Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau

Who was Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau?

Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau 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 Sargent's painting Portrait of Madame X. It created a social scandal when shown at the Paris Salon.

Of European Creole ancestry, Virginie was taken at the age of eight by her widowed mother to France in 1867 following the American Civil War. She was educated in Paris and married Pierre Gautreau, a wealthy businessman.