about it in her memoirs, and she 93 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:16,200 Speaker 1: does sort of paint It's like, I'm not trying to brag, 94 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:19,159 Speaker 1: but people would stare at me in public, like I 95 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: was pretty because my mother was pretty. Yes, so she 96 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: would later write, quote, since I have acknowledged that I 97 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:28,719 Speaker 1: was stared at in the streets, the same is true 98 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: of the theaters and other public places, and that I 99 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 1: was the object of many attentions that maybe it may 100 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:38,360 Speaker 1: readily be guessed that some admirers of my face gave 101 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:41,600 Speaker 1: me commissions to paint their's. They hoped to get into 102 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: my good graces this way, And I kind of like 103 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:48,960 Speaker 1: though that. She While she was very clear throughout her 104 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: life that her art was her passion, she almost tries 105 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:54,480 Speaker 1: to downplay her own skill by going, oh, some of 106 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: them just wanted to work me because I was pretty 107 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:00,560 Speaker 1: just kind of a weird um yeah, like we boast 108 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: slash humbleness at the same time, I'm not. I'm really 109 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 1: not sure what it is exactly about her portraits that 110 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:08,960 Speaker 1: makes me feel like. She's going, yes, I am quite pretty. 111 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: She was quite pretty. She also, though, had this very 112 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:15,719 Speaker 1: funny way of diverting the attentions of young men who 113 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: had hired her, in her opinion, to paint their portraits 114 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:21,040 Speaker 1: just so they could be with her. Uh. And so 115 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: she would pose them in such a way that they 116 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: would always have to be looking away from her, And 117 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:28,680 Speaker 1: whenever she would catch them trying to move their their 118 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: eyes and gaze at her while she painted, she would 119 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: then say, I'm doing the eyes now, so that they 120 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: would have to return to the original position and couldn't 121 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 1: look at her. Uh. And she always had her mother 122 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 1: present when she was painting clients, and this amused her 123 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:44,240 Speaker 1: mother as well. She was made a member of the 124 00:06:44,279 --> 00:06:47,160 Speaker 1: Painters Guild of the Academy de Saint Luke when she 125 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:51,279 Speaker 1: was just nineteen, which significantly expanded her professional network and 126 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: brought in new clients. Uh that same year, seventeen seventy four, 127 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: Elizabeth met Jean Baptiste Pierre Rabin, who was an art 128 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:01,479 Speaker 1: dealer as well as an artist, and they were neighbors 129 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:04,359 Speaker 1: and Elizabeth was eager to visit his home to see 130 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 1: his vast collections of art. And while Elizabeth Ja was 131 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: not thinking about marriage, she was making her own money 132 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: at this point, she really didn't see a need to 133 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: worry about getting married and finding a husband to support her. 134 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 1: Her mother really encouraged her towards Libra romantically, hoping to 135 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 1: ensure a secure future for her daughter. They got married 136 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:28,040 Speaker 1: two years later. Initially, they didn't announce their marriage because 137 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 1: Monsieur Lebrun was skipping out on an engagement to the 138 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,920 Speaker 1: daughter of a Dutch client. During the time their marriage 139 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 1: was secret, Elizabeth received numerous warnings from friends and clients 140 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 1: that this man would not make a good husband, he's 141 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:44,600 Speaker 1: bits of advice and dried up once the couple went public. 142 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:47,800 Speaker 1: Four years into their marriage. They had a daughter, Jean 143 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: Julie Louise, and Elizabeth adored her baby girl. Yeah. Can 144 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 1: you imagine being married to someone on the down low 145 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 1: and having people come and go, hey, look, I know 146 00:07:56,760 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: you've been kind of serious with this guy. You should 147 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 1: not marry him. He's kind of a jerk. Uh. He 148 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:06,640 Speaker 1: was not a great husband. Um aside from being a 149 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: cheater and a frequent patron of prostitutes. He, like Elizabeth's stepfather, 150 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 1: took all of her earnings from her art, and then 151 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: he gambled all of that away. But Elizabeth generally described 152 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:23,640 Speaker 1: him fairly kindly in her writing. Despite his faults. She wrote, quote, 153 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: his character exhibited a mixture of gentleness and liveliness. He 154 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: was extremely obliging to everybody, and in a word, quite 155 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:35,480 Speaker 1: unagreeable person. But his furious passion for gambling was at 156 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:38,680 Speaker 1: the bottom of the ruin of his fortune and my own, 157 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: of which he had the entire disposal. But while Jean 158 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: Baptiste was not an ideal as a spouse, his art 159 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 1: collection was another matter. She studied the many paintings and 160 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:54,000 Speaker 1: prints that he amassed with great fervor. She really loved it, 161 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:57,319 Speaker 1: and in seventy two the couple traveled to the paid 162 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: Ba the Low Countries. So a quick graphy aside, just 163 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,960 Speaker 1: in case you do not know, uh, that designation. The 164 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: Low Countries is the name given to the coastal region 165 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:11,040 Speaker 1: of northwestern Europe that includes Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium. 166 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:15,840 Speaker 1: While traveling in the Low Countries, Elizabeth studied nether Landish art. 167 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,320 Speaker 1: The glaze work and color palette of Rubens was especially 168 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,040 Speaker 1: impactful and it shaped the young woman's arn't going forward 169 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:25,840 Speaker 1: from that point, and we're about to get to the 170 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:30,679 Speaker 1: moment in her life that really launched career into the stratosphere. 