Marie Buloz Pailleron (Madame Édouard Pailleron)

A woman in a black dress stands against a vast lawn.
With her left hand, she slightly lifts her skirt, gazing towards us.
An oyster-white path stretches out at her feet.

Her name is Marie Buloz Pailleron.
It was the summer of 1879.
This portrait was painted at her summer villa near Chambéry, France.

Marie was the daughter of the founder of a prestigious literary magazine.
She was a woman of great education and intellect.
At the same time, she possessed a difficult and uncompromising personality.

The artist who painted her was John Singer Sargent.
At the time, he was a young painter, only 23 years old.

For him, who was just beginning to make a name for himself in Paris,
the commission from Marie's husband, a renowned playwright,
was an important stepping stone into high society.

Failure was not an option.
Ordinarily, one would idealize and beautify the patron's wife.

However, Sargent was different.