The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new show “Sargent and Paris” (April 27–August 3) explores John Singer Sargent’s early career, before and after that infamous portrait of Madame X in 1884.

A visitor to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston contemplates John Singer Sargent's painting "The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit." (Robin Lubbock/WBUR) A massive masterpiece by famed painter John ...