Madame X (Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau)

Sargent painted Virginie Gautreau without a commission, hoping to advance his reputation. Following criticism at the Salon of 1884, he repainted a fallen shoulder strap. He kept the canvas for more than thirty years. Public portraiture carried risk for painter and sitter alike.

The pale face turns in profile. A strong contour separates the sitter’s carefully presented appearance from the neutral background.

Narrow straps hold the black bodice. Sargent repainted one after the exhibition, raising it onto the shoulder.

A hand touches the table edge on the left. The displaced support accentuates the torso’s turn and the pose’s unusual tension.

A small table has a curved ornamental leg. Furniture supports the pose while remaining secondary to the figure.

The long black skirt descends to the floor. Its broad dark surface makes pale skin and shoulders particularly prominent.

After the Salon, Sargent altered the painting, and we see the revised version today. Its long stay with the artist also belongs to the history of a portrait intended for public success.