John Singer Sargent, Madame X, 1884

John Singer Sargent was an American painter who loved his country but spent most of his life in Europe. Despite his American roots, early in his career he was was mainly active in French. Being the intense hard worker that he was, he focused mainly on portraits and landscapes. He was recognized as the “darling” of Paris until the scandal over the Madame X painting arose.

Madame X was a painting that was going to greatly impact and boost his fame as an artist and help his career. The subject was a Paris beauty named Madame Gautreau. Gautreau was renowned in social circles in Paris for her beauty. She had such tremendous beauty that most artist considered her to be apart of an “elite class” of women. She defined the new type of Frenchwoman, one who was defined by her sophistication.