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John Singer Sargent American
Not on view
Madame Pierre Gautreau (the Louisiana-born Virginie Amélie Avegno; 1859–1915) was known in Paris for her artful appearance. Sargent hoped to enhance his reputation by painting and exhibiting her portrait. Working without a commission but with his sitter’s complicity, he emphasized her daring personal style, showing the right strap of her gown slipping from her shoulder. At the Salon of 1884, the portrait received more ridicule than praise. Sargent repainted the shoulder strap and kept the work for over thirty years. When, eventually, he sold it to the Metropolitan, he commented, “I suppose it is the best thing I have done,” but asked that the Museum disguise the sitter’s name.
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Artwork Details
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Title: Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau)
Artist: John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
Date: 1883–84
Culture: American
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 82 1/8 x 43 1/4in. (208.6 x 109.9cm)
Framed: 95 3/4 x 56 5/8 x 5 in. (243.2 x 143.8 x 12.7 cm)
Credit Line: Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1916
Accession Number: 16.53
Learn more about this artwork
Art, Haircuts, and Community
Hear from barber Joshua Livingston about the power of community spaces to support connection and well-being, whether when visiting an art museum or getting a haircut.
From the Archives: How Madame X Came to the Met
In honor of the one hundredth anniversary of the Met's acquisition of Madame X, Assistant Research Curator Stephanie L. Herdrich revisits the correspondence between John Singer Sargent and then-Director Ned Robinson.
All American: Summer of Sargent and Bingham
Nora Gorman, College Group at the Met Committee Member, recounts the College Group at the Met's event All American: Summer of Sargent and Bingham.
Paintings Uncovered
Former MediaLab Intern Betty Quinn describes an interactive interface she created that allows users to explore the hidden layers found beneath a painting's surface.
The Civilians Explore The American Wing in The Way They Live
Micharne Cloughley, writer in residence of The Civilians, outlines the process of creating the final work of the investigate theater troupe's yearlong residency, The Way They Live.
The Artist Project: Kehinde Wiley
Artist Kehinde Wiley reflects on the paintings of John Singer Sargent in this episode of The Artist Project.
Connections: The Nose
Creative producer Masha Turchinsky on prominent noses in The Met collection.
Connections: Virtuosity
Paintings conservator Michael Gallagher talks about the appeal of technical virtuosity.
Investigation of Heavy-Metal Soap Deterioration in Oil Paintings
A major goal of this project is to determine the causes and mechanisms of a degradation process in traditional oil paintings known as soap formation.
Revealing Madame X
Researchers at The Met describe methods used to uncover the artist John Singer Sargent’s creative process.
Timeline of Art History
Essay
America Comes of Age: 1876-1900
Essay
Americans in Paris, 1860-1900
Essay
John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)
Chronology
The United States and Canada, 1800-1900 A.D.
Museum Publications
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Publications 2020
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterpiece Paintings
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 9, The United States of America
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Spanish)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Russian)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Portuguese)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Korean)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Japanese)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Italian)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (German)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (French)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Chinese)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Arabic)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide
The Artist Project
The American Wing: A Guide
The American Wing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
One Met. Many Worlds.
Nineteenth-Century America: Paintings and Sculpture
Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Masterpieces of Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Masterpieces of American Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting
Making The Met, 1870–2020
Guide to The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Dance: A Very Social History
Bare Witness
Art = Discovering Infinite Connections in Art History
American Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 3, A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born between 1846 and 1864
American Drawings and Watercolors in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: John Singer Sargent
A Walk Through The American Wing
"Scientific Research in The Metropolitan Museum of Art"
"John Singer Sargent in The Metropolitan Museum of Art"
"A Technical Study of John Singer Sargent's Portrait of Madame Pierre Gautreau"
Related Artworks
- All Related Artworks
- By John Singer Sargent
- The American Wing
- Canvas
- Oil
- Paintings
- From New York
- From New York City
- From North and Central America
- From United States
- From A.D. 1800–1900
Painting, Study for "Architecture, Painting and Sculpture Proctected from Raverages of Time by Athena"
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
1916–21
Drapery Studies
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
ca. 1916–21
Drapery Studies for "Church"
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
ca. 1916–19
Hands, Study for "Apollo in His Chariot with the Hours"
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
1921–25
Study for "The Danaïdes"
John Singer Sargent (American, Florence 1856–1925 London)
1921–25
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The American Wing at The Met
The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works by African American, Euro American, Native American, and Latin American artists, ranging from the colonial to early-modern period.
