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| Greetings!
As we greet the New Year, ending a decade whose passing few will regret, we are filled with renewed hope that 2010 will be the year when we can finally get things right! From shedding those few extra pounds to writing the Great American Novel, who hasn't made some resolutions for the year ahead?
Personally, I never liked New Year resolutions (you feel bad when you break them!), but this year I have made one, which may perhaps be more accurately be described as a recipe for living. It is simply this: to focus on making each day both joyful and meaningful. Some of the elements of such a day include:
* Count your blessings, don't sweat the small stuff;
* Be kind to those who love you, ignore those who don't
(nothing could make them madder!);
* Prioritize the things you want to accomplish each day, do the first
two;
* Do something to make someone a little happier or the world a little
better;
* Schedule time to have fun and relax!
This issue's feature portrait is Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, who is not only considered the most important woman painter of her time but also had a life full of romance and adventure! Her memoirs, Souvenirs de ma vie (Reminiscences of My Life, 1835-37), show her also as a woman of great warmth, charm, and wit. Her optimism in the face of adversity - the death of family, friends and patrons, the loss of her home and possessions, a husband who gambled her earnings away - are truly inspiring.
And, now that the winter solstice is behind us and every day gets a little longer, it's time for Swan Ways to rise up again. Despite an unfavorable business climate in 2009, our loyal friends and customers kept us going and growing. I now feel ready to put that extra personal energy and capital needed to take advantage of new opportunities and a slowly improving economy.
To start with, on Saturday, January 30, we will hold our second annual clearance sale and spring preview at my home in Arlington, Virginia. We will offer what we hope will be irresistible pieces at unbeatable prices. My good friend Parvaneh Limbert will participate with her artwork and beautiful collection of hand-made jewelry.
Our Internet boutique opened for a few hours before my very capable legal counsel advised in favor of including a strong privacy policy and other safeguards. We are hopeful that everything will be ready in the next few weeks.
Enjoy the first newsletter of the year and, if you are in the Washington, DC area, we hope to see you on January 30. If not, we are open 24/7 at www.swanways.com.
With our warmest wishes for health, happiness and good fortune in 2010,
Alix
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Marie-Louise-Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun 
From Ancien Régime to Empire
Marie-Louise-Élisabeth
Vigée was born on April 16, 1755 in Paris, the daughter of a painter, from whom she received her first instruction. In 1776, she accepted an arranged marriage to a man her parents considered a suitable match, an art dealer called Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Lebrun.
Her earliest portraits were of her own family and friends, but her talent soon attracted a clientele of minor nobility and gradually led to the royal halls of Versailles. Her ability to capture liveliness and expression in her sitter came to the attention of Marie Antoinette, and Elisabeth was named official portraitist to the Queen.
Vigée-Lebrun settled comfortably in Paris, painting during the day in her studio, and keeping a lively salon in the evening. In 1783, in part thanks to the intercession of the queen, Vigée-Lebrun was accepted as a member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture as a painter of historical allegory. The painter Adelaide Labille-Guiard was also admitted on the same day. They were the first two women ever to be admitted into the French Academy.
All appeared well until Paris erupted in revolution. Following the arrest of the royal family when they attempted to leave France, Vigée-Lebrun lost her royal patrons and much of her income. Her strong royalist sympathies also made her fearful for her safety, and she left France with her daughter, Julie, ostensibly to go to Italy to perfect her art. For several years she worked in Italy, Austria, and eventually in Russia. Her talent and aristocratic connections helped her obtain numerous commissions, and she was again able to carve out a good living and find new success. In Rome, her paintings met with great critical acclaim and she was elected to the Roman Accademia di San Luca. In Russia, she established herself as a favorite artist of the nobility, painting numerous members of Catherine the Great's family and becoming a member of the Academy of Fine Arts of St. Petersburg.
She returned to France in 1801 when Napoleon was First Consul, and was welcomed by the future Emperor, who commissioned her to paint a portrait of his sister Caroline, married to the dashing cavalry officer Joachim Murat, later to become King of Naples. The portrait, a life-sized, oil on canvas, also includes their daughter Letizia. 
Vigée-Lebrun describes the painting sessions in her Memoirs as a "torment," with Caroline showing up for her sittings consistently late or not at all:
All the annoyances that Mme. Murat subjected me to at last put me so much out of temper that one day, when she was in my studio, I said to M. Denon, loudly enough for her to hear, "I have painted real princesses who never worried me, and never made me wait." The fact is, Mme. Murat was unaware that punctuality is the politeness of kings, as Louis XIV so well said.
Much in demand by the elite of Europe, Vigée-Lebrun visited England and painted the portrait of several British notables including Lord Byron. In 1807 she traveled to Switzerland and was made an honorary member of the Société pour l'Avancement des Beaux-Arts of Geneva.
When in her fifties, still very active with her art, she purchased a house in Louveciennes, Île-de-France, and lived there until the house was seized by the Prussian Army during the war in 1814. She stayed in Paris until her death on March 30, 1842 when her body was taken back to Louveciennes and buried in the cemetery near her old home.
Her tombstone epitaph states "Ici, enfin, je repose..." (Here, at last, I rest...).
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Mark your calendars!
OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, January 30, 2010
11am-5pm
3016 N Florida Street
Arlington, VA 22207
Featuring:
Swan Ways' winter clearance sale and spring preview
Parvaneh Limbert's artwork and hand-made jewelry
Plus accessories, gifts and specialty items...
And, as always, refreshments and good company!
Please come and bring your friends!
For more details:
703-969-1688
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 Invitation to contribute to the newsletter
We look forward to hearing from you!
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