As depicted in Sarah Bernhardt 234, Sarah Bernhardt was a French stage and early film actress and has been referred to as “the most famous actress the world has ever known.” Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of France in the 1870s at the beginning of the Belle Epoque period. She was soon in demand in Europe and the Americas. She developed a reputation as a serious dramatic actress, earning the nickname “The Divine Sarah.” Bernhardt is one of three women in Warhol’sTen Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century portfolio, along with Golda Meir and Gertrude Stein.
Sarah Bernhardt 234 by Andy Warhol as Part of His Larger Body of Work
Warhol became fascinated with a group of influential Jewish figures – a pantheon of great thinkers, politicians, performers, musicians and writers, including renowned actress Sarah Bernhardt. In Warhol’s Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century portfolio, Sarah Bernhardt’s portrait is featured alongside others such as Martin Buber, Louis Brandeis, Einstein, Sigmund Freud, George Gershwin, Franz Kafka, the Marx Brothers, Golda Meir, and Gertrude Stein. The collective achievements of these famous Jews changed the course of the twentieth century and may be said to have influenced every aspect of human experience.
Photo credit: Napoleon Sarony, Sarah Bernhardt, 1880. Sepia albumen print, cabinet card, 6.5 3 4.25 in. (16.5 3 10.8 cm). Text in image states, Copyright 1880 by N. Sarony No. 52.” Author’s collection.
