A Death and a Marriage: Behind the Painted Fan, #1

By Susanne Dunlap

Two brilliant women artists fought for recognition and a place at the table in the competitive art world of pre-Revolutionary Paris. They both had royal patrons. They both were elected to the prestigious Académie Royale.

 

But only one was Marie Antoinette's official portraitist: the popular, prodigiously talented Vigée Le Brun.

 

Did she lead a charmed life compared to her rival? Or did she have to battle her own demons to achieve her destiny?

Find out in this six-part series that brings another brilliant woman to life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Susanne Dunlap
• Release date: Nov 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215109052

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

The late-afternoon sun slanted in through the high windows of Louis Vigée’s humble studio, gilding its shelves crammed with pigments and brushes, scattered pots of oil and jars of water, easels, and hooks on the wall for smocks. Elisabeth perched on a low stool, gazing across the room at her father, eyes shining.

She followed his every movement as he swished his brush in the glass of water then, pinched between two fingers, held the almost-finished ivory and silk fan up to reveal the exquisite detail of his painting, a pastoral scene that spread across the delicate fabric. The maiden in it would remain forever suspended above the ground on a swing in mid-arc, glancing coyly over her shoulder at her beloved. Push me higher! Elisabeth imagined her saying as her father cocked his head from side to side and pursed his lips, turning the fan this way and that. Once satisfied with his work, he hung the open fan by its cord from a hook above the table.

The fan is a lady’s most valuable possession, he said, turning toward Elisabeth, who stood on cue. You must learn about its subtle language if you are to become indispensable to your betters.

Elisabeth smiled, knowing by heart the ritual to come.

Vigée lifted an as-yet unpainted, closed fan off a nearby shelf and pointed to the guards. You see, I paint figures here, and here, on the frame, because they will show when a lady gestures with it—so. He flicked the fan open wide so that the ivory silk caught the light and sent the dust motes whirling, then snapped it shut and tapped his right cheek with its closed end.

What does that mean, Papa? Elisabeth asked, her smile widening to create dimples in her cheeks.

"It means, come here."

She smoothed down her muslin skirts, holding her hands gracefully out to her sides as if she were wearing wide, boned panniers, then took three dainty steps toward him, careful to stay just out of his reach.

And then the figure is still visible when the lady does this… He turned the fan so it pointed away from him and toward Elisabeth and touched the head, with its rivet that held the sticks together, to his lips.

What does that mean, Papa? she asked, barely able to suppress a giggle.

Vigée knelt down on the dusty, paint-flecked floor and opened his arms wide. "It means, kiss me!"

Elisabeth ran into his embrace and kissed him all over his face. You didn’t say where I should kiss you so I’d better be thorough! she said, laughing all the while.

They were still laughing when the studio door opened and Elisabeth’s mother, Jeanne, entered and tried—unsuccessfully—to scowl with disapproval at her husband’s and daughter’s antics. Have you finished that fan? she