Porträt der Sophia Vladimirovna Stroganova (Golitsyna)

This 1795 portrait of Sophia Vladimirovna Stroganova at the Pushkin Museum was painted during Vigée Le Brun’s Russian period. The Stroganov family, one of Russia’s wealthiest and most culturally prominent dynasties, were important patrons who introduced Vigée Le Brun to the highest circles of St. Petersburg society. Vigée Le Brun was the most technically accomplished and socially successful woman painter of the eighteenth century, achieving membership of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1783 and a clientele that extended from the French royal family to the courts of Russia, Austria, and Italy during her decade of exile following the Revolution. Her portrait manner combined the neoclassical formal values of her training with a quality of feminine intimacy and emotional warmth that made her portraits of women and children especially celebrated. Her ability to make her sitters appear simultaneously dignified and approachable was the technical foundation of her social success.

Vigée Le Brun’s luminous technique is particularly effective in rendering the porcelain-like complexion fashionable in Russian aristocratic circles. Rich costume details and warm background tones create an atmosphere of refined luxury.