Sargent considered it “the best thing I ever did,” but perhaps he meant via this work, he created himself a succès de scandale (success by scandal), rather than the work itself being the best. For fun, fast-paced, informative reading on this painting, Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X by Deborah Davis (Tarcher/Penguin, 2003).
Painting A Portrait by De László 