Reynolds, Joshua
Ring of the Nibelung , The (Wagner)
Robe d’intérieur
Robinson, Charles “Chuck,” 261
Robinson, Edward
Rockefeller, John D.
Rosenblum, Robert
Rosicrucians
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel
Royal Academy of Art (London)
Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose at
portrait of Pozzi at
Sacred Grove, The (Puvis de Chavannes)
Sain, Édouard
St. Botolph Club (Boston)
St. Charles Hotel (New Orleans)
St.-Énogat (France)
St. Louis Hotel (New Orleans)
St.-Malo (France)
Salon (Paris)
and photography
and portraits
Sargent’s entries
Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, The
Fumée d’Ambre Gris
El Jaleo
Madame Édouard Pailleron
Misses Vickers, The
Mrs. Albert Vickers
Oyster Gatherers at Cancale
Portrait of Carolus-Duran
Portrait de Mme * * * (Madame X)
Salon de la Rose-Croix
Sargent, Emily (sister of John Singer)
Sargent, Fitzwilliam (father of John Singer)
death
and son’s art
Sargent, Fitzwilliam, Jr. (brother of John Singer)
Sargent, John Singer
as art student
biography of
career
in America
international success
Madame X and
post-Madame X
success
death and memorials
exhibitions
first one-man show
of Madame X
See also Salon
generosity
London trips
and Louise Burckhardt
and Madame X
move to London
as musician
painting technique
paintings
Paris studio
personality
portrait of Amélie Gautreau
Salon exhibition
sketches for
as portraitist
and Pozzi
Sargent, John Singer (cont.)
as prospective son-in-law
relationships with men
Belleroche
Henry James
Pozzi
relationships with women
Louise Burckhardt
Gautier
reputation after death
romance and
Salon entries
sexuality
social life
in America
in England
and World War I
See also Paintings by Sargent
Sargent, Mary Singer (mother of John Singer)
trips to America
Sargent, Mary Winthrop (sister of John Singer)
Sargent, Violet (sister of John Singer)
Sargent family. See also individual Sargent entries
Sears, Willard T.
Seurat, Georges
Shopping, Paris
Silhouette, Étienne de
Silhouette portraits
Simmons, Edward
Singer, Mary Newbold. See also Sargent, Mary Singer
Sisley, Alfred
Sitwell, Osbert
Skin-lightening procedures
Slave Market in Rome (Gérôme)
Social commentary, Madame X as
Society, Paris, 1870s-1880s
Madame X as symbol of
Soluri, Patrick
Spalding & Rogers Circus
Spectator, The
Spitzer, Frederic
Staffe, Baroness
Subercaseaux, Ramón
Submission Day, Paris Salon
Tate Gallery (London)
Tea gown
Technique, painting, Sargent’s
Ternant, Claude Vincent
Ternant, Julie Euriphile
Ternant, Marie Virginie. See also Avegno, Marie Virginie Ternant
Ternant, Marius Claude Vincent
Ternant, Virginie Trahan. See also Parlange, Virginie Trahan Ternant; Trahan, Virginie
Thiers, Adolphe
Third Republic
socioeconomic conditions
Thirteenth Louisiana Infantry
Three Profiles of Madame Gautreau (Sargent)
Tissot, James Jacques Joseph
Titanic
Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de
Trahan, Joseph Leufroy
Trahan, Virginie. See also Parlange, Virginie Trahan Ternant; Ternant, Virginie Trahan
Travel, Sargent and
Traveling Musicians (Meissonier)
Treatise on Gynaecology, Clinical and Operative (Pozzi)
Triumph of Religion, The (Sargent)
Trochu, Louis
Troppmann, Jean-Baptiste
United States
Civil War
and French art
Sargent family trip to
Uzanne, Octave
van Gogh, Vincent
Vanderbilt, Mrs. William Henry
Varnishing Day, Paris Salon n163
Madame X exhibition
Vathek (Beckford)
Velázquez, Diego
Don Antonio el Inglés (Sargent copy)
“Venus” (Montesquiou)
Verlaine, Paul
Vickers, Thomas
daughters of
portrait
La Vie Parisienne
Visseaux, Julie
Wagner, Christine Planer
Wagner, Cosima
Wagner, Richard
Judith Gautier and
Warhol, Andy
Washington Square Arch
Watts, Frances
Wax museum, Paris
Wedding, Avegno-Gautreau
Wedgwood, Eliza
Wertheimer, Asher
Wertheimer, Betty and Ena
Westminster Abbey, memorial service for Sargent
Whispers (Sargent)
Whistler, James
Portrait of Lady Archibald Campbell
White, Margaret (Mrs. Henry)
White, Stanford
Wilde, Oscar
Wilhelm II (Kaiser)
Will & Grace
Wilmurt, Thomas A.
