An Ode to John Singer Sargent | Charlotte Portrait Photographer

I love portraiture.  When I'm at museums, I'm drawn to the portraits.  One of my favorites is the Portrait of Madame X by John Singer Sargent, an American artist and expatriate.  Now, if you do your research, you can find out that Madame X is actually the French socialite Virginie Amelie Avegno Gautreau (also an American expatriate).  It was an attempt by both artist and model to climb the ladder of French society, and instead threw them both into scandal.  The painting of Mme Gautreau was considered too revealing (in fact, the strap on her dress was repainted by Sargent, originally it was off her shoulder) and her posture too snobbish for society women.  Sargent ended up storing the painting in his studio for several decades before it was allowed to be seen again.

Image care of Wikipedia

But I like the anonymity of the title.  Madame X.  Who is this very elegant woman?  Where is she going?  What is she doing?   Why?  What is she thinking about?  And I wanted to create my own interpretation of this wonderful image.

If you would like to see the actual painting (and I recommend it), it is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

NOTE: In part because of my fascination with portraits, I've been starting a personal project, not for any sort of profit, just for myself and my audience.  I'm going to be reinterpreting classic American portraits, giving a few facts about the original, and creating a new version for a more modern day audience.  They aren't intended to look particularly painted, but rather be photographic interpretations of classic portrait paintings.  Please let me know what you think of this new project of mine!