1000 Museums

Labille-Guiard was a master at miniatures, pastels, and oil paintings. She studied miniature painting under François-Élie Vincent and exhibited her work at the Académie de Saint-Luc. Under the pastel master Quentin de la Tour, she apprenticed until 1774. While she participated and showed at the Académie de Saint-Luc, they were forced to close its doors due to the edict in March 1776 abolishing arts organizations per the Royal Academy and the monarchy. Despite this setback, she learned oil painting and applied it to the Royal Academy. In 1783, she was accepted as a member of the French Academie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture and started to gain prominent royal patronage. Nearly a decade later, she became the first woman artist to be allowed a studio for her self and students at the Louve, where she gained a new pension of 2,000 livres and lodging. Labille-Guiard was a passionate female advocate, who offered classes to girls once established her first studio on the rue Richelieu in 1783. in 1787 she was named First Painter to the daughters of Louis XV. While the revolution opened Salons to women artists, they discredited those who engaged with the ancien régime; she also lost many patrons. The events hurt her career due to her dependency on the monarchy, she then turned to document members of the National Assembly. She became an active voice in Revolutionary debates over women\’s access to financial support and education.