Wilson, Woodrow
Wolff, Albert
Woman with the Glove, The (Carolus-Duran)
Women
as art students
French
health concerns
nude, in paintings
Sargent and
World War I, Sargent and
Worth, Charles
Yamamoto ( Japanese artist)
Youth of Bacchus, The (Bouguereau)
Zillhardt, Madeleine
Zola, Émile
Au Bonheur des Dames
Nana
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Three people are responsible for this book: Mark Urman, my beloved husband, muse, collaborator, and champion; my wonderful mother, Jean Gatto, who gave me my first book and has always believed that I could do anything; and Wendy Silbert, my dear friend and agent, whose boundless enthusiasm and support turned a dream into a reality. I am also deeply indebted to the incomparable Scott Waxman and to Alexandra Tallen, my remarkable researcher and translator.
When I started my research, I was afraid the art world would be closed to me as an outsider. The opposite was true. The people at Adelson Galleries in New York, otherwise known as “Sargent Central,” were especially warm and welcoming. My sincere thanks to the delightful Elizabeth Oustinoff for her knowledge and good humor, and to Warren Adelson for his extraordinary wisdom and generosity. I also thank Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray, authors of John Singer Sargent: The Early Portraits, the first volume of the Sargent catalogue raisonné, for providing an invalu
able resource and wonderfully entertaining reading.
I am grateful to Carol Vance Wall for her inspirational thoughts about Lily Millet; Marie-Christine Ruellan for acting as my guide in Brittany; Brian J. Costello and Robert de Berardinis for their study of and astute observations on Amélie Gautreau’s New Orleans years; and Kay Rapier (daughter of Mettha Westfeldt Eshleman) for her interest and support.
Thanks as well to Mark Cave at the Williams Research Center of the Historic New Orleans Collection, Linda Hollander, George Jordan, Tom and Ellie Avegno, Stephanie Herdrich, Dr. Valerie Steele at the Museum at FIT, Mario Pereira at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Carolyn Peter at the UCLA Hammer Museum, Olga Ferguson at the Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums, Manonmani Filliozat at the Archives Municipales de Saint-Malo, Jean-Pierre Blin at the Conservatoire Municipal Agréé de Musique / Château des Chênes, Julie Zeftel at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Blair Bunting Darnell, Dana Hart-nett, Angèle Parlange, Lucy and Walter Parlange, Charles “Chuck” Robinson, Stephan Houy-Towner at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Library, Lydia Dufour at the Frick Collection, and the staffs of the New York Public Library and the Montclair Art Museum Library.
At Tarcher, my deepest appreciation to Wendy Hubbert, Ashley Shelby, and Meredith Phebus.
Finally, I acknowledge my grandmother Anna Cianci. She did not live to see Strapless, but her lovely spirit encourages me every day.
FURTHER INFORMATION FOR THE COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS
Photograph of Avegno sisters: Eshleman Collection, 2001-52-L, The Mettha Westfeldt Eshleman Bequest, The Williams Research Center of the Historic New Orleans Collection.
Dr. Pozzi at Home: Oil on canvas, 79⅜ x 40¼ inches. The Armand Hammer Collection, Gift of the Armand Hammer Foundation, UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.
Madame Gautreau Drinking a Toast: (P3w41). © Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.
Madame Gautreau (Madame X): Watercolor. Courtesy Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop. Photograph by David Mathews. Image copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Photograph of Madame Gautreau: Scrapbook of photographic reproductions of paintings by John Singer Sargent, p. 49: Madame X, albumen print. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Thomas J. Watson Library, Gift of Mrs. Francis Ormond, 1950 (192 SA 7 Sa 78 Q). All rights reserved, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau): Oil on canvas, 82⅛ x 43¼ inches (208.6 x 109.9 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1916. (16.53). Photograph © 1997 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
A Gust of Wind: Photograph courtesy Adelson Galleries, Inc., New York.
Courtois, Madame Gautreau: Oil on canvas. Photograph by B. Hatala. © Réunion des Musées Nationaux / Art Resource, NY, Musée d’Orsay, Paris.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Deborah Davis is a writer and veteran film executive who has worked as a story editor and story analyst for companies including Warner Bros., Columbia TriStar, Disney, Miramax, and the William Morris Agency. She lives in Montclair, New Jersey.
JEREMY P. TARCHER/PENGUIN a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. New York