Sargent admired the unusual beauty of American socialite Virginie Avegno Gautreau and convinced her to pose for a portrait—a calculated bid for celebrity that implicated both artist and sitter. Sargent captured Gautreau’s distinctive self-fashioning in the iconic portrait now known as Madame X, which famously caused an uproar when it was first exhibited in Paris in 1884. Nearly 140 years later the portrait continues to captivate. Look closely at the relationship between Sargent and Gautreau while considering the social and artistic milieu that fueled the notorious scandal and its impact on the artist’s career and sitter’s reputation.
Stephanie Herdrich, associate curator of American Painting and Sculpture, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Wednesday, November 29, 2023