Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (; 11 April 1749 – 24 April 1803), also known as Adélaïde Labille-Guiard des Vertus, was a French miniaturist and portrait painter. She was an advocate for women to receive the same opportunities as men to become great painters. Labille-Guiard was one of the first women to become a member of the Royal Academy, and was the first female artist to receive permission to set up a studio for her students at the Louvre.

Early life and studies

thumb|left| Self-portrait, miniature

Adélaïde Labille was born on 11 April 1749 in Paris. Her father, Claude-Edme Labille (1705–1788) was a haberdasher.

Labille-Guiard became a master at miniatures, pastels, and oil paintings. Little is known about her training due to the practices of the 18th century which dictated masters (who were predominately male) should not take on female pupils. During this time, women were perceived as incapable to follow instruction alongside men. During her adolescence, Labille-Guiard studied miniature painting with oil painter François-Élie Vincent and her early work was exhibited at the Académie de Saint-Luc.

Labille-Guillard married Louis-Nicolas Guiard in 1769, but separated from him eight years later, already able to support herself through her artwork. She apprenticed with the pastel master Quentin de la Tour until 1774. From 1776 to 1780, she began to study oil painting with her childhood friend François-André Vincent (the eldest son of François-Élie Vincent), who would later become her husband.]]

left|thumb|Portrait of Louise-Elisabeth of France with her son by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard

Exhibitions at the Académie de Saint-Luc

Labille-Guiard was admitted to the Académie de Saint-Luc in 1767 when she was twenty years old. Her admission piece has since disappeared and sadly no records of its existence survive today. The Académie de Saint-Luc provided Labille-Guiard with a space to practice art professionally. In 1774, she exhibited her work at its Salon. This show was so successful that the Royal Academy took offence, and with the backing of the monarchy, issued an edict in March 1776 abolishing “guilds, brotherhoods, and communities of arts and crafts”, forcing the Académie de Saint-Luc to close its doors in 1777. However, this did not stop Labille-Guiard's ambitions as an artist.

Becoming a member of the Royal Academy

Once the Académie de Saint-Luc closed its doors, Labille-Guiard began to learn oil painting, so she could apply to the Royal Academy which required her to present at least one oil painting for admission. During the late 1770s, she painted several portraits of leading academicians, creating contacts with the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. One anonymous pamphlet Suite de Malborough au Salon 1783, accused Labille-Guiard of exchanging sexual favors for help with painting. The pamphlet punned on François-André Vincent's name (though still unmarried, he was her rumored paramour), saying that Labille Guiard had "vignt cents" (twenty-hundreds, or two thousand) lovers. Still, becoming accepted into the Royal Academy opened doors for Labille-Guiard as she gained patronage from the royal family.

Painter for the royal family

Through pure artistic ability and talent, Labille-Guiard became a painter for the royal family. Her royal patrons included the aunt of Louis XVI of France, Princess Marie Adélaïde and her sister Victoria Louise, and the King's sister Elizabeth and earned her a government pension of 1,000 livres. In 1787, she became peintre des mesdames, a position that led her to painting Madame Adélaïde and Madame Victoire.

<gallery widths="145" heights="145" mode="packed" caption="Paris society portraits by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard">

File:Elisabeth Philippine Marie Helene de Bourbon Labille-Guiard 1788.jpg|Elisabeth de France (oil on canvas)

File:Elisabeth de France Labille-Guiard 1787.jpg|Elisabeth de France (pastel)

File:Labille-Guiard Helena Massalska.jpg|Helena Massalska

File:Labille-Guiard - Madame Alexis 1787.jpg|Madame Alexis (Adélaïde Prévost)

File:Adrienne-lafayette-mw4967.jpg|Adrienne Lafayette

</gallery>

thumb|Portrait of a woman by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, 1787

Style and context

Labille-Guiard often did not fit comfortably within the boundaries of feminine virtue in the 18th century. Their rivalry was encouraged by both academicians and patrons at court.

