Bernardsville Library’s book discussion group, Saturday Samplers, will meet on Saturday, November 6 at 3:30 pm to discuss Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X (2003) by Deborah Davis. [The author will not be present.]
The book examines the history and background of the painting called “Madame X,” John Singer Sargent’s portrait of twenty-three-year-old Virginie Amélie Gautreau. Mme. Gautreau was the talk of Paris in the early 1880’s, and the painting was shown at the 1884 Paris Salon. It caused a sensation, but while Sargent, the American son of vagabond parents, rose to lasting stardom, Gautreau was ridiculed and then forgotten. The reason was how Gautreau was depicted in the original, later repainted. Ms. Davis, a writer and veteran film executive who has worked as story editor and analyst for Warner Bros., Columbia TriStar, Disney, Miramax, and the William Morris Agency, drew on documents from private collections and other previously unexamined materials, to write her book which features a cast of characters including Oscar Wilde, Henry James, Sarah Bernhardt and Richard Wagner.
Led by Readers’ Services Assistant, Evelyn Fischel, Saturday Samplers is a book discussion group dedicated to sampling various kinds of literature, including short stories, nonfiction, new and old novels, and even teen fiction. Its goal is to search out interesting, noteworthy, and sometimes overlooked books. Readers can find information about the group and about the books and authors on the reading list at http://saturdaysamplers.blogspot.com/. No sign-up is needed to join the discussion. Call the library at 766-0118 for more information.
The book examines the history and background of the painting called “Madame X,” John Singer Sargent’s portrait of twenty-three-year-old Virginie Amélie Gautreau. Mme. Gautreau was the talk of Paris in the early 1880’s, and the painting was shown at the 1884 Paris Salon. It caused a sensation, but while Sargent, the American son of vagabond parents, rose to lasting stardom, Gautreau was ridiculed and then forgotten. The reason was how Gautreau was depicted in the original, later repainted. Ms. Davis, a writer and veteran film executive who has worked as story editor and analyst for Warner Bros., Columbia TriStar, Disney, Miramax, and the William Morris Agency, drew on documents from private collections and other previously unexamined materials, to write her book which features a cast of characters including Oscar Wilde, Henry James, Sarah Bernhardt and Richard Wagner.
Led by Readers’ Services Assistant, Evelyn Fischel, Saturday Samplers is a book discussion group dedicated to sampling various kinds of literature, including short stories, nonfiction, new and old novels, and even teen fiction. Its goal is to search out interesting, noteworthy, and sometimes overlooked books. Readers can find information about the group and about the books and authors on the reading list at http://saturdaysamplers.blogspot.com/. No sign-up is needed to join the discussion. Call the library at 766-0118 for more information.
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