171 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: But before we do that, we're going to pause for 172 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: a word from one of our sponsors, which she was 173 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:49,040 Speaker 1: only twenty three. J Lebron was commissioned for an incredibly 174 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:51,960 Speaker 1: prestigious task. She was to paint the Queen of France, 175 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette. She described the Queen at the time as 176 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 1: incredibly lovely. Quote. Marie Antoinette was tall and admirably built, 177 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:03,240 Speaker 1: being somewhat style but not excessively so. Her arms were superb, 178 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,120 Speaker 1: her hands small and perfectly formed than her feet charming, 179 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 1: she had the best walk of any woman in France, 180 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:11,320 Speaker 1: carrying her head erect with a dignity that stamped her 181 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:15,640 Speaker 1: queen in the midst of her whole court. Her majestic man, however, 182 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 1: not the least diminishing the sweetness and amiability of her face. 183 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:22,120 Speaker 1: To anyone who has not seen the Queen, it is 184 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,200 Speaker 1: difficult to get an idea of all the graces and 185 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:30,320 Speaker 1: all the nobility combined in her person. And while was 186 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:33,920 Speaker 1: initially afraid of the Queen, as I can't imagine anyone 187 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:38,440 Speaker 1: wouldn't be kind of nervous doing a portrait for a royalty, 188 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:42,520 Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette was apparently very gracious with the painter, and 189 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:46,439 Speaker 1: the two really became quite friendly. Eventually the pair would 190 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:49,440 Speaker 1: sing together while the painter worked. Once she had heard 191 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:52,559 Speaker 1: that Elizabeth was had a fairly good singing voice. They 192 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:54,719 Speaker 1: liked to sing together while she sat for portraits, which 193 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:57,960 Speaker 1: I find so charming. Uh and Elizabeth's time and Versailles 194 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:00,880 Speaker 1: working on that first portrait of Louis the sixteenth wife 195 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:03,680 Speaker 1: really led to great success for the young artists. She 196 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:06,440 Speaker 1: became a court artist and was well paid for the position. 197 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:09,560 Speaker 1: She was the first woman to ever become an artist 198 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:12,360 Speaker 1: to the king, so it was quite significant. And over 199 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:14,800 Speaker 1: the course of the ten years from seventeen seventy nine 200 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: to seventeen eighty nine, Leboin painted thirty portraits of Marie 201 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:23,440 Speaker 1: an Twinette. You've probably seen many of them. I would say. 202 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 1: One of the most famous ones that immediately comes to 203 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:29,319 Speaker 1: mind when I imagine portraits of Marie an Twinette is 204 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:32,360 Speaker 1: one of hers. Yeah, I mean several. If you'd like, 205 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 1: go through your head and go, oh, there's that other 206 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: portrait of oh, yeah, and there's they're probably most of 207 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:42,920 Speaker 1: them are the ones that Leboin painted. They're beautiful. Maie 208 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 1: the sixteenth was also a fan of all these portraits, 209 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:47,440 Speaker 1: and he once told the painter quote, I know nothing 210 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:50,400 Speaker 1: about painting, but you make me like it. I think 211 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:52,920 Speaker 1: that's so sweet. I mean, he was a mess in 212 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:56,040 Speaker 1: many ways, but I find that quote terribly charming. Becoming 213 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:59,120 Speaker 1: one of the queen's favorites definitely had some benefits. In 214 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty three, it was Marie Antoinette's influence that finally 215 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:07,240 Speaker 1: got the Academy Royal de Pentol to accept via Lebroin 216 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:11,920 Speaker 1: as a member. This professional artists organization of incredible prestige 217 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:15,800 Speaker 1: rarely accepted women, and Visa Lebroin had been trying for 218 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: years to get in, but her husband's work as an 219 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:20,200 Speaker 1: art dealer had been a little bit of a roadblock. 220 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: It was kind of a sticking point that maybe this 221 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:24,679 Speaker 1: was more of a business thing than an art thing, 222 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 1: and she was actually only one of four women in 223 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: the organization when she was admitted, and she was and 224 00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: the fact that she was there was it came with 225 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:34,680 Speaker 1: a little bit of a level of resentment on the 226 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: part of the organization. Basically they did not appreciate that 227 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: they had been pressured by the monarchy to accept Via Lebroin. 