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Count Emmanuel Nikolayevich Tolstoy

Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun French

1823

Not on view

Twenty-seven years before painting Emmanuel Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1802–1825) in Paris, Vigée Le Brun had portrayed his mother, Countess Tolstaya, in St. Petersburg. Here, the pyramidal composition is carefully balanced and the color scheme is one on the artist’s favorites. The sitter emerges convincingly from the picture’s space as if to enter ours.

The Salon of 1824 signaled the advent of the Romantic era and the approaching end of Vigée Le Brun’s career.

Count Emmanuel Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, Paris 1755–1842 Paris), Oil on canvas — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Count Emmanuel Nikolayevich Tolstoy

Artist: Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, Paris 1755–1842 Paris)

Date: 1823

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 36 3/8 × 28 1/2 in. (92.5 × 72.5 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Private collection

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