Madame X
John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) · 1883–1884
%2C%20John%20Singer%20Sargent%2C%201884.jpg?width=1200)
%2C%20John%20Singer%20Sargent%2C%201884.jpg){kind=link}
The professional beauty Virginie Gautreau stands in profile, lavender-pale against black satin, one hand braced on a table — elegance sharpened to a blade.
Why it matters
The portrait that scandalized the 1884 Salon (one strap originally slipped from her shoulder) and cost Sargent his Paris career — then became his masterpiece.
What to notice
He repainted the fallen strap onto her shoulder, but kept the canvas thirty years and sold it calling it 'the best thing I have done.'
Context
Painted in pursuit of fame through a sitter as notorious as himself; both got more notoriety than they bargained for.
About the artist
John Singer Sargent (1856–1925). The transatlantic virtuoso of the Edwardian portrait — 'a painting is a portrait with something wrong about the mouth,' he sighed — whose bravura brush hid relentless craft.
Toward Modern Art (c. 1890–1935): At the century's turn, painting's last conventions came loose. Sargent and Sorolla brought virtuoso light to the salon; Kollwitz turned printmaking into conscience; Modigliani, Matisse and Kandinsky let line and color leave description behind — until painting needed no subject at all.
Walk the Grand Gallery → See this painting hung in its wing, with music and guided tours, in the full virtual museum.