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This beautiful portrait is undoubtedly one of the most popular works of art in the entire collection at the Barber Institute. Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun (1755-1842) was the most gifted and successful woman artist of pre-revolutionary France. In 1789 she fled from Paris in exile and, six years later, settled in St Petersburg, where she painted this captivating portrait. The sitter was the wife of the profligate Count Nicholas Nikolaevitch Golovine, son of a family of wealthy Moscow aristocrats, and was herself the subject of much scandalous rumour, which forced her to flee from St Petersburg to Moscow in 1796. There she met Vigée-Lebrun, who later wrote of her: ‘Countess Golovine was a charming woman, whose wit and talents were enough to keep us amused, for she received few visitors. She drew very well and composed delightful love songs that she sang while accompanying herself on the piano. Moreover she was on the lookout for all the latest European literature with which she was familiar as soon as it was known in Paris.’ In her portrait, Vigée-Lebrun depicts the Countess dressed in a red shawl decorated with a gold border. She wears a deep gold headband and gazes directly outwards, with startling candour. Enhancing her allure is the gesture of her left hand, which clutches the shawl to her body. Together with the Countess’s loosely flowing hair, this emphasises the seemingly spontaneous nature of the characterization and adds to the freshness and intimacy of the portrait.

Category: Painting

Institute: The Barber Institute of Fine Arts

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