19th & 20th Century Sculpture

19th & 20th Century Sculpture

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 31. Bust of a Woman.

Sarah Bernhardt

Bust of a Woman

Lot Closed

July 14, 10:31 AM GMT

Estimate

10,000 - 15,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Sarah Bernhardt

French

1844 - 1923

Bust of a Woman


signed: SARAH BERNHARDT

white marble

63cm., 24⅞in.

Edith Bozyan (1907-1993), Newport, Rhode Island
Born in Paris to a courtesan and an unknown father, Sarah Bernhardt received her first training as an actor at the Comédie-Française and, from 1866, developed a reputation on the stage at prestigious Parisian theatres. She soon found unprecedented fame across Europe and beyond, enjoying several worldwide tours during the 1880s and 1890s. Known in particular for her magisterial portrayals of tragic characters, Sarah Bernhardt’s legendary status continued into the early 20th century, when she starred in silent films and remained active on the stage until her death in 1923.

Bernhardt’s activity as a sculptor began in the 1870s with guidance from Roland Mathieu-Meusnier and Jules Franceschi. Taking a studio in 1873, she went on to model a number of highly accomplished works, many of which were exhibited at the Salon. Though she exhibited for many years, until the early 1900s, her most prolific period of sculptural activity was in the 1870s, when her employment at the Comédie-Française allowed her to devote time to working in the studio. 

Bernhardt excelled particularly in the modelling of busts, for which she received acclaim from critics. In her 1907 memoirs, Bernhardt proudly speaks of friends and acquaintances sitting for her portrait busts in 1874. At Bernhardt’s London exhibition of 1879, it is her busts that stand out among her works, with one reviewer writing, ‘the “star” of the Comédie Française is preferable in busts. All these are expressive and characteristic […]’ (The Illustrated London News, 21 June 1875, p. 583). It is likely that the present bust, whose unidentified sitter is distinguished by an extravagant feathered headdress, dates from this period in the sculptor's career.