Her reputation irreparably damaged, Gautreau retired from public life, destroying all the mirrors in her home so she would never have to look at herself again. Sargent had painted one strap of Gautreau's dress dangling from her shoulder, suggesting, to outraged Parisian viewers, either the prelude or the aftermath of sex. Unveiled at the 1884 Paris Salon, Gautreau's portrait did generate the attention she craved-but it led to infamy rather than stardom. Gautreau and Sargent must have recognized in each other a like-minded hunger for fame. All the leading artists wanted to paint her, but it was Sargent, a relative nobody, who won the commission. "Madame X" was actually a twenty-three-year-old New Orleans Creole, Virginie Gautreau, who moved to Paris and quickly became the "it girl" of her day. She's even been immortalized as a Madame Alexander doll.įew people, though, know the fascinating story behind the painting. The image of "Madame X" decorates book and magazine covers, greeting cards and screen savers. As the Metropolitan's most frequently requested painting for loans, it travels to museums around the globe. John Singer Sargent's Madame X is one of the world's best-known portraits. The story behind the legendary John Singer Sargent painting that propelled the artist to international renown but condemned his subject to a life of public ridicule.
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