Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat (Self-Portrait au chapeau de paille)
Painting on canvas • Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun
Style & Movement
Rococo / Neoclassical transition
Medium & Technique
Oil on canvas, utilizing delicate glazing for skin tones, loose brushwork in the sky, and precise impasto highlight details on the lace and straw hat.
Creation Period
circa 1782
Dimensions & Format
97.8 cm x 70.5 cm; Portrait format
Subject Description
The artist depicts herself as a confident, fashionable woman against a cloud-filled sky. She holds a palette and brushes, asserting her professional identity as a painter. She wears a 'chapeau de paille' decorated with flowers and a white ostrich feather, inspired by Rubens' portrait of Susanna Lunden.
Condition & Value Assessment
Condition Assessment
Excellent (publicly held museum quality).
Estimated Market Value
$40,000,000 - $60,000,000 (Based on historical significance and rarity; strictly institutional value)
Auction Estimate
$30,000,000 - $50,000,000
Provenance History
Formerly in the collection of the artist; later acquired by the National Gallery, London from the collection of Baron Alphonse de Rothschild (1897). Original history dates back to the artist's stay in Antwerp.
Art Historical Significance
One of the most famous self-portraits of the 18th century. It marks Vigée Le Brun's success as the court painter to Marie Antoinette and is a seminal example of a female artist reclaiming the 'male gaze' while referencing Old Masters like Peter Paul Rubens.
Notable Features
The visible thumbhole of the palette held in the left hand shows the artist's professional tools; the distinctive straw hat was a 'chemise à la reine' style popularized by her patron, Marie Antoinette.
Condition Issues
Stable craquelure consistent with 18th-century oil on canvas; historic lining and minor retouching in the darker pigment areas of the shawl.
Conservation Recommendations
Maintain in a climate-controlled museum environment (50% RH, 20°C). UV-filtered lighting not exceeding 200 lux. Periodic inspection of the varnish layer for yellowing.
Collector Notes
Paris