As it is still Women’s History Month here in Canada, I of course have to share a book by a woman about women. (If you have missed it- I have a yearly goal of 80% or more of my books read written by women.) Non-fiction genres like history and biography are still dominated by male authors and I will do whatever I can to uplift female authors. This fascinating joint biography explores the lives of two of the most talented artists of the eighteenth century and their incredible legacies- a perfect dive into women’s history! Let’s get into Mrs. Kauffman and Madame le Brun: The Extraordinary Entwined Lives of Two Eighteenth-Century Painters by Franny Moyle!
Thank you to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Mrs. Kauffman and Madame le Brun: The Extraordinary Entwined Lives of Two Eighteenth-Century Painters, Franny Moyle
In the spring of 1790 two of the most gifted artists in Europe met in Rome and became fast friends, sharing their views on art, visiting the city’s ancient sites and making trips to the opera together over several happy weeks. The Swiss history painter Angelica Kauffman and the French portraitist Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun are no longer household names in the early twenty-first century but were much-fêted celebrities in the late eighteenth. The two had much in common: both had been child prodigies; both were members of the prestigious Academies of their respective countries; both had been celebrated court painters; both had made disastrous marriages that had drained them financially and made them the subject of scandal.
Franny Moyle uses their meeting in the eternal city as the point of departure for a lavishly illustrated ‘life and times’ biography of two brilliant but neglected women artists whose lives and creative careers straddled the political upheavals of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Mrs Kauffman and Madame Le Brun allows Moyle to explore an age of political, aesthetic and social revolution via a web of connections that embraces many of the most intriguing and powerful personalities of the time – to view a whole era of changing ideas and political ferment through the prism of the intertwined tales of two remarkable, rediscovered female lives.
Why You Should Read This…
Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun is moderately well-known, and with the new Marie Antoinette exhibition at the V&A, she is back in the spotlight (somewhat). Angelica Kauffman, however, is not, and I love that this joint biography is bringing both the French painter and the Swiss painter to the forefront. Both were wildly talented- you can see it in their works- and lived through fascinating times, including the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, but you rarely see them mentioned.
Franny Moyle may sound familiar to you- she is behind one of my favourite period dramas, Desperate Romantics. And now she is delving into these two women’s stories. Given how dramatic both of their lives were (painting Marie Antoinette multiple times and then having to live through the Reign of Terror is about as dramatic as it gets), it makes sense that she would gravitate towards them. And it reads like it could be a period drama, in the best way!
This is a very easy to read book. It includes many paintings throughout, and the layout in addition to the actual tone makes it a great choice for anyone newer to art history. And because the book is delving into art history, I think that the aesthetically pleasing layout is an important element.
If you are looking for an interesting read for Women’s History Month, I would absolutely pick this up!
♠
Want more art history? These are 5 female artists you should know!
Is Mrs. Kauffman and Madame le Brun from Franny Moyle on your to-read list?
Cheers,
The Historian
Facebook | Threads | Instagram | Pinterest
