Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le BrunFrench, 1755–1842Self Portrait in a Straw Hat
May one see it?
Unknown: the museum keeps its counsel
The National Gallery
London, United Kingdom
The owner is known. Whether it is on view today, the museum does not say, and we were not trained to guess.
- In this state since
- Sep 29, 2026
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
About the painting
Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat (French: Autoportrait au chapeau de paille, Dutch: Zelfportret met strohoed) is a self-portrait by the French painter Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, painted after 1782, in oil on linen, measuring 97.8 by 70.5 centimetres. It has belonged to the collection of the National Gallery, in London, since 1897.
Particulars
- Accession number
- NG1653
Sources
- Wikidata · fetched 3 days ago
- Image: The National Gallery — Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Meanwhile, in the life of Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun
The whole lifefrom the 1780s
Royal portraits and election to academies abroad
From the 1780s she travelled widely in Europe, often with her husband, painting royalty and statesmen: in Holland, the future King Willem I. In various countries she was elected to the local academies of art.
12 February 1780
Daughter born: Julie Le Brun
1781
A tour of Flanders, Brussels and the Netherlands
With her husband she toured Flanders, Brussels and the Netherlands; the works of the Flemish masters inspired her to try new techniques.
1783
Salon of 1783: the scandal of the Queen’s muslin dress
At the Salon of 1783 Vigée Le Brun exhibited “Marie Antoinette in a Muslin Dress”, in which the Queen chose to appear in a simple cotton muslin dress normally worn as an undergarment. The informality caused a scandal; the artist at once removed the portrait from the Salon and quickly repainted it with the Queen in more formal attire, and afterwards the prices of her paintings soared.
1783
The King overrules the Académie’s refusal
The Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture first refused her because her husband was an art dealer, but Louis XVI, under pressure from Marie Antoinette, overruled it, and on 31 May 1783 Vigée Le Brun was received, on the same day as her rival Adélaïde Labille-Guiard. Instead of a portrait she submitted an allegory, “Peace Bringing Back Abundance”, and the Académie placed her work in neither the history nor the portrait category.
31 May 1783 · Membership
Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture
