I have vivid memories of walking around The Louvre; one of the worlds' largest museums in Paris, France. Wandering through the halls, starring up at beautiful paintings and sculptures by famous artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Michelangelo. It's a maze of wonderment; something that consumes the entirety of your very being. Each sculpture is perfectly formed; the stone is modeled into something human and realistic. The paintings transform; send you back in time to when they were first created. It amazes me, the way people can make a blank canvas or a slab of stone into a work of art.
During my three day visit to The Louvre, I was enthralled by the number of artists who were largely unnoticed for their time. Van Gogh went his entire life creating transformative pieces, only to die with having sold one painting. It seemed that only in death did we finally notice their talent. It was also very clear to the average observer that many of the more well-known artists were male. This left me with a sense of curiousity. I am well aware that it was primarily unacceptable for a woman to be anything but a housewife up until the 20th century, but I was almost positive that there must have been at least a few brave souls who defied societal norms.
It has taken us years to finally recognize some of these women. One of them being Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun. She was one of the best-known portraitists of 18th century France; some of her clients included queen Marie Antoinette. Although she was appreciated in her own time, both the memory of her and her work faded away with the decades. This is the exact opposite of artists like Van Gogh, who became more popular after their death. There has only been one previous showing of Vigée Le Brun's work in America: in 1982 at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. How is it possible that someone who painted portraits of royalty has only been recognized in this country one time in the past couple centuries?
Recently, all-women art shows have become more popular in America. There have been many exhibits opened across the nation that show lesser-known female artists and their exceptional artistic abilities. On Monday, an exhibition opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York of some of Vigée Le Brun's best work. After more than a hundred years in the dark, there is finally some light being shed on the women who expressed their artistic talent during a mostly male-dominated time period.
What a time to be alive; when female artists are finally being paid tribute in the 21st century. Women who may or may not have been appreciated in their time are now being celebrated by thousands of museum-goers.
Rock on, women of the world. The spotlight is finally on you.
