Portrait of Madame X

Rare card · No. 54922

Madame X or 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. The scandal resulting from the painting's controversial reception at the Paris Salon of 1884 (negative reviews saw it as vulgar and over-sexualized, or criticized the stark contrast) amounted to a temporary setback to Sargent while in France, though it may have helped him later establish a successful...

Read on Wikipedia · Image John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London) (1856 - 1925) – Artist Details on Google Art Project, Public domain