ticketsMember | Make a donation

Madame Jacques François Le Sèvre, the Artist’s Mother

ca. 1774–78
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
The sitter (1728–1800) had married Louis Vigée (1715–1767), a portraitist and official at the Académie de Saint-Luc, and then, after his death, Jacques Le Sèvre, a goldsmith. Madame Le Sèvre encouraged her adolescent daughter’s professional aspirations by chaperoning her sittings and taking her to see works of art. Vigée’s mother wears a satin cloak trimmed with swans’ down and bows of a color the artist particularly favored.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Madame Jacques François Le Sèvre, the Artist’s Mother
  • Artist: Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, Paris 1755–1842 Paris)
  • Date: ca. 1774–78
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: Oval, 25 5/8 × 21 1/4 in. (65 × 54 cm)
    Frame: 32 3/16 × 28 1/8 × 2 1/16 in. (81.7 × 71.5 × 5.2 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Private collection
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings