John Singer | Portrait of Madame X (1884)

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John Singer | Portrait of Madame X (1884)

Portrait of Madame X is an 1884 portrait painting by John Singer Sargent of a young socialite, Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, wife of the French banker Pierre Gautreau.

Madame X was painted not as a commission, but at the request of Sargent. It is a study in opposition. Sargent shows a woman posing in a black satin dress with jeweled straps, a dress that reveals and hides at the same time. The portrait is characterized by the pale flesh tone of the subject contrasted against a dark-colored dress and background. The dress was originally painted with one of the straps hanging off her shoulder, but after a negative response from viewers he repainted it to secure it over her shoulder.

But what seemed like an opportunistic move led John Singer Sargent to flee the country and destroyed the model’s reputation forever.

The sitter is Virginie Avegno Gautreau. She outraged Paris when she posed for a portrait that showed her strap falling off her shoulder.

In the late 19th century, this was not something a married woman did.the

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John Singer | Portrait of Madame X (1884)

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