Can You Tell The Difference Between A Jewish Model And This 19th Century Painting?

Image by Getty Images

By Jenny Singer October 24, 2017

The quietly revolutionary and unimpeachably cool Jewish model Hari Nef recreated John Singer Sargent’s 1883-4 painting “Madame X” as part of a series for Harper’s Bazaar. The 25-year old model, who has also starred on Transparent, appreciates the way Sargent’s subject, Parisian socialite Virginia Amelie Avegno Gautreau, refuses to engage with the viewer. “You can be in a beautiful dress with your skin exposed and be very sensual,” she told Harper’s Bazaar, “but it doesn’t mean you have to lock eyes with the first Tom, Dick, or Harry you see. Maybe you just want to stare at the wall.”

Image by Forward Collage (Twitter)

Check out the full series to see other recreations of iconic paintings, including Halima Aden, the first Muslim hijab-wearer to ever sign to a major modeling agency, as “Girl With A Pearl Earring”.

Jenny Singer is a writer for the Forward. You can reach her at Singer@forward.com or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

Jenny Singer is a freelance writer with pieces in Vox, the Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue, and more. She was previously a staff writer at Glamour and the Forward, and she’s currently getting an MFA in nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO