
by John Singer Sargent, 1884
American painter John Singer Sargent painted this Madame X in 1884, depicting Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, a Parisian society beauty. Her pale skin against the black dress and her haughty profile created a sensation. When exhibited at the Paris Salon, the painting caused scandal.
Critics attacked the suggestive pose and décolletage. Sargent originally painted one strap fallen off her shoulder, later repainting it. The scandal damaged both Sargent's and Gautreau's reputations. Sargent kept the painting in his studio for decades before selling it to the Metropolitan Museum in 1916. He considered it his best work.

John Singer Sargent
British Museum, London

John Singer Sargent
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston

John Singer Sargent
Private Collection, Unknown

John Singer Sargent
Rhode Island School of Design Museum (RISD Museum), Providence, RI, Providence

Ancient Greek (Unknown), -500
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Ancient Greek (Unknown), -390
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Diego Velázquez
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Ancient Egyptian (Unknown), -1070
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Other masterpieces from the American Realism movement

Grant Wood, 1930
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

Edward Hopper, 1942
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

George Bellows, 1924
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Georgia O'Keeffe, 1930
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Winslow Homer, 1876
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Winslow Homer, 1876
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Eastman Johnson, 1862
Brooklyn Museum, New York

George Bellows, 1909
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland
Luxury wall art with the same mood and energy. Gallery-quality canvas, no museum crowds.
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