Madame X (Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau)1883–84
Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, an American-born beauty married to a French banker, stands in profile in a sleek black satin gown, one hand resting on a table, her skin powdered to a pale lavender. More about this work
About this work
Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, an American-born beauty married to a French banker, stands in profile in a sleek black satin gown, one hand resting on a table, her skin powdered to a pale lavender. Sargent, then an ambitious young portraitist in Paris, painted her, and when the portrait was shown at the Salon of 1884 it caused a scandal: one jewelled strap had originally slipped from her shoulder, and the pose was thought brazen. Sargent repainted the strap, but the episode hastened his move to London. He kept it for more than thirty years before selling it to the Met in 1916, calling it the best thing he had done.
Written by Ochre Editions.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
John Singer Sargent
American, 1856–1925 · Born in Florence; died in London.
Sargent was born in Florence to American parents and grew up travelling across Europe. He trained in Paris under Carolus-Duran, and the scandal over his portrait Madame X at the 1884 Salon prompted his move to London, where he became the most sought-after society portraitist on both sides of the Atlantic. Around 1907 he largely gave up portrait commissions for watercolours made on his travels and for the murals he painted for the Boston Public Library and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Met has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 16.53
- Credit
- Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- The American Wing
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
