Famous Paintings Reviewed

Famous Paintings: Madame X

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An art history blog post from Famous Paintings Reviewed.

Famous paintings seldom provoked scandals at the Paris Salon, the French government's official art exhibition and the most important venue during the eighteen century for exhibiting art paintings. Acceptance by the Salon jury was John Singer Sargent's motive when he submitted in Madame X in 1884. Born to American parents in Florence, Sargent (1856 - 1925) spent the majority of his career in Paris and London, where his flattering portraiture made him one of the wealthiest and most famous painters of this era. 

Madame Gautreau, born in New Orleans as Virginia Avegno in 1859, was a renowned Parisian beauty who married a French banker. Sargent, like much of society, was mesmerized by her looks and believed a portrait of her would solidify his reputation as a famous painter at the Paris Salon - it did, but not in a manner he anticipated or wanted.  Progress on this portrait was difficult because she was a fidgety model, and Sargent repeatedly re-worked the canvas, contending that her beauty was "unpaintable".  

When his art painting Madame X was finally completed and revealled at the Paris Salon of 1884, its reception was scathing.   Although identity of the subject wasn't revealled (hence the title Madame X), Madame Gautreau's distinctive profile made her recognizeable.  

Critics complained that her skin had lavender undertones (she apparently dusted herself with lavender powder) and that her right arm was oddly and unnaturally contorted. These comments, however, paled in comparison to unanimous outrage over her dress: in Sargent's initial version shown at the Salon, her right strap had slipped off to bare her right shoulder.  The decolletage, or plunging neck line, hinted to some viewers of sexual impropriety or infidelity.  Gautreau's family was mortified, and after begging Sargent to withdraw the painting, he offered to repaint the offensive strap. The Salon, however, forbade him from doing so until the exhibition closed.  In efforts to placate the public, Sargent ultimately repainted the strap, resulting in the portrait we now see.   Not surprisingly, he eventually relocated to London.

While Sargent is known for his lush, liquidy brushstroke (shown in one of his best known art paintings, below), this trait is lacking in 

 

Madame X, likely due to his constant re-workings.  The extraordinary pose and outline of her body recall Velazquez, and make Madame X one of his most brilliant art paintings.  Sargent apparently agreed -- when he sold Madame X in 1916 to the Metropolitan Museum, he wrote, "I suppose it is the best thing I have done."

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