A framed painting by John Singer Sargent entitled "Madame Gautreau".

John Singer Sargent (January 12, 1856 to April 14, 1925) was an American artist, considered the leading portrait painter of his generation for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings. His oeuvre documents worldwide travel, from Venice to the Tyrol, Corfu, the Middle East, Montana, Maine, and Florida. Sargent enjoyed international acclaim as a portrait painter, although not without controversy and some critical reservation, an early submission to the Paris Salon, his Portrait of Madame X, was intended to consolidate his position as a society painter, but it resulted in scandal instead. He painted Madame X again in this watercolour. Virginie Amelie Avegno Gautreau (January 29, 1859 to July 25, 1915) was born in New Orleans but grew up from the age of eight in France, where she became a Parisian socialite known for her beauty. She occasionally posed as a model for notable artists. She is most widely known as the subject of John Singer Sargents painting Portrait of Madame X (1884). It created a social scandal when shown at the Paris Salon.