228 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:44,679 Speaker 1: But if you know anything about Marie Antoinette, you know 229 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:49,679 Speaker 1: that anyone and everyone associated with her eventually became mired 230 00:12:49,679 --> 00:12:53,520 Speaker 1: in rumors and accusations as the Queen's tendency to attract 231 00:12:53,559 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 1: scandal really radiated to all of her friends. There was 232 00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:01,200 Speaker 1: gossip that j Lebron was not actually an artist, but 233 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:03,680 Speaker 1: instead that her work was done by a ghost painter, 234 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 1: and that she had used sexual prowess to raise her 235 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:11,040 Speaker 1: position in court. Throughout all of this gossip the Vija 236 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,240 Speaker 1: Lebron painted. She created portraits of many of the more 237 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:17,679 Speaker 1: famous figures of the Louis the sixteenth Court, including Madame 238 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:21,520 Speaker 1: Duberry and the Duchess de Polignac. She had as many 239 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:24,520 Speaker 1: as three sittings per day on her schedule, and she 240 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:27,120 Speaker 1: worked furiously to keep up with the demand for her work. 241 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:30,200 Speaker 1: She really had an incredible work ethic. She worked so 242 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:32,559 Speaker 1: hard that she actually became ill. For a time, her 243 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: digestion suffered, it became quite poor, She was unable to eat, 244 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:38,840 Speaker 1: and she lost a great deal of weight. The remedy, 245 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: according to her doctor, was to go to bed immediately 246 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 1: after eating dinner. And that sounds counter to a lot 247 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:47,680 Speaker 1: of modern advice. Most people will say, don't go lie 248 00:13:47,679 --> 00:13:49,760 Speaker 1: down with a heavy meal on your stomach, but the 249 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:52,640 Speaker 1: painter really credited this habit was saving her life, as 250 00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 1: she she really did regain strength and put some weight 251 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:59,720 Speaker 1: back on following uh these doctors orders. VJ. Lebron was 252 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:02,040 Speaker 1: in anways the toast of the town at the space 253 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:05,000 Speaker 1: of her career. People came to visit her at her 254 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:07,600 Speaker 1: at her home studio often, although she believes some of 255 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:10,000 Speaker 1: them were also there to see her husband's art. Collection, 256 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:14,680 Speaker 1: and she often hosted readings by poets and impromptu opera performances. 257 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: Despite being a favorite of the Queen and part of 258 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:21,680 Speaker 1: a very vibrant French social scene, vision, Lebrun was not 259 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 1: a slave to fashion. She didn't really like the fashion 260 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: of the day. She found it fussy and sort of 261 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:30,080 Speaker 1: ridiculous in many ways, and she often tried to persuade 262 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:34,360 Speaker 1: her subjects to abandon their trendy clothing for simpler and 263 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:36,880 Speaker 1: more classical drapings when she was painting them. If you 264 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:38,760 Speaker 1: look at a lot of these portraits that she did, 265 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 1: she does have them kind of draped and just very 266 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:47,200 Speaker 1: simple robes, shawls, etcetera. She had to have dresses specially 267 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: made to go to Versailles for her sittings with Marie Antoinette. 268 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,800 Speaker 1: She didn't just have fancy clothes on hand, uh, And 269 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:56,480 Speaker 1: she always did her own hair, which I thought was 270 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 1: sort of charming as well. She also hated the powdered 271 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:03,120 Speaker 1: look of hair. She constantly begged her clients to please 272 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 1: sit with their natural hair color and not powder their hair. 273 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 1: As the French Revolution heated up and sentiment against the 274 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:15,360 Speaker 1: royal court really started to grow, eventually fled France for 275 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:18,560 Speaker 1: her own safety safety things. It got to the point 276 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:22,080 Speaker 1: where her home was targeted. People would shake their fists 277 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:24,640 Speaker 1: at her when she left the house and someone had 278 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:30,040 Speaker 1: thrown sulfur into the cellar, which sounds all yeah. I 279 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:34,119 Speaker 1: also wonder, and I don't know, Uh, this is purely speculation, 280 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:37,760 Speaker 1: but I wonder if that could potentially have damaged any 281 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 1: paintings like just the You know, if you think of 282 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 1: an oil painting, they take a long time to cure, 283 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,200 Speaker 1: and I imagine having weird things in the air might 284 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: do some damage to some of it. But I don't know. 285 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:50,640 Speaker 1: That's again just speculation on my part, A question mark 286 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:53,640 Speaker 1: if anybody knows, right us and tell us. For a 287 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:57,840 Speaker 1: long while, though, resisted her urge to leave France because 288 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 1: she didn't want to break the large number of commissions 289 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:03,080 Speaker 1: that she had in her cue. She really worked constantly. 