Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X

Davis, Deborah

ISBN 10: 158542336X / ISBN 13: 9781585423361

Published by Tarcher, 2004

About this Item

All pages and the cover are intact, but shrink wrap, dust covers, or boxed set case may be missing. Pages may include limited notes, highlighting, or minor water damage but the text is readable.

Seller Inventory # COLV.158542336X.A

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X
• Publisher: Tarcher
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 158542336X
• ISBN 13: 9781585423361
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: acceptable

About this title

Synopsis

The subject of John Singer Sargent's most famous painting was twenty-three-year-old New Orleans Creole Virginie Gautreau, who moved to Paris and quickly became the "it girl" of her day. A relative unknown at the time, Sargent won the commission to paint her; the two must have recognized in each other a like-minded hunger for fame.

Unveiled at the 1884 Paris Salon, Gautreau's portrait generated the attention she craved-but it led to infamy rather than stardom. Sargent had painted one strap of Gautreau's dress dangling from her shoulder, suggesting either the prelude to or the aftermath of sex. Her reputation irreparably damaged, Gautreau retired from public life, destroying all the mirrors in her home.

Drawing on documents from private collections and other previously unexamined materials, and featuring a cast of characters including Oscar Wilde and Richard Wagner, Strapless is a tale of art and celebrity, obsession and betrayal.

About the Author

Deborah Davis is the author of Party of the Century: The Fabulous Story of Truman Capote and his Black and White Ball (Wiley, April 2006), and Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X (Tarcher/Putnam, 2003). Her most recent book is The Secret Lives Of Frames: One Hundred Years of Art and Artistry (Filapacchi, 2007).