Madame X speaks.(Cover Story)

John Singer Sargent's most famous portrait, Madame X (Madame Gautreau) (Pl. I), was painted in France in 1883 and 1884 and hung in the artist's London studio for more than thirty years before it was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This larger than life-sized portrait of a nineteenth-century woman--so stark and photographic--has become an icon for our modernist sense of unimpeachable glamour and style. Described by one Sargent scholar as "the face that launched a thousand loan request," (1) Madame X's familiar profile has graced countless magazine and book covers.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Ironically, the painting we see today is not the Madame X Sargent initially created and presented at the Paris Salon in 1884. His original version daringly depicted his model with one of her jeweled shoulder straps falling seductively, so that her dress appeared almost strapless (Fig. 2). The sight of this bare shoulder ignited a scandal that electrified Paris, prompting Sargent to repaint the portrait, placing the errant strap where it belonged.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Today, Madame X presents a sphinx-like figure--beautiful, imperious, and impenetrable. The scandal the painting caused in the 1880s has been obscured by time, much like the woman who posed for it. It came as a surprise, therefore, to discover a lively and informative letter written by Madame X herself that unlocks many of the mysteries surrounding her. (2) In the letter she expresses her opinion of Sargent's work, contradicting the widely held belief that she despised the portrait. Furthermore, this new knowledge opens the door to reconsideration of the motives behind the vehement critics and detractors who effectively caused both artist and sister to dramatically alter their lives.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The letter also established her full name. Commonly known as Virginie Avegno Gautreau she was, in fact, Virginie Amelie Avegno Gautreau, and she preferred to use Amelie to distinguish herself from her mother and her grandmother, both also Virginie. Amelie is how she signed her marriage contract and her correspondence. (3)