{"id":892,"date":"2015-10-15T23:36:02","date_gmt":"2015-10-15T23:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/zelixart102\/?post_type=chapter&p=892"},"modified":"2016-02-22T20:35:33","modified_gmt":"2016-02-22T20:35:33","slug":"john-singer-sargent-madame-x","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-herkimer-arthistory2\/chapter\/john-singer-sargent-madame-x\/","title":{"raw":"John Singer Sargent, Madame X","rendered":"John Singer Sargent, Madame X"},"content":{"raw":"

A Controversial Beauty<\/h2>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_893\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"300\"]\"A Figure 1. Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau)<\/em>, 1883\u20131884, oil on canvas (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)[\/caption]\r\n\r\nMadame X <\/i>is perhaps Sargent\u2019s most infamous painting. When it debuted at the Paris Salon of 1884, critics lashed out at the artist for what they deemed a scandalous, immoral image. While the title omitted the sitter\u2019s name, the public immediately recognized her as the notorious Parisian beauty Virginie Gautreau. The gown\u2019s plunging neckline was considered too provocative for the times, and its right strap\u2014which originally was shown to have slipped off the shoulder\u2014ultimately led to Sargent repainting it in its proper position to appease outraged viewers and Gautreau\u2019s own family.\r\n\r\nMadame X <\/i>mixes the Gilded Age penchant for portraying status and wealth in portraiture with a daring seductive aesthetic. For all that it shocked onlookers, however, much of its details were based in older classical traditions: Madame Gautreau\u2019s hairstyle is based on one of ancient Greece, and she wears a diamond crescent that is the symbol of the huntress Diana.\r\n\r\nJohn Singer Sargent intended the portrait to establish his reputation, and despite the notoriety it attracted, the work did succeed: Madame X<\/i> advertized his ability to paint his sitters in the most flattering and fashionable manner possible, and led to a healthy career in Britain and great esteem in America from the late 1880s onward. Though he was born oversees, traveled worldwide, and spent much of his life abroad, Sargent\u2019s career truly matured in his family\u2019s native land, and he always considered himself an American artist. He toiled for nearly three decades on a mural commission for the Boston Public Library, he frequently painted fellow American expatriates, and in 1906 he was appointed full academician of the National Academy of Design in New York. In 1916 the Metropolitan Museum of Art bought Madame X, which Sargent considered \u201cthe best thing I have done.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe painting\u2014which debuted to severe disparagement but is today treasured as a masterpiece beloved in the history of Western art\u2014is but one example of an artwork that gradually evolved from epitomizing the condemned to the celebrated. Much of a work\u2019s initial reception is based upon society\u2019s tastes, standards of etiquette, and values of the era, and as these attitudes shift over the decades, the public may begin to look at older paintings with new eyes. Sargent\u2019s\u00a0Madame X<\/i> is perhaps a more dramatic example of this trend, yet it poses intriguing questions about what really defines an artwork\u2019s popularity, legacy, and fame.\r\n
\r\n

External Link<\/h3>\r\nView this painting up close in the Google Art Project.<\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"

A Controversial Beauty<\/h2>\n
\"A<\/p>\n

Figure 1. Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau)<\/em>, 1883\u20131884, oil on canvas (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Madame X <\/i>is perhaps Sargent\u2019s most infamous painting. When it debuted at the Paris Salon of 1884, critics lashed out at the artist for what they deemed a scandalous, immoral image. While the title omitted the sitter\u2019s name, the public immediately recognized her as the notorious Parisian beauty Virginie Gautreau. The gown\u2019s plunging neckline was considered too provocative for the times, and its right strap\u2014which originally was shown to have slipped off the shoulder\u2014ultimately led to Sargent repainting it in its proper position to appease outraged viewers and Gautreau\u2019s own family.<\/p>\n

Madame X <\/i>mixes the Gilded Age penchant for portraying status and wealth in portraiture with a daring seductive aesthetic. For all that it shocked onlookers, however, much of its details were based in older classical traditions: Madame Gautreau\u2019s hairstyle is based on one of ancient Greece, and she wears a diamond crescent that is the symbol of the huntress Diana.<\/p>\n

John Singer Sargent intended the portrait to establish his reputation, and despite the notoriety it attracted, the work did succeed: Madame X<\/i> advertized his ability to paint his sitters in the most flattering and fashionable manner possible, and led to a healthy career in Britain and great esteem in America from the late 1880s onward. Though he was born oversees, traveled worldwide, and spent much of his life abroad, Sargent\u2019s career truly matured in his family\u2019s native land, and he always considered himself an American artist. He toiled for nearly three decades on a mural commission for the Boston Public Library, he frequently painted fellow American expatriates, and in 1906 he was appointed full academician of the National Academy of Design in New York. In 1916 the Metropolitan Museum of Art bought Madame X, which Sargent considered \u201cthe best thing I have done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The painting\u2014which debuted to severe disparagement but is today treasured as a masterpiece beloved in the history of Western art\u2014is but one example of an artwork that gradually evolved from epitomizing the condemned to the celebrated. Much of a work\u2019s initial reception is based upon society\u2019s tastes, standards of etiquette, and values of the era, and as these attitudes shift over the decades, the public may begin to look at older paintings with new eyes. Sargent\u2019s\u00a0Madame X<\/i> is perhaps a more dramatic example of this trend, yet it poses intriguing questions about what really defines an artwork\u2019s popularity, legacy, and fame.<\/p>\n

\n

External Link<\/h3>\n

View this painting up close in the Google Art Project.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t

Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div>