A Straw Hat and an Allegory by Susanne Dunlap

Author:Susanne Dunlap
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Susanne Dunlap

CHAPTER 6

Paris, September 1782

Everything in Paris looked different to Elisabeth when she returned from Flanders and Holland. The countries themselves and the people—of those she remembered little beyond the kindness of the Prince de Ligne and eating more potatoes than she ever cared to eat again. But that had not been why she went with Pierre, and with regard to her artistic education—it was more than an education. It was a revelation. A bouleversement. An awakening of such proportions that it made her want to throw away all her previous canvases and start again. And it was all because of Susanna Lunden.

The portrait had a confidence, a disregard for expectations, for fashion, that jolted Elisabeth out of her complacency. If Rubens could achieve authority like that, why couldn’t she?

And so she did. That self-portrait, the one inspired by Susanna Lunden that she had painted in a white heat of inspiration within a month of returning to Paris, now hung in the gallery of the Salon de la Correspondance.

This salon was a relatively new exhibition. The Académie de Saint-Luc had been disbanded, and the other place where artists who were not members of the Académie Royale could exhibit, the Colisée, had also been shut down, thanks to the narrow-mindedness of the Comte d’Angiviller, the director of the bâtiments du roi. He had the final say about all artistic activities in the realm and was no friend to women artists. But this restriction didn’t deter the enterprising, idiosyncratic Pahin de La Blancherie, who took it upon himself to create a kind of exhibition that would fall outside Angiviller’s purview. When Pierre had described these salons to her, with their mixture of scientific discoveries, ingenious inventions, and fine art, Elisabeth had been skeptical. She couldn’t imagine anyone caring to attend such strange events. But she had eventually been persuaded, when talk at the private salons was about little else, and it was clear the exhibits were very well attended indeed.

That, and the fact that awaiting her upon her arrival back from Flanders was word that the queen had appointed her as official portraitist. The handsome letter lay upon the table in the vestibule, the extravagantly flourished writing art in itself. She broke the seal before even removing her hat or shedding her traveling cloak, and as soon as she read it she pressed it to her heart.

“You’ll damage it!” Pierre said, laughing.

Before he could grab hold of her, she twirled away, giddy, her insides fluttering like a thousand butterflies as she repeated over and over again to herself, Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun, première peintre de la reine.

“Now what do you think about the Salon de la Correspondance?” Pierre asked, catching her as she skipped by.

Yes, she thought. Let the world know that I am Her Majesty’s favorite. “The première peintre thinks it a fine idea!”

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