290 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:05,520 Speaker 1: She always had people on basically a wait list, just 291 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,760 Speaker 1: waiting to be the to have an availability. But in 292 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:11,440 Speaker 1: the fall of seventeen nine, she was so shaken by 293 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: some of the violent ends that many of her society 294 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:17,840 Speaker 1: acquaintances were meeting that she had in fact decided to leave, 295 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:20,720 Speaker 1: and so she packed her carriage and prepared her exit. 296 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:23,360 Speaker 1: But the night before she was planning to go, several 297 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:26,120 Speaker 1: armed men broke into her room and they appeared to 298 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:28,600 Speaker 1: be inebriated, and they harassed her for a while, but 299 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 1: they did eventually leave. Later, two of them came back 300 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:35,600 Speaker 1: and told her that they were neighbors and meant her 301 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,480 Speaker 1: no harm, but that she simply had to go. They 302 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:41,120 Speaker 1: further advised her not to take her own carriage, but 303 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 1: instead to take a stage coach. She took their advice 304 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:46,760 Speaker 1: and a week later left on the first stage coach 305 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:50,080 Speaker 1: she had been able to book, and so she was 306 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:52,960 Speaker 1: moving and with her young daughter to Italy, and when 307 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: she did so, her French citizenship was revoked. She estimated 308 00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:58,720 Speaker 1: that in her career up to that point she had 309 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 1: earned more than a millions, but thanks to her husband's gambling, 310 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 1: she had almost nothing to her name when she fled. 311 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:08,840 Speaker 1: Returning to France was impossible for twelve years, and during 312 00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:13,159 Speaker 1: that time she traveled to Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, and eventually Russia, 313 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: which she really loved and she stayed there for six years. 314 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:19,840 Speaker 1: Coming up, we'll get into a bit of detail about 315 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:23,640 Speaker 1: some unfortunate events in St. Petersburg, Russia, as well as 316 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:26,359 Speaker 1: the painters later life. But first we're going to pause 317 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:36,000 Speaker 1: for a by word from a sponsor. So during all 318 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:39,440 Speaker 1: of these travels, when she was outside of France, Leboin 319 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 1: was painting portraits to earn a living to support herself 320 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:45,400 Speaker 1: and her daughter. But this was definitely not a case 321 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,480 Speaker 1: of an artist scraping by and doing work for pittances. 322 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 1: Elizabeth's reputation as an artist was really impressive. She was 323 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 1: basically welcomed into all of the houses of rulers and 324 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:59,640 Speaker 1: dignitaries throughout any of the areas she traveled in. They 325 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:02,080 Speaker 1: were all more than happy to pay the gifted painter 326 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 1: to create beautiful portraits of themselves and their families. She 327 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:09,560 Speaker 1: lived quite well while she was in exile. During her 328 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:13,240 Speaker 1: time away from France, Elizabeth and her husband severed their ties. 329 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:18,199 Speaker 1: In seventeen nine three, Jean Baptiste Pierre Lebron divorced his 330 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 1: wife under duress from revolutionary authorities who labeled Elizabeth as 331 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:26,880 Speaker 1: a deserter for having fled the country. And in addition 332 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:29,280 Speaker 1: to the portraits which were her bread and butter. Uh 333 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:31,840 Speaker 1: I just wanted to mention that while she was traveling. 334 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:36,920 Speaker 1: She did hundreds, literally hundreds of landscaped pieces uh during 335 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 1: her travels, somewhere in oils and somewhere in Pastel's And 336 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: those are things that didn't always get a lot of 337 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: attention from the art world, but they're getting a little 338 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:50,359 Speaker 1: bit more uh interest now. While she loved St. Petersburg, particularly, 339 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 1: her relationship with her daughter suffered there. Jean Julie Louise 340 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:56,920 Speaker 1: had grown into a lovely girl, and, like her mother 341 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 1: before her, received a great deal of attention from potential suitors. 342 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:03,760 Speaker 1: When Julie, as she was called, was seventeen, she fell 343 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:06,000 Speaker 1: in love with a man about a dozen years older. 344 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,200 Speaker 1: His name was Agree and he was secretary to account 345 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 1: And when Lebron got wind of this budding romance, she 346 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:16,320 Speaker 1: was first of all heartbroken at the thought of losing 347 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,920 Speaker 1: her daughter. We spoke when we mentioned her baby girl 348 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:21,760 Speaker 1: being born, that she was really devoted to her, and 349 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 1: that stayed the case throughout her life. She was so 350 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 1: devoted to her child. Uh. But then she started to 351 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: ask around to get information and opinions on degree. But 352 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:33,679 Speaker 1: the things that she was hearing were something of a 353 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:36,920 Speaker 1: mixed bag. Some people really loved him and others had 354 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: really little good to say about him. But more concerning 355 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:43,480 Speaker 1: to the mother was really the fact it almost as 356 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:47,520 Speaker 1: a repeat of how she got into her marriage with 357 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:51,560 Speaker 1: Lebron Uh is that she was concerned that Negree was 358 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:54,199 Speaker 1: not really well positioned. He had an okay job, but 359 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:58,080 Speaker 1: he really didn't have like a great job, and Elizabeth 360 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:02,119 Speaker 1: advised her daughter against marriage, and it eventually drove a 361 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:06,399 Speaker 1: huge wedge between mother and daughter. The couple married, and 362 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 1: while Vija Lebrown fulfilled the duties of the bride's family, 363 00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:12,560 Speaker 1: including giving the couple a sum of money from her 364 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: recent commissions, she was not a happy mother of the bride. 