Home / Artworks / Madame X (Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau)
Madame X (Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau)
John Singer Sargent, 1883–84
John Singer Sargent, an American painter working in Paris, painted Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau in 1883 and 1884. She was a well known figure in Parisian society and the wife of a French banker. According to the accounts of the time, Sargent was the one who wanted to paint her, not the other way round.
She stands in profile, in a black satin gown with jewelled straps, against a dark background. Her skin is very pale, and the contrast between the pale neck and shoulders and the dark dress is the heart of the picture. The Salon audience of 1884 reacted badly, finding it too daring. In the version shown at the Salon, one strap had slipped off her shoulder. Sargent later repainted it so that it sits in its proper place, which is how we see it now.
The reaction hurt his career in France for a while. He later moved to London and became one of the most sought after portrait painters in Britain and America. He kept this painting in his studio until the Metropolitan Museum bought it in 1916, and he thought of it as among his best.
From the museum record
| Artist | John Singer Sargent |
|---|---|
| Date | 1883–84 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Size | 82 1/8 × 43 1/4 in. (208.6 × 109.9 cm) |
| Museum | The Metropolitan Museum of Art |
| Credit line | Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1916 |
| Accession number | 16.53 |
| Licence | Open Access (CC0) |
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art collection record. Facts such as dates, sizes and credit lines come from that record. The write-up above was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the museum record and standard references. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