Advocate for young female artists

Labille-Guiard had an impact on her young female artists. In a letter written by a mother whose daughter studied painting with a female academic, (who, based on the description, seems to be Labille-Guiard) she explained that the teacher insisted on maintaining the highest standards of modesty in her studio. The Revolution further hurt her career when the royal sisters emigrated in February 1791 without paying for several portraits they had commissioned Labille-Guiard to paint.

Labille-Guillard briefly left Paris for several years at this time, but returned. In 1795, she obtained lodging at Louvre, and continued to paint and exhibit portraits at the Salons until 1800, the year she married her former teacher, François-André Vincent (1746–1816) in 1800.

Labille-Guiard is a featured figure on Judy Chicago's installation piece The Dinner Party, being represented in one of the 999 tiles of the Heritage Floor. She is listed under the place setting of Artemisia Gentileschi

<gallery widths="145" heights="145" mode="packed">

File:Adélaide Labille-Guiard - Comedian Tournelle 1799.jpg|The comedian Tournelle

File:Labille-Guiard, van Loo.jpg|The painter van Loo

File:Madame Victoire of France.jpg|Madame Victoire of France

File:Labille-Guiard Robespierre.jpg|Robespierre

File:Madame adelaide de France.jpg|Princess Marie Adélaïde of France

File:Marie-Gabrielle Capet02.jpg|Marie-Gabrielle Capet, study

File:Madame de Genlis 1780.jpg|Madame de Genlis, 1780

File:Marie-Gabrielle Capet.jpg|Marie-Gabrielle Capet, 1785

File:Adélaide Labille-Guiard - Joachim Lebreton 1795.jpg|Joachim Lebreton, 1795

File:Adélaide Labille-Guiard 001.jpg|François-André Vincent, 1795

File:Adélaide Labille-Guiard (1749−1803)- Mme Dugazon in the Role of Babet - Mme Dugazon Babetin roolissa - Mme Dugazon i rollen av Babet (29433004546).jpg|Mme Dugazon in the Role of Babet, 1775 or 1790

File:Adélaïde Labille-Guiard - Portrait of a Man - 2017.18 - Dallas Museum of Art.jpg|Portrait of a Man

File:Madame Mitoire with her children, by Adelaide Labille-Guiard.jpg|Madame Charles Mitoire with her children, 1783

File:Duchesse d'Aiguillon (1770-1818), by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard.jpg|Portrait of Duchesse d'Aiguillon, 1790

File:Comtesse de Selve.jpg|Madame de Selve faisant de la musique

</gallery>

Notes

Bibliography

  • Auricchio, Laura. Adélaïde Labille-Guiard: Artist in the Age of Revolution, Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2009.
  • Baetjer, Katharine. "Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (1749–1803)" at Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, www.metmuseum.org, posted June 2016.
  • Chicago, Judy. The Dinner Party: From Creation to Preservation, London: Merrell, 2007.
  • Passez, Anne-Marie. Adélaïde Labille-Guiard: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, Paris: 1973.
  • Portalis, Roger (1901). "Adélaïde Labille-Guiard" in Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne: 1901, p.&nbsp;352–367.
  • Portalis, Roger (1902). Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Paris: Imprimerie Georges Petit, 1902.
  • Cailleux, Jean. "Portrait of Madame Adélaïde of France, Daughter of Louis XV," Burlington Magazine (vol.3, March 1969), supp.i-vi.
  • Bonnet Marie-Jo, Gloire, Eviction des femmes peintres, 1770-1804, Chryséis éditions, 2024.
  • Labille-Guiard, Adélaïde at Benezit Dictionary of Artists
  • Labille-Guiard (née Labille), Adélaïde by Kathleen Nicholson at Grove Art Online
  • Royalists to Romantics: Spotlight on Adélaïde Labille-Guiard at National Museum of Women in the Arts
  • Biography of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard from the Société Internationale pour l'Étude des Femmes de l'Ancien Régime
  • Labille-Guiard, Adélaïde at Neil Jeffares, Dictionary of pastellists before 1800, online edition