Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau
Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau was an American-born Parisian socialite, who gained notoriety as the subject of John Singer Sargent's painting Portrait of Madame X. The suggestion of indiscreet posing in a revealing costume provoked a storm of outrage.
Avegno, ca. 1878
Antonio de La Gándara, Madame Pierre Gautreau, 1898
John Singer Sargent, Portrait of Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau), 1884, oil on canvas, 234.95 x 109.86 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art
John Singer Sargent was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings. His oeuvre documents worldwide travel, from Venice to the Tyrol, Corfu, Spain, the Middle East, Montana, Maine, and Florida.
Portrait by James E. Purdy, 1903
The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, 1882, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Fanny Watts, Sargent's childhood friend. The first painting at Paris Salon, 1877, Philadelphia Museum of Art
An Out-of-Doors Study, 1889, depicting Paul César Helleu sketching with his wife Alice Guérin. The Brooklyn Museum, New York
