Madam X
"I have a great desire to paint her portrait and have reason to think she would allow it and is waiting for someone to propose this homage to her beauty." Singer Sargent.
I recently visited the Tate Britain exhibition Sargent & Fashion, a wonderful collection of John Singer Sargent’s portraits. I love portraits, but I find it sad that there are rarely any details about the person in the portrait, beyond their name.
As a regular reader, you know I love people’s stories, and feel passionately that we should all tell our stories. We need to leave our memoirs for future generations, and for social historians to read, so they understand our lives.
The Sargent exhibition had many portraits of women in beautiful, billowing dresses, made of sumptuous fabrics.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0cc3c25-20df-412b-a534-03e8a2d82cf7_4096x3427.jpeg)
The woman in repose is Sargent's niece, Rose–Marie Ormond (daughter of his sister Violet). Sargent was very fond of Rose-Marie, describing her as “the most charming girl that ever lived”. She modelled for many of his paintings. Rose-Marie married in 1913. The next year World War One broke out. Her husband Robert became a soldier and was killed in action in October 1914. Rose-Marie became a nurse at a hospital for the blind and worked throughout the war. In 1918, just before the Good Friday services at a church in Paris, a German bombardment destroyed the church killing 92 people, including Rose-Marie. She was 24 years old. Her death made a deep impression on Sargent and may have contributed to his decision to become a war artist.
In another room of the Sargent exhibition there were portraits of wealthy, powerful men, all looked very self-assured. I particularly loved Lord Ribblesdale’s portrait, who was renowned for his style, charm and good looks. He always wore a top hat when riding, which he considered the “best [outfit] for riding of all kinds, which includes falling off”. Lord Ribblesdale (1854 to1925) was a Liberal politician, and a lord-in-waiting to Queen Victoria. He married twice and had five children. Both his sons pre-deceased him - one was killed in the Boer War and the other in World War One. Therefore, when Ribblesdale died the barony became extinct.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb6fe9080-a3ef-4594-83bd-d09c4923573b_800x1463.jpeg)
Then there is the painting of Madame X. Sargent sought out the commission to paint Virginie Gautreau. In his humble way, he wrote to a friend to intercede on his behalf:
“I have a great desire to paint her portrait and have reason to think she would allow it and is waiting for someone to propose this homage to her beauty. ...you might tell her that I am a man of prodigious talent”.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F51f25d84-1983-4c07-a796-78655ce54ec1_556x1080.jpeg)
It worked. Virginie agreed to pose, and her husband agreed to pay for the painting. Sargent completed the painting and displayed it at an exhibition in Paris in 1884. The painting caused a scandal. Yet it seems so innocuous, and no different from many other paintings at the time. What is the story behind the scandal?
Virginie was American. At age 19 she married Pierre, who was 40. He was a banker and shipping merchant. They had one child. It was well known in Paris that Virginie had many affairs, but that was acceptable to the High Society she associated with, providing her affairs were discreet. Her portrait, showing her pale skin, red lips, and in a dress with a deep cleavage with a fallen strap1, seemed to flaunt her sexuality. This was inappropriate for a married woman (her wedding ring is painted) and suggests she was a ‘loose woman’2. It was not the public persona expected by Parisian High Society. The fallout was considerable.
Pierre Gautreau refused to pay for the painting. Presumably, it also had an impact on his marriage with Virginie, and they seem to have separated.
Virginie and her mother pleaded with Sargent to remove the painting from the exhibition. He refused. His only concession was that he changed the title to ‘Madame X’, as an ineffectual attempt to hide the subject’s identity. Virginie’s mother had a nervous breakdown.
Sargent found his reputation in France was badly affected by the scandal. He repainted the strap in the ‘correct’ position (as seen here), but it made no difference. Sargent had to move to London to find more appreciative patrons.
I don’t know if Sargent regretted the pose of Virginie in the Madame X painting, but he later said the painting was "the best thing I have done." He kept the painting until 1916, when he gave it to the Metropolitan Museum, USA, with one stipulation.
"By the way, I should prefer, on account of the row I had with the lady years ago, that the picture should not be called by her name."
Which is why the painting is still called Madam X, even though we know the name of the model. Virginie never recovered her reputation, and she retreated from Parisian Society. She died in Cannes in 1915, aged 56. In a letter written at the time of the scandal, Virginie wrote:
“I will try to get over the sadness which for several days has overwhelmed me, and which makes me depressed enough to die.”
If you want to know more about four of the ladies Singer Sargent painted, I recommend Sargent's Women: Four Lives Behind the Canvas by Donna M. Lucey. The author says that she was only able to write the stories of these women because they had left so many letters and diaries. So, start saving your emails and texts!
I would very much appreciate your feedback about subjects you would like me to write about as we go forward.
If you chose ‘other’ please let me know what other subjects you would like me to cover.
Do you have a photo that has an interesting story behind it, that you would not guess from looking at the photo?
Please, find the photo, add it to your notes and tell the story. It does not have to be scandalous!
This painting of Madame X was repainted with the strap in place.
A ‘loose woman’ means a sexually promiscuous woman.
I've recently seen the Singer Sargent & fashion exhibition at Tate Britain, and I thought it was wonderful. I really enjoyed your extra context, Kate. Did you also see "Now You See Us?" I thought it was superb.
I always enjoy the story behind the story. Well done.