Excellent! This is my fifth book I've read about Elisabeth Vigee-Le Brun, and I always learn something new. What I loved in this book in how the author told Le Brun's life and talked about the art she was creating at each stage. Including images of said art and expounding on them is what makes this more than a simple biography. It's also French art history of the 18th century, during critical times in France's political life. I don't think I'll ever tire of reading about this artist. She's just too fascinating to me.

Thanks to NetGalley for access to this arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A thoroughly entertaining look at the life and work of Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun who was a court painter for Marie Antoinette and overcame a lot to find renown as an artist in her time. I had never heard of her before this book, and honestly wasn't sure how engaging I would find something like this, but the cover seemed fun and eye-catching, so I gave it a go, and I'm glad I did! Super accessible, well-organized, and interesting. A quicker read than it looks like, easily digestible. I enjoyed it!

Daring is the story of Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, most famously known for her portraits of the infamous Queen of France, Marie Antoinette. It details her birth, upbringing, marriage, marital struggles and her influences in art. It tells of her first teachers, of her contemporaries and of how culture and her environment shaped her art. Accompanied by images of her work, relevant illustrations and pieces from other contemporaries, it covers a number of topics relevant to her life and legacy.

This was a pleasure to read, and I loved learning about such a wonderful artist. Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun is indeed a gifted portrait painter and being a female artist in 1700/1800’s who was widely recognized is truly amazing.

This biography is the perfect length and doesn’t go overtly into detail. The artistic works featured are stunning and accompanying tidbits are interesting.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Getty Publications for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really modern looking and sounding book on history. I loved that there was background info on bigger picture things like empire.

This was marvelous! I leapt at it on sight as Vigée Le Brun is one of my favorite artists, and this is the book she deserves as a well-researched biography with plenty of interesting sidebars placing the events of her life in their wider context. It was such a treat seeing so many of her paintings laid out alongside the stories of what led her to meeting the people who sat for her, with some of the deeper cuts I hadn't come across before just cementing her spot in my top five faves. Wonderful artist, wonderful book. I recommend this for anyone familiar with her work, or unfamiliar! Look her up, she rules.

I picked this up not knowing much about Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun beyond having seen a few of her paintings in museums, and I was really glad I did. The book is short and super readable, a biography that doesn’t feel overly simplified, perfect if you want a quick but rich introduction to an artist’s life. I loved learning how she started painting as a child, encouraged by her father before his early death, and how she eventually became one of only 15 women admitted to the French Royal Academy. Her career was remarkable: she created more than thirty portraits of Marie Antoinette, received commissions across Europe, and even hiked up Mt. Vesuvius for fun. She lived to 86 and produced around 800 works.

The book is beautifully put together, with lots of colour images, context notes about the Revolution, and even details about where her paintings are now. As someone who travels to see art, I appreciated that. It made me want to revisit the Louvre and Versailles with fresh eyes.
My only complaint is that the book paints her life in a very flattering light. Given the Revolution, class tensions, and her treatment of staff, I felt like there was more complexity that got glossed over.
Still, it’s engaging, informative, and left me curious to learn more. I’d recommend it to teens and adults alike who enjoy art, history, or strong women’s stories.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thanks to my mother I always loved the artist Elisabeth Vigee le Brun. The painting that graces the cover of Daring is one that she took me to see in a museum when I was young, and just developing a taste for art museums. I always loved portraits, which provide such a window to the past. What I didn't realize is what an amazing woman Vigee le Brun was for her time! Or for any time.

The book is a quick read. There is enough information to give an interested party like me a good overview of the artist's life, but not bog you down with more minutia than you can absorb. I loved how paintings were featured all throughout the book, along with an explanation of why they were painted or what aspects made the painting special. It was so interesting to read about her escape from Paris at a time when aristocrats were being jailed and executed. As a painter of aristocrats, Vigee le Brun was definitely one of those who could have been killed had they caught her. Because of the upheaval in French politics, she would roam Europe for a couple of decades before being able to return to a very different France.

I loved this book and think anyone with an appreciation for art, but especially anyone who wants to see what this very accomplished female artist was able to accomplish at a time when women were expected to be nothing but wives and mothers.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jordana Pomeroy and Getty Publications for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Daring - The Life and Art of Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun" by Jordana Pomeroy is a delightful journey through the life and works of one of the most famous and influential woman artists in history.

The book does not just draw information from Elisabeths memoirs, it provides the reader with additional informations, which vary from the political situation and climate at that particular time in her life, to further information about notable figures, that aren’t only important in historical contexts, but were also present in her life as well.
The text is written in an easily understandable way, which is great for people that don't necessarily know much about art and art history and are looking for something to get started on the topic of Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun. In addition to that, the book also includes a vast number of pictures of Elisabeth's works and works by other artists and depictions of people that are being mentioned in the text.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book and it is a great and comprehensive introduction to Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun's life and works.

Thank you to NetGalley and Getty Publications for giving me access to this ARC! :)

This book is going to look fantastic when it is in print! It has a perfect balance of text and visuals, and the biography of Vigee-Lebrun is informative and well-paced. Enough historical context surrounding the time period is given so that the reader gets a solid idea of the society in which Vigee-Lebrun lived. The book is light on formal visual analysis of the works, but given that this is listed under ‘Teens and YA’ that is not a big detractor. The little asides/’fun facts’ that accompany some of the paintings are interesting, too. I particularly enjoyed the tidbit about how a certain type of muslin that Marie Antoinette favored is no longer in production nowadays because of a dearth of the species of cotton that was used.

I enjoyed this a lot! Informative pop art history that expertly rides the line between well researched and easily read by the general public. The design of the book, with the side stories + paintings adding colour to the main biography, is very engaging and made it hard for me to put down at times.

