Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X

I loved this book! It was fascinating to learn about both the background of the portrait and sitter along with the painting's reception. Hard to imagine exhibiting a painting and being faced with reviews that described it as "hideous" and "nauseating" and calling her skin tones "Corpse-ish" and "moldy". Besides reading about the scandal associated with Madame X, the book is packed with lots of interesting tidbits about life and society during Sargent's lifetime. For instance Sargent's portrait of Dr. Pozzi was the inspiration for Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray". And again poor Dr. Pozzi was the source for the character of the "pompous physician" in Proust's "Remembrance of Things Past". This was a fun read.

I enjoyed this carefully researched history of Mme. Gautreau and John Singer Sargent, who painted her portrait. The author filled out their lives to let us see who they were, how they came together, what the relationship meant to each of them and then, how the scandal over the painting rocked them on their heels. The only criticism I have is that the ending, after the two leading figures died, seemed almost tacked on: a quick summation of where other paintings of Sargent's are located, brief outcomes of other persons, random bits of information as if she could not bear to leave any notecards in her pile of research. Still, most of it has vivid writing that evokes the 1880s in Paris, when art was everything!

A very fun, easy read: biography-lite.
I learned a lot of juicy, interesting details about the escapades of the extremely wealthy and privileged upper class in late 19th century France.

While this book focuses on John Singer Sargent's famous painting of Virginie Amelie Gautreau, its creation and the reaction to it, it also tells much of his and his model's life history and the world of art in the late 19th century. Thoroughly enjoyable.

The story of an artist and one of his most famous subjects. Their stories are individually documented here and how they came to meet and affect each others' future/fate through one painting. I had seen this paining on loan several years ago and had no idea of the impact it had at the time it was presented at the 1884 Salon. The author offers a tour of Belle Epoque Paris along the way.

Fun and easy to read, and I enjoyed learning more about Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, who sat for John Singer Sargent's "Portrait of Madame X."



I also enjoyed learning more about John Singer Sargent and his art, and I appreciated how the book did not limit itself to discussing "Portrait of Madame X" but put it into the broader context of Sargent's artwork. However, I would recommend reading this with an illustrated list of Sargent's works - the book does include some pictures but of course could not include pictures of every work discussed.

This book's casual tone and brisk pace belie the serious scholarship it's so clearly been based on. This would be an excellent gift for anyone interested in recent art history, 1880s Paris, or just a light, informative non-fiction read.