PJ's Studio: Madame X

Sunday, July 27, 2025

Madame X

I visited the “Sargent & Paris” exhibit at the Met again before it closes next week.

There’s no doubt that the star of the show was the notorious “Madame X.”

Several preparatory sketches were included in the show.

Showing that famous profile.

No wonder I recognized her immediately when I saw her again at the Isabella Gardener Museum in Boston. (They have loaned this painting for the exhibit.)

This full length almost finished sketch does not include the infamous sleeve.

This photo from the salon is the only record of it in its original scandalous position.

It’s hard to believe that it caused so much upset.

But the final version – part of the Met’s permanent collection – shows it high on her shoulder. Yes, he had to “fix” it to get people to move on. Sigh.

One other painting really caught my attention.

“Edouard and Marie-Louise Pailleron – 1881”

According to the caption “its creation involved a staggering – and possibly apocryphal – eighty-three sittings during which the artist and the headstrong girl battled over her attire and pose.” She certainly does look like a handful.