Behind the Art: ‘Madame X’ by John Singer Sargent – The ‘scandalous’ painting that shook Paris in 1884

In 2022, it is hard to see why John Singer Sargent’s 1883–84 painting ‘Portrait of Madame X’ scandalised Paris. This painting of a young socialite called Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, wife of the French banker Pierre Gautreau is now worth at least $106,000.00. Sargent shows Virginie posing in a black satin dress with jewelled straps, a dress that reveals and hides at the same time. It caused such a stir that Sargent was forced to…