This unfinished portrait of Madame Gautreau was acquired by a special arrangement whereby Sir J. Duveen acquired the work and presented it to the nation otherwise it would have been sold to the United States.
Duveen acquired the work and presented it to the nation otherwise it would have been sold to the United States.
Duveen was a dealer who frequently sold to American collections but was also a great supporter of the Art Fund. Though the sitter is unidentified, the public was in no doubt that it was Virginie Amélie Gautreau a young Parisian socialite born in Louisiana. This portrait created a scandal through its provocative pose and décolletage and the sitter's reputation for flouting conventional values. Sargent became obsessed with her and painted her - in a style much indebted to Velázquez and Manet - without commission.
More information
Title of artwork, date
Study of Madame Gautreau, c1884
Date supported
1925
Medium and material
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
206.4 x 107.9 cm
Gifted by
Sir Joseph Duveen through The Art Fund
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