Artwork Details
Artist
Creation Date
Materials
Object Types
Dimensions
25-3/8 x 21-1/16 in. (canvas) 31 x 26-3/4 x 3-1/4 in. (framed)
Accession Number
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Ralph W. Showalter
Copyright
Collection
European Painting and Sculpture Before 1800
Color Palette
Provenance
Charles-Henri-Othon, Prince of Nassau [1745-1809].{1} G.H.A. Clowes [1877-1958], Indianapolis, Indiana, by 1941;{2} (Ivan N. Podgoursky [1901-1962], New York, New York);{3} Purchased by Grace (Mrs. Ralph) Showalter [d. 1972], Indianapolis, in about 1951;{4} Given to the John Herron Art Institute, now the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, in 1964 (64.740). ------- {1} Souvenirs de Madame Louise-Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Paris, France 1835, volume I, p. 252. See Joseph Baillio, Identification de quelques Portraits d'Anonymes de Vigée Le Brun aux États-Unis, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, November 1980, pp. 157-168, and Joseph Baillio, Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, 1755-1842, Fort Worth, 1982, catalogue no. 4, for the correct identification of the sitter. Previously the portrait was thought to be of the Marquis de La Fayette. {2} See letter from Podgoursky to G.H.A. Clowes, 26 July 1941, in IMA Clowes Registration Archive, Podgoursky correspondence. {3} Ivan Podgoursky met Clowes in 1937, occasionally selling him pictures. He was affiliated with Demotte Gallery, New York, at the time he sold the painting to Showalter. {4} See letter from Podgoursky to Mrs. R.W. Showalter offering her the painting, 7 May 1951, in IMA Historical File (64.740).
Gallery Labels
In 1778 Vigée-LeBrun painted the first of her many portraits of Marie Antoinette, a royal commission which acknowledged her position as the artist most favored at court. Indeed, she enjoyed a degree of professional recognition, social status and financial success that was exceptional among women artists of her time.
Vigée-LeBrun's portrait of the Prince of Nassau was one of her earliest successes. In it she includes the attributes of an adventurer. The globe and map refer to the Prince's voyage around the world with the explorer Bougainville in 1766-69. The map is inscribed "Otaiti" in reference to his famed encounter with the Queen of Tahiti, who reportedly offered him her crown.
Exhibition History
Exhibition Name
Venue
Dates
Chengdu Museum
September 28, 2020 - January 4, 2021
Rembrandt to Monet: 500 Years of European Painting from the Clowes Collection and the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
Chengdu Museum
September 29, 2020 - January 4, 2021
Rembrandt to Monet: 500 Years of European Painting from the Clowes Collection and the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
Hunan Provincial Museum
May 29, 2020 - September 13, 2020
Hunan Provincial Museum
May 29, 2020 - September 13, 2020
Rembrandt to Monet: 500 Years of European Painting from the Clowes Collection and the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
Guandong Museum
January 10, 2020 - May 17, 2020
Guandong Museum
January 10, 2020 - May 17, 2020
Elisabeth Louise Vigee-LeBrun Retrospective
National Gallery of Canada
June 10, 2016 - September 12, 2016
Elisabeth Louise Vigee-LeBrun Retrospective
Metropolitan Museum of Art
February 10, 2016 - May 15, 2016
Elisabeth Louise Vigee-Le Brun Retrospective
Réunion des Musées Nationaux Grand Palais
September 21, 2015 - January 11, 2016
Indianapolis Museum of Art
October 14, 2011 - April 15, 2012
The Art of Paul Gauguin
Art Institute of Chicago
September 7, 1988 - December 10, 1988
The Art of Paul Gauguin
National Gallery of Art
May 1, 1988 - July 31, 1988
Elizabeth Louise Vigee-LeBrun
Kimball Art Museum
June 5, 1982 - August 8, 1982
L'éclatement de l'impressionnisme
Musée Maurice Denis
1982 - 1982
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