John Singer Sargent: Madame X

   

Although he was not born America (he was born in Florence, Italy and is considered an American artist via his parents), John Singer Sargent is considered a major contributor to nineteenth century American art. His early childhood was spent traveling throughout Europe with his family until he began studying the art of portraiture under Carolus- Duran, in Paris, France. Sargent painted landscape and portrait however he was most well known for the latter. Indeed, Sargent is known for painting portraits of the wealthy elite and high ranking professional, making him one of the first professional portraitist.   

Madame X is considered one of his most famous most infamous portraits of its time. The portrait features Madame X in a long and tightly fitted black evening gown. Madame X's updo allows the viewer to see her long porcelain colored neck and her upward pointed nose, characteristics of a confident profile. The woman's back story reveals that her real name was Virginie Amelie Avegno Gautrea, an American. Sources say she came from a wealthy plantation in Louisiana, but that after her father died in the Battle of Shiloh (confederate side) she and her widowed mother moved to Paris when she was only 8. As she grew up, Virginie became known as one of the most beautiful women in Paris and married the wealthy French banker, Pierre Gautreau. 

After meeting Virginie at a social gathering Sargent 
became obsessed with painting her, and after two years his proposal was accepted. Currently the portrait of Madame X is highly revered however when the portrait first opened in salons it was considered vulgar and was received with negative feedback. The negative feedback greatly effected the reputation of Virginie & Pierre Gautreau and resulted in major social implications. In order to regain some respect, Sargent changed several attributes of the painting; for instance, one of Virginie's straps in the original painting was depicted in an of the shoulder position, which he altered later to fit securely on her shoulders. In addition, Sargent renamed the painting "Virginie Amelie Avegno Gautrea" to "Madame X." Though few sources support the following explanation, there is a theory that the french society rejected the painting because of the animosity they felt towards Americans such as Virginie and Sargent. Regardless, debate over the painting's scandal does not eclipse the beauty and mysterious depicted in Sargent's portrayal of Madame X.    

Resources
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCSx3zw0eGY
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/s/john_singer_sargent/index.html
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/05/22/the-scandal-of-madame-x-excerpt-from-david-mcculloughs-the-greater-journey.html