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Weekly Art History Lesson!
I'm going to try something new here, and begin posting a new art history lesson each week, just because I'm an art history major, and that's something fun I can enjoy... Hopefully you guys will get something out of it too!




John Singer Sargent's Portrait of Madame X, 1884.

You are now viewing one controversial painting! Rumored to be of American ex-pat Virginie Gautreau, who lived in Paris, this painting was a big shock when exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1884, partially for it's subject matter (and the decolletage of the subject matter!). The original painting had one strap of the gown falling over the subject's shoulder, leading to scandal (and the request for the painting to be removed from exhibition by Virginie's mother). Later, Sargent "fixed" the strap (as we see it today), and x-ray analysis of the painting has been able to uncover it's original position. Unfortunately, even this did not help Sargent, and he ended up not receiving the success and acclaim he had hoped for with this large portrait - a long-term career in Paris was always out of his grasp, and eventually the American painter left for London and other parts of the globe seeking success.

The Portrait of Madame X we see here was eventually sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York by Sargent, though an unfinished duplicate painting of the same pose (with fallen shoulder strap on the gown) is in the Tate Gallery in London as well. When writing to the director of the Metropolitan Museum, Sargent said: "I suppose it is the best thing I have ever done."

This painting is now revered as one of the most famous John Singer Sargent pieces ever made, and is a personal favorite of mine. You can learn more about the Portrait of Madame X here, and more about the painter, John Singer Sargent, here.