365 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 1: When mother visited her newly webb daughter in the weeks 366 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:21,960 Speaker 1: following the wedding, it appeared that Julie wasn't especially happy either, 367 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:26,720 Speaker 1: although she was resigned to stay. And just as Vija 368 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:29,520 Speaker 1: Lebron was coping with the heartbreak of seeing her only 369 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:32,879 Speaker 1: child in what appeared to be an unhappy marriage, Uh, 370 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,680 Speaker 1: the artist's mother died and the combined stresses and unhappiness 371 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:39,239 Speaker 1: of these events really took their toll, and in an 372 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:43,199 Speaker 1: effort to escape via change of scenery, Lebron decided to 373 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 1: head to Moscow in eighteen o one, as Russia was 374 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:50,560 Speaker 1: itself in the midst of political turmoil related to the 375 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:55,080 Speaker 1: French Revolution and shifting loyalties, vi Lebron was once again ill. 376 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:58,639 Speaker 1: She continued to suffer both physically and mentally, and then 377 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 1: decided to leave Russia and returned to Paris after making 378 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:05,880 Speaker 1: several visits throughout cities in Europe. She kind of took 379 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,920 Speaker 1: a long, circuitous route home and she was greeted by 380 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:11,719 Speaker 1: happy friends and family who were overjoyed to see her 381 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:14,640 Speaker 1: once again. Once she did reach Paris, but she really 382 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:18,160 Speaker 1: didn't feel at home in the changed city in general. 383 00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 1: She wrote, Paris has a less lively appearance to me, 384 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:24,840 Speaker 1: and seeing the words liberty, fraternity, or death that were 385 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,199 Speaker 1: scrawled on the walls around the city which had been 386 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:30,400 Speaker 1: part of the revolution, really saddened her, and it reminded 387 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:32,880 Speaker 1: her of what she what her life had once been, 388 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:36,679 Speaker 1: and what she had lost because of her melancholy at 389 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 1: being in the city she had once loved so much. 390 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:42,639 Speaker 1: The Brown moved to London in eighteen o two. She 391 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:46,120 Speaker 1: wasn't entirely enamored with England either. She's found it rather 392 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:50,040 Speaker 1: drab and uninspiring, and that the damp climate meant that 393 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:53,040 Speaker 1: her paintings took a really long time to dry. She 394 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:56,199 Speaker 1: didn't find the art community entirely welcoming either, and some 395 00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:58,919 Speaker 1: of them even printed criticisms of the French school of 396 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,880 Speaker 1: art and all who came from it. Yeah, she got 397 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,320 Speaker 1: kind of embroiled in a back and forth with another 398 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:07,960 Speaker 1: artist who printed some nasty things really quite clearly aimed 399 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:11,240 Speaker 1: at her. Uh and she wrote him a letter in 400 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:16,400 Speaker 1: defense of of the French artists that circulated among society. 401 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:19,240 Speaker 1: Like everyone knew about this letter. So it was good, 402 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:22,879 Speaker 1: not the best welcome in terms of that, although she 403 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:27,080 Speaker 1: did have friends there. But shortly after VI arrived in London, 404 00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 1: the treat of the Treaty of Amiens was signed, and 405 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 1: as part of that treaty, any French person in England 406 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:34,600 Speaker 1: who had been there less than a year was to 407 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:37,960 Speaker 1: be sent out of the country. But because Elizabeth did 408 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:40,880 Speaker 1: move in illustrious circles, the Prince of Wales was able 409 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:43,520 Speaker 1: to secure a special permission from King George the Third 410 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:46,800 Speaker 1: that enabled her to stay. She remained in England for 411 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:50,320 Speaker 1: almost three years, visiting all of the royal residences and castles. 412 00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:53,840 Speaker 1: You could possibly imagine her memoir just sort of listing 413 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:55,320 Speaker 1: one after the other. It's like, and then I went 414 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 1: to this place, and here's what I thought of the 415 00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:59,240 Speaker 1: gardens and their art collection. And it's like a long 416 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:02,040 Speaker 1: travel log of all the places she visited. But she 417 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:05,159 Speaker 1: did move back to Paris in eighteen o five. She 418 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,600 Speaker 1: had really just gotten settled into a life she quite 419 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:11,200 Speaker 1: enjoyed in England, with a well cultivated social circle and 420 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:14,400 Speaker 1: plenty of enjoyable invitations just about anywhere she might want 421 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:17,560 Speaker 1: to go. But she had gotten word that her daughter 422 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:20,240 Speaker 1: had returned to Paris, and she hurried to see her. 423 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:23,720 Speaker 1: Julie and her husband had traveled to France on business, 424 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:27,200 Speaker 1: but when that business concluded, Nigri returned to St. Petersburg. 