When was madame x painted
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Portrait of Madame X
Painting by John Singer Sargent
Madame X or Portrait of Madame X is a 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.[1] 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 scandal resulting from the painting's controversial reception at the Paris Salon of 1884 amounted to a temporary setback to Sargent while in France,[2] though it may have helped him later establish a successful career in Britain and America.[3]
Background
The model was an American French creole immigrant from New Orleans in Louisiana who married a French banker twice her age and became notorious in Parisian high society for her beauty and rumored sexua
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Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau
American socialite
Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau | |
|---|---|
Avegno, ca. 1878 | |
| Born | Virginie Amélie Avegno (1859-01-29)29 January 1859 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | 25 July 1915(1915-07-25) (aged 56) Cannes, France |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Subject of John Singer Sargent's painting Portrait of Madame X |
| Spouse | Pierre Gautreau |
| Children | Louise Gautreau |
Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau (née Avegno; 29 January 1859 – 25 July 1915) was an American-born Parisian socialite, who gained notoriety as the subject of John Singer Sargent's painting Portrait of Madame X. The suggestion of indiscreet posing in a revealing costume provoked a storm of outrage.
Early life and education
Gautreau was born Virginie Amélie of French Creole ancestry, in New Orleans, Louisiana, on 29 January 1859,[1] the daughter of Anatole Placide Avegno (3 July 1835 – 7 April 1862) and Marie Virginie de Ternant of Parlange Plantation, a descendant of French nobility. Her grandmother was Virginie de T
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Madame X (Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau)
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John Singer SargentAmerican
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue inGallery 771
Madame Pierre Gautreau (the Louisiana-born Virginie Amélie Avegno; 1859–1915) was known in Paris for her artful appearance. Sargent hoped to enhance his reputation by painting and exhibiting her portrait. Working without a commission but with his sitter’s complicity, he emphasized her daring personal style, showing the right strap of her gown slipping from her shoulder. At the Salon of 1884, the portrait received more ridicule than praise. Sargent repainted the shoulder strap and kept the work for over thirty years. When, eventually, he sold it to the Metropolitan, he commented, “I suppose it is the best thing I have done,” but asked that the Museum disguise the sitter’s name.
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Title:Madame X (Virginie
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