Would recommend to anyone who likes art history, the 18th century, interesting women, etc etc

Filled with pictures of the stunning paintings of this remarkable artist, this book tells her fascinating, adventurous and tragic life. Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun’s talent was recognized very early and she was patronised by Queen Marie Antoinette when she was only 23, part of an admiring circle of French aristocrats. This changed when the violence of the French Revolution began, so cleverly recognising the danger that she was in, Elizabeth made a daring escape with her beloved daughter and her daughter’s governess, beginning a nomadic life. Her husband helped them escape but stayed behind.
She travelled to Italy, Austria, Switzerland and England, feted by royalty and aristocracy, and given membership of prestigious academies. Catherine the Great asked to meet her very soon after she travelled to Russia, where she was the first women elected to join the prestigious Imperial Academy. Always in search of adventure and danger, she went to Mt Vesuvius shortly after it erupted, where lumps of black lava still lay and she could still see smoke! Her travels must have been exceedingly difficult in those days in bumpy, uncomfortable carriages on rough roads.

Her life was beset by tragedy with the early deaths of her father, daughter and brother. She obviously had a very sunny disposition, though, and probably her Catholicism helped her as well. She seems to have been very stoic and enduring.

This was a fascinating and enjoyable book about the great artist. I also liked the side-boxes about the people that she painted and other informative topics about the era. I will definitely buy it if I can find the room!

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Publishing date: 29.07.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY)
Thank you to NetGalley and Getty Publications for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

In this book we explore the life of the artist, her struggles, and her rise to fame (although it looked very different then than it did today).

In my shame I admit I do not remember much from the actual life story for the artist. I was so deep into the paintings themselves to properly pay attention. The way she makes her paintings so radiant, glowing, and ethereal is truly astonishing. I love the way she uses stark contrasts between shadow and light to make her paintings POP.

If you, like me, were drawn to this book for the recognizable style (think Marie Antoinette paintings and you have probably seen her work) and only want to look at the paintings, feel no shame. I would still recommend you take a peek and dive deep into this wonderful woman's work.

Giving this 3 stars, although I remember no story, I did love the way every painting was presented. Recommending this to art enthusiasts, both for the art and the artist.

If you've seen portraits of Marie Antoinette, most likely you've seen the beautiful artwork of Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun. This lovely biography introduces the reader to the life and times of the artist. It's full of interesting and engaging history and works of art.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ecopy of the book for me to review.

This book is so beautifully designed! I also love learning about women from history who might not be as well-known today, and this one certainly fits the bill. All in all, an interesting story and gorgeous to look at.

I loved Jordana Pomeroy's Daring. Elizabeth Vigee Le Brun is an artist who's work is instantly recognizable and paintings I make sure to see if a museum has one. I loved learning about her life and have added her memoir to my to read list Even though I knew on some level that she was in France at the time of the Revolution, I had never considered that she was one of the people forced to flee France. I found this section and the glimpses offered of Marie Antoinette's personality the most fascinating part of the book. I also enjoyed the yellow cultural context sections as it helped widen out the story. I highly recommend Daring to anyone interested in art history.

A book about my favorite artist! Finally!

Talented, intelligent and resilient. Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun has been underappreciated for too long.

I read Madame Le Brun's memoir several years ago and have wanted to learn more about her since. This book is impressively researched and I deeply enjoyed the historical anecdotes, they added important context to many of the excerpts from her memoir.

I love the design of the book as well, the bright yellow gives it a contemporary feel. I can't wait to pick it up when it's published!

Thank you to NetGalley and Getty Publications for the Advanced Reader Copy.

Daring: The Life and Art of Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun by Jordana Pomeroy is everything you would want in a biographical work on an important painter. Plenty of images, her life story, and information to contextualize her life for the current reader.

As Pomeroy mentions at the beginning, Vigée Le Brun's memoir, like most memoirs, leave things out or gloss over events. So this work utilizes much of what is in the multi-volume memoir but supplements it with greater detail as well as insets explaining both people and society of the time. This truly brings Vigée Le Brun's amazing life and work into greater focus.

There are a lot of pictures of both her work and that of other artists, those who influenced her as well as those that represent the current trends of the day. Now that we have the internet, the ability to find additional pictures as well as details of some of the paintings can make this an even better experience. The book does a great job as is, when coupled with images from the internet readers can really immerse themselves in the works and the times.

As informative as this is, it is also a beautiful book and makes a great coffee table book. Whether simply for looks, to spark conversation when friends are over, or to pique a young person's interest in art, displaying this volume will meet your needs.

Recommended for those who enjoy biographies in general as well as those who like to read about art history, and history in general. The people she painted reads like the index of a history book of the period.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

This is a quick survey course of Le Brun's life, taken from her memoir. At its heart, it is a personal story of mother and daughter as they fled the French Revolution and travelled Europe. She met/painted some of the most famous/infamous leaders of the era: from Marie Antoinette to Catherine the Great, George IV to the sister of Napoleon. Along the way she worked with some of the great artists and literati of the time.

The biography is presented chronologically with copious amounts of quotes directly from Le Brun herself. She was a very interesting person who lived in a tumultuous time; the story here is fascinating: a story of an unconventional women, a huge talent, and with an incredible life. It is a quick 100 page read with plenty of full color images of the artist's works, spanning an incredible 80+ years.

I greatly enjoyed this survey of her life and work. Many years ago, I came across her painting of Countess Kinsky at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California. The tragic story of the Countess and the pathos in which she was painted by LeBrun captured my heart. In reading this biography, there were many such stories since LeBrun specialized in women's portraits.

This is very nicely presented, very graphic, easy to follow, a quick read, and with many full color images that tell the story nicely. Highly recommended. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

Very infomative and interesting biography that I think would be perfect for school libraries. Would highly recommend.