In keeping with its mission to rediscover and celebrate women artists of the past and demonstrate their continued relevance, NMWA presents Royalists to Romantics: Women Artists from the Louvre, Versailles, and Other French National Collections. The exhibition features 77 paintings, prints, and sculptures dating from 1750 to 1850—many of which have never been seen outside of France.
To develop the exhibition, NMWA spent months scouring the collections of French museums and libraries to cull rarely-seen works by women artists. Royalists to Romantics showcases these exceptional works and reveals how the tumultuous period that saw the flowering of the court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the terrors of the French revolution, the rise and fall of Napoleon, and the restoration of the monarchy affected the lives and careers of women artists.
Featuring 35 artists, including Marguerite Gérard, Antoine Cecile Haudebourt-Lescot, Adélaïde Labille-Guillard, and Sophie Rude, the exhibition explores the political and social dynamics that shaped their world and influenced their work. Some of these artists flourished with support of such aristocratic patrons as Marie Antoinette, who not only appointed her favorite female artists Élisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun and Anne Vallayer-Coster to court, but advocated their acceptance into the Académie Royale de peinture et de sculpture.
The political upheavals of the French Revolution and the following decades brought a new set of challenges for women artists. Royalists to Romantics explores the complex ways that women negotiated their cultural positions and marketed their reputations in France’s shifting social, political and artistic environment.
![A portait of a woman dressed in fine ivory silks sitting at a writing desk grasping a feather quill pen in her right hand. She gazes out towards the viewer and her skin is a pale, pinkish hue, with a baroque hairstyle and tulle bonnet.](https://nmwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Adelaide-Labille-Guiard-Portrait-de-Femme-e1584656483674.jpg)
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Portrait of a Woman, 1787, Musée des beaux-arts, Quimper
Exhibition Sponsors
Royalists to Romantics: Women Artists from the Louvre, Versailles, and other French National Collections has been organized by the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., with logistical support from sVo Art, Versailles.
The exhibition is made possible by the Annenberg Foundation, the Florence Gould Foundation, Hermès, Teresa L. and Joe R. Long, and Jacqueline Badger Mars, with additional funding provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, an Anonymous Donor, the Robert Lehman Foundation, and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. Further support is provided by Air France and Sofitel Washington DC Lafayette Square.
- Art Works
- Air France
- Sofitel
Exhibition Gallery
The Artist,
Marguerite Gérard
Although she also produced oil portraits, portrait miniatures, and etchings, Marguerite Gérard is best known for intimate, domestic genre scenes.The Artist,
Antoinette Cécile Hortense Haudebourt-Lescot
Antoinette Cécile Hortense Haudebourt-Lescot achieved a high degree of recognition in her lifetime, which was unusual for women artists.![Painting of a light-skinned adult woman with dark eyes and dark, curled hair styled neatly away from her face and tucked under a large hat. She wears earrings and a necklace, along with a loose brown top with a pleated white collar.](https://nmwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Haudebourt-Lescot-Antoinette-Cecile-Hortense.jpg)
The Artist,
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard was lauded for her skillfully crafted portraits by her early 20s, and she advanced to become a respected member of the French Royal Academy.![A painting of a light-skinned adult woman sitting in a plush, luxurious chair at an easel. She holds a painting palette and paintbrushes, and wears an extravagant, pale blue and white gown and a large, wide-brimmed hat adorned with fluffy white feathers and matching blue ribbon.](https://nmwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Labille-Guiard-Adelaide.jpg)
The Artist,
Élisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun
Renowned French artist Élisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun was Marie Antoinette's favorite painter for a decade and was elected to art academies in 10 cities.![Wearing a white, gold-trimmed head wrap and matching scarf, a light-skinned woman looks at the viewer, shown in a three-quarter pose against a dark backdrop in a portrait painting. Tousled curls of brown hair rest on her forehead and shoulders.](https://nmwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Vigee-Lebrun-Elisabeth-Louise.jpg)
The Artist,
Anne Vallayer-Coster
With the patronage of Marie Antoinette, Anne Vallayer-Coster achieved great success and cultivated an aristocratic clientele.![A painting of a light-skinned adult woman holding a paintbrush and palette, smiling as she paints. Her voluminous gray hair is curled and pulled up into a huge style with a green ribbon in it. Matching green ribbons embellish her elegant blue and white dress.](https://nmwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Vallayer-Coster-Anne.jpg)
Broad Strokes Blog
Royalists to Romantics: Spotlight on Élisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun
![A portrait of a light-skinned woman with powdered brown hair tucked under a white wrap with a golden border. She is wearing a blue jacket with a red sash tied around her waist.](https://nmwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/1986.346_229-aspect-ratio-2.25-1.jpg)