Fédora (Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt)
1882
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
115.6 × 86.0 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2024
Gallery location
Late 19th & early 20th Century Paintings & Decorative Arts Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
In December 1882 a new play by Victorien Sardou opened in Paris, starring Sarah Bernhardt as the Russian Princess Fédora Romazoff, sporting the soft, felt man’s hat that was to be known thereafter as the fedora. A play about murder, betrayal and tragedy, Sardou’s Fédora was a smash hit in Paris in 1882–83. Bernhardt had for some time been taking painting lessons with Alfred Stevens, an artist originally from Belgium who achieved acclaim in Paris for his elegant portraits. To commemorate the actress’s new role, Stevens portrayed Bernhardt swathed in expensive fabrics and jewellery, in character as the complex Fédora. Bernhardt herself described her character as ‘a fallen angel with white wings’.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Paris, France
Inscription
inscribed in brown paint l.l.: AS (monogram) tevenS / 82.
Accession Number
2024.5
Department
International Painting