Erotic Entry: Part 3

It may be a balmy 50 degrees Fahrenheit in New York today; however, on the calendar there is a very clear square stating that today is also February 1st. 

If you prefer a chill in your winter air, then perhaps the cool, arsenic-ridden and ashen, almost blue skin of Madame Gautreau, or more commonly referred to as Madame X, will provide the necessary drop in temperature.

For more information please visit, www.nu-garde.com or email me at cherise@nu-garde.com
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     John Singer Sargent, Madame X, 1884, oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manhattan

Photo Courtesy of WikiArt

Madame Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau’s portrait is perhaps labeled Madame X because of its X-rated nature. An American expatriate who married a French banker, Pierre Gautreau, was notorious in Parisian society for her mesmerizing beauty and adulterous tendencies. Madame Gautreau captivated Monsieur Gatreau with her scintillatingly luminescent skin. No one is born with the coloration of a vampire, so Madame Gautreau took aesthetic matters into her own hands by piling on the lavender powder. She even partook in a common beauty regimen of the time of ingesting arsenic to glow from the inside out. The stark contrast of her delectably incandescent skin set against the heavy brown background and the midnight black dress is absolutely arresting, and seductive. John Singer Sargent was another American expat living in Paris. He eked out a living by commissions; however, Sargent was so impressed by Madame Gautreau’s appearance that he requested to paint her. The first version of the picture featured Madame X’s right strap shimmying down her shoulder, which was considered too sexually charged and Sargent had to repaint the strap atop her shoulder. A critic wrote in Le Figaro, a French newspaper, “One more struggle and the lady will be free.” 

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Erotic Art Entry: Part 2

Imagine a cold, abandoned, slab of marble transformed into one of the world's most beautiful figures. An image so arresting and visually exciting that one may find him or herself gasping for air, wordless, struck by an inanimate object's potency and ... virility.

Here is an excerpt from another entry to stir your senses and take you on an Italian journey filled with sprezzatura and sensuality.
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      Michelangelo, David, 1501-04, marble statue, Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence

Photo Courtesy of WikiArt

      David’s untraditional stance could be partially responsible for his incredibly enticing energy. The sculptural departure does not include David hovering over the head of the decapitated Goliath. In fact, David has yet to engage in war with Goliath. The contrapposto, or pose of David standing with one leg holding his full weight and the other leg forward, emphasizes the decisiveness of David commencing battle. His eyes are piercing, probing and filled with a masculine intensity created by adrenaline. The veins bulging on his lower right hand creates a sense of realism and one can imagine the blood surging through his body. One of the more immediately reward attributes of the nude sculpture, is just that… David is in the buffed marble wearing a Renaissance birthday suit.

Though there have been replicas made of David, none is as striking as the original, sculpted under the hands of Michelangelo. However, some have considered David to bea bit too exciting and salacious. The plaster cast of David at the Victoria and Albert Museum features a detachable plaster fig leaf. Queen Victoria was shocked upon first seeing the statue’s nudity, that on subsequent royal visits, the fig leaf would affix to David’s groin. 

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For more information about the book, my art lectures, and gallery and museum tours please contact me at cherise@nu-garde.com or visit my website, www.nu-garde.com