Portrait of Madame X, alternatively known as Madame X, is the title of a portrait painting by John Singer Sargent of a young socialite, Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, wife of the French banker Pierre Gautreau. Madame X was painted not as a commission, but at the request of Sargent. It is a study in opposition. Sargent shows a woman posing in a black satin dress with jeweled straps, a dress that reveals and hides at the same time. The portrait is characterized by the pale flesh tone of the subject contrasted against a dark colored dress and background.
The scandal resulting from the painting's controversial reception at the Paris Salon of 1884 amounted to a temporary set-back to Sargent while in France, though it may have helped him later establish a successful career in Britain and America.
Portrait of Madame X provides examples of:
- As Herself: Downplayed. It is said that various unfounded rumors about the model Gautreau's sexual exploits were what led to Sargent wanting to create the portrait, the titular "Madame X" herself being a character that was confident in her sexuality. Just the fact that the portrait represented a character and not the model was considered a very modern idea.
- Color Contrast: She is portrayed as incredibly pale, made even more so with her reddish-brown hair and stunning black décolleté dress. While this makes her look like an Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette to 21st-century eyes, her extremely light skin was attractive to her contemporaries — particularly Sargent himself.
- Contrapposto Pose: While her dress makes it a bit hard to tell, the positioning of her shoulders and the fact that she's Leaning on the Furniture clue that she's shifting her body weight on her right leg.
- Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: Sargent was careful to make sure we can see the glint of her wedding ring. She also has a small hair ornament, and her gown has jeweled straps.
- Let X Be the Unknown: It was originally titled Portrait de Mme ***, but Sargent changed the name because he thought 'X' sounded cooler and made it seem more like the portrait of an archetypical character instead of a specific individual.
- Madonna-Whore Complex: The controvery of the portrait comes from the amount of sexual openness exhibited by a woman who is already married (she is Madame X, after all).
- Of Corsets Sexy: Either a corset or fairly significant boning in the bodice of the dress has given Madame a tiny waist, which of course accents her broad chest and hips.
- Protagonist Title: The painting is named after a character, Madame X, inspired by the model's lifestyle.
- Proud Beauty: Madame X is portrayed as a confident, sexually active woman in a flattering dress, the kind of person Gautreau was only rumored to be. Her pose is one that proudly displays her beauty.
- Re-Cut: She was originally depicted with the right strap of her dress slipping down her shoulder, but this was considered too much, and Sargent repainted that detail.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Beautiful!: The glint of a wedding ring on her hand, combined with this suggestion of sexual independence, was what made this painting so scandalous at the time; this is a married woman, but not a respectable married woman. Better yet, neither she nor her lovers care.
- The X of Y: The title is fashioned this way.
