| I Am Madame X Contributor(s): Diliberto, Gioia (Author) |
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ISBN: 0743456807 ISBN-13: 9780743456807 Publisher: Scribner Book Company OUR PRICE: $17.09 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: May 2004 Annotation: Drawing on the sketchy facts of her life to recreate her tempestuous personality, Diliberto imagines the story behind the subject of a controversial nineteenth century painting. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Historical - General - Fiction | Literary |
| Dewey: FIC |
| LCCN: 2002026802 |
| Physical Information: 0.7" H x 4.9" W x 7.9" (0.65 lbs) 261 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: When John Singer Sargent unveiled Madame X -- his famous portrait of American beauty Virginie Gautreau -- at the 1884 Paris Salon, its subject's bold pose and provocative dress shocked the public and the critics, smashing Sargent's dreams of a Paris career. In this remarkable novel, Gioia Diliberto tells Virginie's story, drawing on the sketchy historical facts to re-create Virginie's tempestuous personality and the captivating milieu of nineteenth-century Paris. Born in New Orleans and raised on a lush plantation, Virginie fled to France during the Civil War, where she was absorbed into the fascinating and wealthy world of grand ballrooms, dressmakers' salons, and artists' ateliers. Even before Sargent painted her portrait, Virginie's reputation for promiscuity and showy self-display made her the subject of vicious Paris gossip. Immersing the reader in Belle Epoque Paris, I Am Madame X is a compulsively readable and richly imagined novel illuminating the struggle between Virginie and Sargent over the outcome of a painting that changed their lives and affected the course of art history. |
Contributor Bio(s): Diliberto, Gioia: - Gioia Diliberto has written biographies of Jane Addams, Hadley Hemingway, and Brenda Frazier, as well as the critically acclaimed novel I Am Madame X, based on the life of Virginie Gautreau. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son. |