THE SEDUCTION OF MADAME X

This story takes us to 19th century Paris, a world of beauty and decadence.

The story and life of Amelie Gautreau , the notorious beauty, Madame X, John Singer Sargent’s most famous and scandalous portrait sets the scene for this fascinating and intriguing story.

Amelie (Avegno) Gautreau and her mother, Virginie, southern Creoles escape from the war-torn Louisiana following the Civil War. They go to France, hoping to find a safe and cultural haven in the arms of the Parisian belle époque society.

Virginie seizes upon the opportunity to propel her young, beautiful daughter into the Parisian world of elegance of which she herself secretly dreams. She offers her gorgeous daughter to a wealthy, older Parisian. The world they enter was more scandalous than anything they could have imagined.

John Singer Sargent, a talented little-known American born portraitist, is also desperate to reach the pinnacle of Parisian society. He paints a portrait of young Amelie Avegno Gautreau, now the wife of a French banker, Pierre Gautreau and the mistress of an infamous doctor, Samuel Pozzi to exhibit at the Paris Salon 1884.

With its suggestive motif guaranteed, Sargent thought to both capture and arouse the French sensibility. He was wrong. His painting of Madame Pierre Gautreau was largely condemned by the nationalist, hypocritical French society and contributed to the demise of the beautiful Amelie. With courage and tenacity Amelie fought back!

Madame X hangs prominently in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York.

It is considered to be John Singer Sargent’s masterpiece!