425 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,119 Speaker 1: Julie did not, And in her memoirs, Elizabeth is not 426 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:34,040 Speaker 1: the least bit subtle about happy how happy the couple 427 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:38,280 Speaker 1: split made her. From eighteen o five on, Elizabeth lived 428 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:40,399 Speaker 1: in France for the rest of her life. She spent 429 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:43,320 Speaker 1: the time between Paris and the country is She really 430 00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:46,040 Speaker 1: loved being in the country. It was very inspiring to 431 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:49,679 Speaker 1: her um But then over the course of seven years, 432 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,440 Speaker 1: there was a great deal of heartbreak in vig Lebron's 433 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 1: life first, in eighteen thirteen, her former husband Jean Baptiste died, 434 00:23:57,200 --> 00:23:59,639 Speaker 1: and while they had been divorced for some time, the 435 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:04,000 Speaker 1: death really did affect her deeply, and she grieved for him. 436 00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:08,400 Speaker 1: Six years later, in eighteen nineteen, Jean Joe Louise became 437 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:12,800 Speaker 1: ill and her health rapidly deteriorated. When she died, Elizabeth 438 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 1: was devastated, but just one year later, Elizabeth's brother Etienne 439 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:21,240 Speaker 1: also died. To cope with her grief, be Lebron traveled 440 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,359 Speaker 1: to Bordeaux, a town she wasn't really familiar with. The 441 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:28,320 Speaker 1: complete shift of mindset from exclusively mourning to also discovering 442 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:30,760 Speaker 1: a new place seems to have really helped the painter 443 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,720 Speaker 1: get through this difficult time, and she reported that her 444 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,879 Speaker 1: health improved on the journey, also that her spirit was 445 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:40,440 Speaker 1: quote less dark when she returned to Paris, and from 446 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: that point on, her brother's two daughters, her nieces Madame 447 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:47,639 Speaker 1: de Riviere and Eugenia le became her dearest relatives and 448 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:51,719 Speaker 1: closest friends. In eighteen thirty five, urged on by her 449 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:55,960 Speaker 1: friend Princess Helene Delguruki of Russia, v Lebrium published the 450 00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:59,639 Speaker 1: first volume of her three volume memoir titled Souvenir dema VI. 451 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:03,879 Speaker 1: The next two volumes were published during the following two years, 452 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,359 Speaker 1: and in the opening of that memoir, when describing her 453 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:12,040 Speaker 1: natural proclivity towards art, Lebron wrote a passage that really 454 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,760 Speaker 1: beautifully encapsulated her whole life. She wrote, quote, I mentioned 455 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,280 Speaker 1: these facts to show what an inborn passion for the 456 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:22,159 Speaker 1: art I possessed. Nor has that passion ever diminished. It 457 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:24,679 Speaker 1: seems to me that it has even gone on growing 458 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 1: with time. For today I feel under the spell of 459 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:29,840 Speaker 1: it as much as ever, and shall I hope until 460 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:34,480 Speaker 1: the hour of death. Le Brun died in Paris on 461 00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:39,119 Speaker 1: March forty two, at the age of eighty six, and 462 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,159 Speaker 1: she did really paint right up until the end of 463 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:45,720 Speaker 1: her life. Uh In October of last year, so the 464 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:49,520 Speaker 1: first monographic exhibition of vision Lebron's work to be mounted 465 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:52,480 Speaker 1: in her home country went on display at the Grand 466 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:56,080 Speaker 1: Palais in Paris, France. That was also somewhere that she 467 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:58,840 Speaker 1: had visited as a child, and that exhibit is now 468 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:00,639 Speaker 1: on tour. So if you are lucky, you might be 469 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:02,600 Speaker 1: in a place where you can see it. It is 470 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:05,040 Speaker 1: currently at the met in New York until mid May. 471 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:07,920 Speaker 1: I actually posted one of the portraits that she did 472 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:10,600 Speaker 1: in Marie Antoinette and her children. It's the one people 473 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:14,280 Speaker 1: sometimes wonder about the empty baby bassinet, and it's because 474 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,280 Speaker 1: they had lost their fourth child, so that is depicted 475 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:21,680 Speaker 1: empty because the child is gone. Uh. That will be, 476 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:23,520 Speaker 1: as I said, in New York until May, and then 477 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:26,120 Speaker 1: it moves to the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa 478 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:28,879 Speaker 1: in June. Uh And you can also check out I 479 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:32,280 Speaker 1: think we have a we'll have a link to um 480 00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:34,760 Speaker 1: the either the METS page or another one that will 481 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:38,359 Speaker 1: show the the travel schedule. I'm not sure where it 482 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,719 Speaker 1: goes from there, but it's spectacular. I really She's one 483 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:45,240 Speaker 1: of those artists that uh, I have often admired throughout 484 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:47,720 Speaker 1: the years, even before I realized like all of these 485 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:50,440 Speaker 1: portraits that I was in love with were all her. Yeah, 486 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:53,399 Speaker 1: it was not a name that I immediately recognized, just 487 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,560 Speaker 1: because on paper, to me, it looks like French soup. 488 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:02,439 Speaker 1: So why and I This morning before we recorded, I 489 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:04,159 Speaker 1: was tracking down all the artwork that we would use 490 00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:06,200 Speaker 1: when we put us on our website, and I had 491 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:08,439 Speaker 1: just plunged her name into one of the stock image 492 00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:10,919 Speaker 1: sources that we use, and the only thing that it 493 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 1: returned was this portrait of Marie an't Whinett, and I 494 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:16,360 Speaker 1: had this moment where I was like, but that's Marie Antoinette, 495 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:21,040 Speaker 1: and then oh, right now I completely recognized, like all 496 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:23,800 Speaker 1: this woman's portraits because I've seen a lot of them 497 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:27,639 Speaker 1: and they have a very uh, there's a look about 