After Louise Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun (French, 1755-1842), Self Portrait of the Artist

Oil on canvas (lined), 19th century, presented in a parcel gilt frame.

Stretcher size 34 1/2 x 27 in.; Frame dimensions 38 1/4 x 30 1/2 in.

From the Historic Collection of Limestone University, Gaffney, South Carolina
Limestone College, now Limestone University, was founded in 1845 in Gaffney, South Carolina, by English-born Baptist minister Dr. Thomas Curtis and his son William. Originally established as the Limestone Springs Female High School, it was among the first women’s colleges in the nation and the very first in the state. The institution found its early roots in a former resort hotel near healing springs, later struggling due to the Civil War and Reconstruction. It revived in 1881 as the Cooper‑Limestone Institute, thanks to benefaction from industrialist Peter Cooper, and adopted the name Limestone College.

This painting is based on the original work completed by Vigée Le Brun in 1790. In Florence, the artist admired the famous collection of artists’ self-portraits in the Corridoio Vasariano at the Uffizi. Asked to add her own image, she later wrote: “I painted myself with a palette in hand, in front of a canvas on which I am drawing the queen in white chalk.” Both her subject and her elegant black silk gown were intended to evoke the power and prestige of her position as a painter to the king of France. The scarlet sash adds a bold touch. This painting is currently in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)

The painting has been lined, with age cracking, surface grime, and an area of repair and retouching to upper right corner.