Le Brun
MARIE, a French painter; born in Paris, France, April 16, 1755.
She was a daughter of one Vigée, a painter, and in 1776 married J. B. P. Le Brun, picture dealer. Her great beauty, as well as the charm of her painting, speedily made her the fashion in Paris and at Versailles. Her first portrait of Marie Antoinette (in 1779) led to lasting friendship. She subsequently painted numerous portraits of various members of the royal family, and in 1783 was admitted, after much opposition on account of her sex, a member of the Royal Academy of Painting .
She left Paris for Italy at the outbreak of the Revolution in 1789, and after a species of triumphal progress through Europe, arrived in London in 1802.
There she painted portraits of the Prince of Wales, Lord Byron, and other celebri ties. In 1805 she returned to Paris, where she lived till her death, March 30, 1842.