498 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:29,959 Speaker 1: them that you can recognize after you look at them 499 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:32,680 Speaker 1: for a while. Yeah, Like I mentioned at the top, 500 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:34,720 Speaker 1: there's a lightness to them. The way she used light 501 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:39,240 Speaker 1: in her portraits was very lovely, and she really none 502 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,399 Speaker 1: of her portraits ever have a heavy feel like, even 503 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:45,800 Speaker 1: when she's using darker tones, they all just have sort 504 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:50,880 Speaker 1: of a feeling of brightness and uh, just lightness, even 505 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:53,800 Speaker 1: the sad ones. Incidentally, that that portrait that I had 506 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:56,840 Speaker 1: just mentioned of Marie Antoinette with her children, which was 507 00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:58,879 Speaker 1: kind of commissioned by the king in an effort to 508 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:03,879 Speaker 1: portray his wife, you know, as a loving mother in 509 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:05,919 Speaker 1: the hopes of kind of fixing a little bit of 510 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:10,719 Speaker 1: her image at the time, is one that mentions in 511 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:15,440 Speaker 1: her memoirs that the revolution or Marie Antoinette's grief over 512 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:17,919 Speaker 1: the loss of that baby really saved that piece of 513 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:20,040 Speaker 1: art from the revolution because it was in the hall 514 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:24,639 Speaker 1: and Marie Antoinette would have to walk by it on 515 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:26,639 Speaker 1: her way, I believe, to her dressing room, and she 516 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:28,760 Speaker 1: finally was like, I can't look at this painting anymore. 517 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:30,679 Speaker 1: It makes me sad every time I see it and 518 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 1: it's too upsetting, and so they took it down and 519 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:34,840 Speaker 1: that's why it was not one of the things that 520 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:39,120 Speaker 1: was damaged when the palace was ransacked. So sort of 521 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:41,360 Speaker 1: grief sort of saved that portrait for us. So we're 522 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:46,680 Speaker 1: lucky in that regard. But yeah, I just her memoirs. 523 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:49,959 Speaker 1: I highly recommend. They're a pretty fun read. They're very lighthearted. 524 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:52,120 Speaker 1: It's kind of interesting because she had this marriage that 525 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:55,560 Speaker 1: wasn't great. You know, she had had a stepfather she 526 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,440 Speaker 1: was not very fond of. Even when she's talking about 527 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,240 Speaker 1: these deaths that really impacted her, she kind of whips 528 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:03,680 Speaker 1: by them pretty quickly. She keeps it very light and 529 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:05,960 Speaker 1: a lot of her memoirs are about the fabulous party 530 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:08,160 Speaker 1: she went to and the fabulous people she met, and 531 00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:11,200 Speaker 1: sort of she was really into the social scene, and 532 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:14,880 Speaker 1: to me, it's an interesting juxtaposition because someone that writes 533 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:17,040 Speaker 1: so much like that, you wouldn't expect to be a 534 00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: completely devoted workhorse. But she was basically like working her 535 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:23,239 Speaker 1: tail off all day long to do all of these 536 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:25,760 Speaker 1: sittings and paint portraits and keep up with her client list, 537 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,040 Speaker 1: and then at night she was going to fabulous parties 538 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 1: and it was just like this terrific life that she 539 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,960 Speaker 1: had put together for herself that she really seemed to love. 540 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:35,479 Speaker 1: Like she was like, I designed this life, I'm living it, 541 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,440 Speaker 1: and I love it, and it's very admirable. And she 542 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 1: kind of doesn't even um tend to focus very much 543 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:44,160 Speaker 1: on the fact that she was kind of breaking a 544 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 1: lot of glass ceilings for women artists at the time. 545 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:48,920 Speaker 1: She's just like, oh, yeah, you know, I was cute, 546 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 1: so some people who wanted me to paint their picture 547 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:53,160 Speaker 1: and I was doing some really neat things. Yeah. It's 548 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:56,640 Speaker 1: very unassuming, even when she's talking about how beautiful she 549 00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:59,560 Speaker 1: was as a young woman, and I just I clearly 550 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:01,960 Speaker 1: love her. Uh you wanna hear some listener mail and 551 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:05,840 Speaker 1: stop hearing me fan girl about lebron The fan gurlink 552 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:08,040 Speaker 1: finds you. I would love to listener mail, though I 553 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:10,680 Speaker 1: have to postcards. I'm trying to keep up with postcards, 554 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: but we get so many, so I apologize. I know 555 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:14,840 Speaker 1: we always do this, but I apologize for everybody who 556 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:17,160 Speaker 1: I don't read, because we get lots of good ones. 557 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:20,720 Speaker 1: This first one is I believe from Kelsey. It is 558 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 1: once again one of those things that is victimized by 559 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:27,360 Speaker 1: the postal service markings. Uh and it is uh a 560 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 1: postcard of Sally Lund's house in Bath, and she will 561 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:32,440 Speaker 1: tell us about it in her thing says Hello from 562 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:35,240 Speaker 1: an American reader in England. I was lucky enough to 563 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:38,320 Speaker 1: visit beautiful historic Bath recently and your podcast made the 564 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:40,800 Speaker 1: long bus ride of delight. I had dinner and of 565 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:43,440 Speaker 1: course tea at Sally