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DAVIS, DEBORAH: : STRAPLESS: JOHN SINGER SARGENT and the Fall of MADAME X. [Author SIGNED copy.]

UK.STROUD,GLOUCESTERSHIRE.SUTTON PUBLISHING,2004.

ISBN 0750937068.

UK,small 8vo HB+dw/dj,author SIGNED,1st edn. [Also includes laid in loose,an approx. 22mm x 10mm colour illustrated card for THE NATIONAL GALLERY exhibition 'AMERICANS IN PARIS 1860- 1900',22nd February - 21st May,2006,with painting detail of Madame X by John Singer Sargent to front and Exhibition details: Events, Films,Catalogue: P/back+HB,DVD,Opening times, Admission costs and Tickets to its reverse.] FINE-/FINE-. No owner inscrptn but author's handwritten black ink signature without dedication,just above her printed name on the title page,and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright, crisp,clean,glossy laminated,colour pictorial portrait artwork study by John Singer Sargent of the subject Mme Gautreau,c.1844 to front of dw/dj,with capitalised black+gold-coloured-lettered part-title,capitalised white-lettered sub-title,a white lettered review (Stephen Fry) and a brown circcular adhesive label with white-lettered 'Signed by the author' within it; a white (top) and a black (lower) sectioned spine/ backstrip with capitalised,black-lettered part title to top,and white-lettered title+author to lower,along with publisher's b/w illustrated and black-lettered colophon to foot of same,rear panel with pale beige background with black lettered review by Stepheh Fry.Negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners - no nicks,tears or splits present - minimal, superficial scoring without penetration to boards beneath to either panel.Top+fore-edges inevitably with age-acquired but light toning, clean without foxing/spotting; contents bright, tight,clean,solid and sound - near pristine but for light page-edge toning - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,appears unread apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright, crisp,clean.sharp-cornered,original plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt lettering,and immaculate plain white endpapers. UK,small 8vo HB+dw/dj,author SIGNED,1st edn, xii-xivpp+2-239pp [paginated] includes author's Introduction,Acknowledgements,6 chapters and an Afterword,contemporary b/w portrait reproductions,b/w location photographs, contemporary b/w artist sketches/illustrations, b/w facsimile handwriting specimens and contemporary b/w+colour paintings' reproductions interspersed throughout the text and the book,Notes,an 8pp Bibliography,and an Index ; plus [unpaginated] half-title with critics' reviews to its reverse,author SIGNED - without dedication - title page,a dedication,a Contents list/table,and an Illustrations list/table,the latter three all with a blank reverse.            Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and even internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of its near 20-year-old age.It is only the minimal, minor exterior faults described that prevents a slightly higher grading overall.Despite them,it really is still an exceptional,exemplary example for its cleanliness and lack of other detracting faults and also for its scarcity as an author SIGNED item. Madame X or 'Portrait of Madame X' is a portrait painting by John Singer Sargent of a young socialite,Virginie Amelie Avengo Gautreau, wife of the French banker Pierre Gautreau. Madame X was painted not as a commission,but at the request of Sargent.It is a study in opposition. Sargent shows a woman posing in a black satin dress with jeweled straps,a dress that reveals and hides at the same time.The portrait is characterized by the pale flesh tone of the subject contrasted against a dark-colored dress and background.The scandal resulting from the painting's controversial reception at the Paris Salon of 1884 amounted to a temporary setback to Sargent while in France,though it may have helped him later establish a successful career in Britain and America.Sargent later sold the painting in 1916,to the Metropolitan Museum of Art,New York. Today,'Portrait of Madame X' is Sargent's best-known work.The story that propelled the artist to international renown but condemned his subject to a life of public ridicule.            A 23-year-old new Orleans Creole,Virginie Gautreau had moved to Paris and quickly became the 'it girl' of the day.All the leading artists wanted to paint her,but it was Sargent,a relative nobody,who won the opportunity.Yet, when it was unveiled at the 1884 Paris Salon, Gautreau's portrait led its subject to infamy rather than stadom.Sargent had painted one strap of Gautreau's dress dangling from her shoulder, suggesting,to outraged Parisian viewers,either the prelude or the aftermath of sex.Gautreau's reputation was irreparably damaged,and she eventually retired from public life.Sargent escaped the furore by repairing to England. Deborah Davis draws upon documents from private collections to reveal the tantalising truth at the heart of Madame X. Was the painting,with the scandal it generated, the machination of a sexually conflicted man who desires a woman and a lifestyle he could never possess? Was it a bold,ill-advised move by a fame-hungry artist? Why did Gautreau allow herseld to be displayed in such a way? Sargent was an expatriate like Gautreau,and their collaboration has been interpreted as motivated by a shared desire to attain high status in French society. She was an American expatriate who married a French banker, and became notorious in Parisian high society for her beauty and rumored infidelities.She was referred to as a "professional beauty" – an English-language term for a woman who uses personal skills to advance herself socially. What led the artist finally to repaint the strap to sit more modestly on her shoulder?            [The author notes that women were particularly vocal about their disapproval of Madame X, "as if to assert their moral superiority." Davis also explains that,whilst there were plenty of nude paintings exhibited alongside Madame X, none of which were the subject of scandal,"nude women in paintings could be only historical or mythological figures,or anonymous types." While Gautreau's identity was technically obscured in the title it was widely known.Because Gautreau was a public figure and a married woman,her suggestive appearance was more shocking than works which were "mindful of the conventions regarding nudes". (Wiki.)]                        Please contact seller,because of the lighter weight and the value of this item,for correct, insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!                                       N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. 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UK,small 8vo HB+dw/dj,aurtor SIGNED,1st edn.
Author SIGNED - without dedication.

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