5 Portraits of Women in Black Barnebys Magazine One painting at a time: 'Dorelia in a Black Dress' by Gwen John 1884 John Singer Sargent, Madame X (Virginie Gautreau) Fashion History Timeline Portrait of a lady in a black dress originally painted by Theodor Axentowicz. Ocean's Bridge Oil Paintings In January 1888, John Singer Sargent traveled to Boston and accepted a $3,000 commission to paint Isabella Stewart Gardner. She was forty seven. He was thirty one. She rejected seven renderings of her own