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Picture of the day

Portrait of Madame X is an oil painting on canvas completed by John Singer Sargent in 1884. Painted by request of the artist, it depicts a young socialite named Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau – a popular subject for artists who was praised for her beauty – wearing a black satin dress with jeweled straps. The painting was controversial when displayed at the 1884 Salon, and though Sargent defended himself by saying he had painted her "exactly as she was dressed, that nothing could be said of the canvas worse than had been said in print of her appearance", the artist moved to London shortly afterwards.Painting: John Singer Sargent