A Technical Study of John Singer Sargent's Portrait of Madame Pierre Gautreau DOROTHY MAHON Conservator, Sherman Fairchild Paintings Conservation Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art SILVIA CENTENO Associate Research Scientist, Department of Scientific Research, The Metropolitan Museum of Art I SUPPOSE IT IS THE BEST THING I HAVE DONE," John Singer Sargent wrote in 1916 to his longtime friend Edward Robinson, director of the Metro politan Museum, offering to sell his portrait of Madame Pierre Gautreau (Figure 1, Colorplate 15) to the Museum for what was, at the time, a very modest price.1 Despite his expatriate status, Sargent consid ered himself fundamentally American and wished that his most significant work be displayed permanently in America's preeminent museum. The painting had crossed the Atlantic for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, and the moment seemed right for it to remain in the United States. Although many years had passed since the scandal erupted surrounding its debut, Sargent stipu lated that the sitter remain anonymous. He wrote to Robinson, "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, at any rate for the present, and that her name should not be communi cated to the newspapers."2 The director accommo dated Sargent, and the painting was called Portrait of Madame X, a title similar to one Sargent had chosen when he first exhibited the picture at the Salon of 1884, Portrait of Madame ***.3 Sargent had approached Madame Gautreau?the American-born Virginie Avengno married to the Parisian banker Pierre Gautreau?indirectly through his close friend Ben Castillo. In requesting to paint her portrait, he confided to Castillo, a cousin of the young woman, that he had "reason to think she would allow it and is waiting for someone to propose this homage to her beauty." No doubt attracted by her exotic or somewhat bizarre appearance, he wrote to his childhood friend Vernon Lee, "Do you object to ? The Metropolitan Museum of Art 2005 Metropolitan Museum Journal 40 The notes for this article begin on page 129. people who are 'fard?es' to the extent of being a uni form lavender or blotting-paper colour all over? If so you would not care for my sitter; but she has the most beautiful lines, and if the lavender or chlorate of potash-lozenge colour be pretty in itself I should be more than pleased."4 The young painter's ambition was to create a magnificent entry for the 1884 Salon in order to secure his reputation as a prominent por trait painter in Paris society. Arrangements were made, and Sargent set off for Gautreau's country house in Brittany, Les Ch?nes Param?, in the summer of 1883. The difficulties pre sented by the task and the ensuing controversy sur rounding the appearance of the portrait at the Salon of 1884 are recorded in Sargent's correspondence and by contemporary commentators. On the first day of the exhibition, crowds gathered ridiculing the image and impugning the character of the sitter. Paul Curtis, a friend of Sargent's and fellow painter, describes the events in a letter to his parents. "There was a grand tapage before it all day. In a few minutes I found him [Sargent] dodging behind doors to avoid friends who looked grave. By the corridors he took me to see it. I was disappointed in the color. She looks decomposed. All the women jeer. Ah voil? 'la belle!' 'Oh quell [sic] horreur!'etc. . . . All the a.m. it was one series of bons mots, mauvaises plaisanteries and fierce discus sions. John, poor boy, was navr?." Although contem porary critics made no specific reference to the sexually suggestive fallen strap, the d?colletage was considered indecent, and it appeared to many that the gown was about to slip off. Madame Gautreau and her mother demanded the portrait be withdrawn to put an end to the humiliation. "Ma fille est perdue?tout Paris se moque d'elle. " Sargent refused, insisting that he had painted her exactly as she was dressed. One reviewer emphasized the social significance of captur ing the psychology of a professional beauty, consider 121 The Metropolitan Museum of Art is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to Metropolitan Museum Journal www.jstor.org ®