Unlike many celebrated artists of his time, American oil painter, draftsman, portraitist, muralist, and (yes) guitarist John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) elected to work alone, absent any assistants. Preferring to handle all tasks, mundane and otherwise, he prepped his canvases, varnished the final results, and arranged photography, documentation, and shipping. Born in Florence to American parents who’d curtailed the rest of their trip in light of a cholera epidemic, Sargent grew up in Europe, spending many of his adult years painting in London. It was not uncommon for American clients to travel there to have Sargent paint them, his fees in the vicinity of $5,000 which today translates to $130,000.
Unlike his commissions, the young socialite wife of a French banker Virginie Amelie Avegno Gautreau was earnestly pursued by Sargent. An American expatriate in France, Gautreau had refused similar requests from other artists but the story goes that during the winter of 1883, Sargent’s persistence won her over. Artist and model reportedly had a shared interest in attaining French high society status, their collaboration an apt vehicle for the same. Despite their mutual goal, however, Gautreau was preoccupied with a young child, domestic staff, and social engagements, also lacking the discipline to sit for long hours. At her behest, Sargent traveled to her Brittany estate in June, resulting in 30 drawings, preparatory watercolors, and oils. Sargent’s lament about her: “…the unpaintable beauty and hopeless laziness of Madame Gautreau.” She did, nevertheless, become his iconic Portrait of Madame X.