Lund's, the oldest house in Bath, 566 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 1: and their basement is a cool museum where you can 567 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:48,440 Speaker 1: see the layers of floors over the centuries and the 568 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:51,640 Speaker 1: original even Sally used. Thank you so much. This is 569 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,000 Speaker 1: a really lovely postcard. I'm kind of entranced by all 570 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:57,640 Speaker 1: of the beautile, beautiful um flowers outside of the house, 571 00:30:57,960 --> 00:30:59,760 Speaker 1: as well as the pictures of what look to be 572 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:03,040 Speaker 1: beauty full, beautiful pieces of bread. Uh. The other one 573 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:06,520 Speaker 1: that we got is from our listeners Sasha and Richard, 574 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:09,520 Speaker 1: and they used a really cool service called touch note. 575 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:11,680 Speaker 1: Or they're not an advertiser for us, but man, did 576 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:14,400 Speaker 1: this make a beautiful postcard? Uh? And she says, my 577 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:16,840 Speaker 1: boyfriend and I recently listened to your podcast, The Great 578 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:19,600 Speaker 1: Vowel Shift, and we're overjoyed that you got the information 579 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:23,000 Speaker 1: about the Celts right. We both studied abroad in Cork, Ireland, 580 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:26,440 Speaker 1: two springs ago, and our archaeology teacher was very passionate 581 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,880 Speaker 1: about all the misconceptions. The following spring in a history 582 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:33,000 Speaker 1: class at my university, I gave a presentation because everything 583 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:35,760 Speaker 1: about them in our textbook was wrong. I'll try to 584 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:37,719 Speaker 1: find the power point. I made an email it to you. 585 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:39,880 Speaker 1: Keep up the good work. Sasha and Richard. They are 586 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:43,040 Speaker 1: from California, but they currently live in Oxford, UK, and 587 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 1: she sent us a cool um postcard that was created 588 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:50,040 Speaker 1: uh and their travels in Ireland of a fairy glade 589 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:52,160 Speaker 1: and it's just lovely. And like I said, this is 590 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:54,080 Speaker 1: a cool service. I did not know about touch note, 591 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:55,600 Speaker 1: and now I'm gonna look into it because it made 592 00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:58,680 Speaker 1: a beautiful custom printed postcard where her writing is also 593 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:02,280 Speaker 1: printed out, so it's super easy to read, Yeah, it's 594 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:06,040 Speaker 1: a little laminate postcard. I love it. I I only 595 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:08,719 Speaker 1: heard this postcard for the first time just now because, 596 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:11,640 Speaker 1: as most of us know, I don't work in the 597 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:15,000 Speaker 1: same office as you anymore. Um, but I was making 598 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:17,960 Speaker 1: the most delighted face. I was not prepared for how 599 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:21,360 Speaker 1: many people would be so delighted and thankful that I 600 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:24,880 Speaker 1: said that the Celts were not one monolithic culture that 601 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:30,760 Speaker 1: somehow was like the thing in in Britain before uh, 602 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:34,320 Speaker 1: before the Norman invasion. Like multiple people have been like, 603 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:37,720 Speaker 1: that's so amazing that you said that. Yeah. Unfortunately it 604 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:44,520 Speaker 1: it gets shorthanded in a way that really it's not accurate, right. Uh. 605 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:46,120 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us, you can 606 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:49,320 Speaker 1: do so our email addresses, history podcast at how stuff 607 00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:51,920 Speaker 1: works dot com. You can meet up with us at 608 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:54,400 Speaker 1: Facebook dot com, slash mist in history on Twitter at 609 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:56,960 Speaker 1: mist in History, on Pinterest dot com, slash mist in 610 00:32:57,080 --> 00:32:59,720 Speaker 1: history at mist in history dot tema dot com. Do 611 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:01,960 Speaker 1: you want I guess what our Instagram handle is. It's 612 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:07,400 Speaker 1: missed in History. If you want to research a little 613 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:09,479 Speaker 1: bit related to what we talked about today, you can 614 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:11,800 Speaker 1: go to our parents site how stuff works. Do a 615 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:14,080 Speaker 1: search for Marian twin it, and you'll give a few 616 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:16,760 Speaker 1: different articles that touch on her, but one of them. 617 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:18,760 Speaker 1: One of the things that I find interesting is that, 618 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:22,280 Speaker 1: just as a case in point, the lead image art 619 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:25,479 Speaker 1: for pretty much any article we have is a portrait. 620 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:28,240 Speaker 1: They're all various different portraits by vij and the Bomb, 621 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:31,320 Speaker 1: so it's it's Germaine to what we talked about, as 622 00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:34,240 Speaker 1: well as having some interesting Marian Twine topics. If you 623 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:36,080 Speaker 1: would like to visit us, you can do that at 624 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:39,240 Speaker 1: missed in history dot com and we have show notes 625 00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:41,280 Speaker 1: for all of our episodes since Tracy and I have 626 00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:43,640 Speaker 1: been on the podcast. We also have every episode of 627 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:45,960 Speaker 1: the podcast ever going back to the original hosts when 628 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:48,720 Speaker 1: it was just a very short show, and you can 629 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:51,000 Speaker 1: come and visit us to come to miss industry dot 630 00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:57,760 Speaker 1: com and come to house cooms dot com for more 631 00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:00,440 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics. Is how stuff 632 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:13,080 Speaker 1: Works dot com, even even h