Madame X, we presume?

Madame X will mark the spot for a fun night on May 30 at Horowitz Auditorium. The Peoria Art Guild is presenting “John Singer Sargent: Painting Madame X” in collaboration with Bradley University.

Bob Diven performs the single-actor play about the world renown portrait artist whose masterpiece, “Portrait of Madame X,” was actually ridiculed at the Salon of 1884. You see, the right strap of the dress Madame Pierre Gautreau (American-born Amélie Avegno) was wearing was (gasp!) slipping from her shoulder. Sargent repainted her arm and kept the work hidden for more than 20 years.

Diven takes it from there in “Painting Madame X.” His dramatic portrayal is of a now older painter in 1916 wrestling with the idea to sell the portrait. Today it’s on display at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“We’re excited by it,” Art Guild executive director Shannon Cox said. “He’s got quite a reputation for doing the show.”

Tickets for the PAG fundraiser at 7 p.m. that Thursday, May 30, are $20. Horowitz Auditorium is located in the Global Communications Center at BU. Diven, a professional artist in his own right, will also discuss Sargent’s saga and his painting.

“It’s a short production,” Cox said. “(You) can go to dinner, take in the show and be home by 8:30.”

Go to the Peoria Art Guild website or the Peoria Art Guild Facebook page for more information.



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