Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X

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Description

The subject of John Singer Sargent’s most famous painting used to be twenty-three-year-old New Orleans Creole Virginie Gautreau, who moved to Paris and quickly changed into the “it girl” of her day. A relative unknown on the time, Sargent won the commission to color her; the two will have to have recognized in every other a like-minded hunger for fame.

Unveiled on the 1884 Paris Salon, Gautreau’s portrait generated the attention she craved-nevertheless it led to infamy quite than stardom. Sargent had painted one strap of Gautreau’s dress dangling from her shoulder, suggesting either the prelude to or the aftermath of sex. Her reputation irreparably damaged, Gautreau retired from public life, destroying the entire mirrors in her home.

Drawing on documents from private collections and other prior to now unexamined materials, and featuring a cast of characters including Oscar Wilde and Richard Wagner, Strapless is a tale of art and celebrity, obsession and betrayal.

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