Who? Elisabeth Louise Vigée le Brun, or Madame Le Brun as she would later come to be known, produced some of the most famous paintings of the French aristocracy ever hung – but her drive to paint, even when to do so threatened her own life, elevates her story far beyond the wooden-panelled halls of an art gallery. Born in Paris in 1755, Vigée le Brun grew up in a convent and, banned as women were from taking art classes, taught herself to draw over hours spent copying from…
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