Art Collage JANG: Interesting Art Stories: 54. Portrait of Madame X, John Singer Sargent, ACJ Art Academy

How are you?

Currently, I am introducing the stories about various artists and their paintings with the title “Interesting Art Stories”.

The 54th story is “Portrait of Madame X” by John Singer Sargent.

“Portrait of Madame X” is the title of a portrait painting by John Singer Sargent, depicting Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, a young socialite and wife of the French banker Pierre Gautreau. The painting depicts Madame Gautreau posing in a black dress with jeweled straps, featuring the pale skin tone of the model against a black dress and background.

Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau (c. 1878)

The model for this painting, Madame Gautreau, was an American expatriate, and her unique beauty has attracted many artists. Sargent was also impressed with her and actively asked her to be his model, anticipating that her portrait would garner a lot of attention at the upcoming Paris Salon.

Self-portrait, John Singer Sargent (1906)

Although she turned down numerous similar requests from many artists at the time, she accepted Sargent's offer. However, little progress was made in painting after she accepted his model request because she was so busy with many social activities that she could not pay much attention for the model. At her suggestion, Sargent began drawing a series of preparatory works for this painting at her estate in Brittany, resulting in about thirty drawings.

Madame Gautreau, A figure study by Sargent
in watercolor and graphite (c. 1883)

Another painting by Sargent depicting Gautreau, "Madame Gautreau Drinking a Toast," also shows her profile against a dark background, but is more freely brushed and informal than this painting.

Madame Gautreau Drinking a Toast, John Singer Sargent
(c. 1882–83)

As in his previous works exhibited at the Salon, “The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit” and “El Jaleo,” Sargent selected a large-sized canvas to make his painting stand out among the many paintings exhibited at the Salon.

The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, John
Singer Sargent (1882)

El Jaleo, John Singer Sargent (1882)

In this painting, Gautreau is standing with her head turned and her right arm extended behind her and her hand on a low table. While this painting was in progress, Gautreau showed a passion for this paintings, and she believed that Sargent was painting a masterpiece.

Sargent in his Paris studio (c. 1885)

However, when the painting first appeared at the Paris Salon in 1884, people were shocked and scandalized. The poor public and critical reception was a disappointment to both Sargent and his model, Gautreau. Gautreau was humiliated by the incident, and Sargent soon left Paris and moved permanently to London.

Since 1905, Sargent exhibited this painting in many international exhibitions and sold it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1916. An unfinished version of the same pose is in the Tate, London.

Study of Madame Gautreau, John Singer
Sargent, Tate, London, UK (1884)

Seven years after Sargent painted Gautreau, Gustave-Claude-Etienne Courtois also painted her. Like Sargent's portrait, Courtois' portrait shows her face in profile, but his portrait was well received by the public.