The pose proved to be different from any of those tried in the preliminary works. Sargent complained of "the unpaintable beauty and hopeless laziness of Madame Gautreau." Execution Īs in his previous entries to the Salon, The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit and El Jaleo, Sargent chose a canvas of dimensions large enough to ensure notice on the crowded Salon walls.
Colored pencil portraits full#
Just as she had been in Paris, in the country Gautreau was bored by the process of sitting here, too, there were social engagements, as well as the responsibilities of tending to her four-year-old daughter, her mother, house guests, and a full domestic staff. Like the eventual portrait, an oil sketch entitled Madame Gautreau Drinking a Toast ( Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum), shows the subject's profile and bare arms against a dark background, but is of a more freely brushed and informal character. About thirty drawings resulted from these sessions, in which many poses were attempted.
Colored pencil portraits series#
At her suggestion, Sargent traveled to her estate in Brittany in June, where he commenced a series of preparatory works in pencil, watercolors, and oils. Little progress was made during the winter of 1883, as Gautreau was distracted by social engagements, and was not by nature inclined to the discipline of sitting for a portrait. Studies Ī figure study by Sargent in watercolor and graphite, c. Sargent was an expatriate like Gautreau, and their collaboration has been interpreted as motivated by a shared desire to attain high status in French society. If you are 'bien avec elle' and will see her in Paris, you might tell her I am a man of prodigious talent." Īlthough she had refused numerous similar requests from artists, Gautreau accepted Sargent's offer in February 1883.
"I have a great desire to paint her portrait and have reason to think she would allow it and is waiting for someone to propose this homage to her beauty. Her unconventional beauty made her an object of fascination for artists the American painter Edward Simmons claimed that he "could not stop stalking her as one does a deer." Sargent was also impressed, and anticipated that a portrait of Gautreau would garner much attention at the upcoming Paris Salon, and increase interest in portrait commissions. The English-language term "professional beauty" was used to refer to her and to a woman in general who uses personal skills to advance herself socially. She wore lavender powder and prided herself on her appearance. The model was an American expatriate who married a French banker, and became notorious in Parisian high society for her beauty and rumored infidelities. The scandal resulting from the painting's controversial reception at the Paris Salon of 1884 amounted to a temporary set-back to Sargent while in France, though it may have helped him later establish a successful career in Britain and America. The portrait is characterized by the pale flesh tone of the subject contrasted against a dark colored dress and background. Sargent shows a woman posing in a black satin dress with jeweled straps, a dress that reveals and hides at the same time. Madame X was painted not as a commission, but at the request of Sargent. Madame X or Portrait of Madame X is the title of a portrait painting by John Singer Sargent of a young socialite, Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, wife of the French banker Pierre Gautreau.