Over the decades, Sargent has remained famous, while Virginie's actual name has fallen into obscurity. Gautreau, however, remained a virtual outcast of society as a consequence of the negative reaction. Sargent fled to England, where his prestige slowly recovered. Yet luster would not be added to either of their reputations, not even after Sargent had re-painted the strap into its proper place. Sargent then was considered a rising star and both he and Virginie expected this portrait to solidify their places among the stars of the Belle Epoque. So decadent was this considered, so blatantly alluding to things sensual, that the portrait caused a scandal. At the moment of its completion, in the portrait of Virginie, her gown had a strap depicted as falling off her shoulder. Oddly, both Sargent and Gautreau were American ex-patriates, and Davis does an excellent job of describing the American colony in Paris at that particular time. Madame X was a renowned beauty in late 19th century Paris named Virginie Gautreau. Here, author Deborah Davis traces the lives of artist John Singer Sargent and the subject of his most famous painting, Madame X. STRAPLESS is an excellent work of scholarship, combining biographies of two unrelated people whose stories always will be entwined in popular theory.
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