Elisabeth VIGÉE LE BRUN - Lot 129

Elisabeth VIGÉE LE BRUN (Paris 1755 - 1842) Portrait of Sophie d'Artois seated Oval canvas. 65 x 53.5 cm Signed and dated on the right Mme Lebrun / 77. Provenance : Collection of the Marquis de Chaponay ; Irma Strauss sale, New-York, Sotheby's, October 22, 1970, no. 16, reproduced "comme mademoiselle de la Biche" ; Pfister Collection ; Wildenstein; Acquired from Maurice Ségoura in 2000; Collection of Monsieur D. Exhibition: L'enfant chéri au siècle des Lumières, Marly, Musée-Promenade, and Cholet, Musée des Beaux-Arts, 2003, n°55, reproduced. Bibliography: E.L. Vigée-Lebrun, Souvenirs, Paris, 1986, tome II, p. 336 ; W.H. Helm, Vigée-Lebrun, Her Life, Works and Friendships, London, 1916, p. 193 ; A. Blum, Madame Vigée-Lebrun peintre des grandes dames du XVIIIème siècle, Paris, 1919, p.95; Exhibition catalog, Elisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun, Fort Worth, Kimbell Museum of Art, 1982, no. 3, notice by Joseph Baillio; Desmarais sale catalog, New-York, Christie's, April 30, 2019, quoted under no. 123, reproduced. The identity of the model is known from the list of portraits Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun made, and in 1777 appears a "Mademoiselle Dartois". The artist's list includes a few errors and approximations, but our model must be Sophie d'Artois (1776-1783) who was one year old in 1777, which corresponds to the age of the girl pictured. Sophie de Bourbon was the daughter of Charles Philippe, Comte d'Artois (1757-1836), younger brother of Louis XVI and future Charles X. This painting will be included in the catalog raisonné of Madame Vigée-Lebrun's works currently being prepared by Joseph Baillio.