“Again” was his motto. A way to remind the world of her determination and her contempt for convention. Born in 1844 to a courtesan mother, she discovered the theater as a teenager and it was love at first sight. At the age of 15 she entered the Conservatory of dramatic art in Paris. In 1862 she entered the Comédie Française for the first time, but she also had to support herself with courtesy. It was at the Théâtre de l’Odéon that she had her first success, in 1869, in the comedy The passerby then in 1972 with the triumph of Ruy Blas written by Victor Hugo. It is only at the dawn of his glory. Phaedrus, Andromache, Hernani, Lady of the Camellias, Lorenzaccio, Cleopatra… The Petit Palais exhibition traces the most important roles of a career that spans no less than five decades, includes a hundred plays, as well as silent films from the 1900s.
ⓒ Daniel Katz Gallery
Richly illustrated with sublime paintings, posters and photographs of the “Divina” produced by all the artistic elite of the time, the exhibition gives pride of place to the brilliant actress, adored by the public, who never tired of her acting. and in the feverish spasms of its lyrical flights and its agonies exaggerated. While her dramatic talent is beyond doubt – Jean Cocteau calls her a “sacred monster” – the exhibition also highlights the artist behind the actress. She a writer, painter and sculptor, she exhibited the work at the Salon of 1880 The girl and death and creates superb bronzes of her short-lived husband, Jacques Damala or his mistress Louise Abbéma, also an artist. Exhibited at the Petit Palais, these works of melancholic beauty and extremely fine detail testify to her talent as a sculptor.
Sarah Bernhardt facing the sexism of the press
Sarah Bernhardt, “The Fool and Death”, 1877, bronze, Petit Palais, Museum of Fine Arts of the City of Paris, ⓒ Paris Museums / Petit Palais
Under fire from the critics of the time, he wrote in his memoirs: “They reproach me for wanting to do everything: theatre, sculpture and painting, but it amuses me! And I earn money, which I spend as I please”. A financially independent woman who follows her wishes without asking her permission? It was enough to unleash the press. In 1879, Emile Zola took up his pen (“Let’s make a law that prohibits the accumulation of talent! » writes) to denounce the behavior of the media, which give the actress a “romantic and somewhat ridiculous reputation of a half mad woman”. The writer underlines the obsession with his body, the bad jokes about his thinness. A sexist media treatment that resonates with that reserved for actresses, still today.
The craziest rumors are circulating about Sarah Bernhardt: she would roast her monkeys (she has an exotic menagerie), have sex with a skeleton and sleep in a coffin (her taste for the macabre is well known)! So many practices that bring her closer to the witch or the vampire, these too free feminine creatures … In response, Sarah Bernhardt had herself photographed in her famous coffin and marketed them as postcards: it’s all the fuss!
And Sarah Bernhardt made the star
Sarah Bernhardt has business savvy and soon builds an empire on her name. She became an international star by 1880, when she toured the United States. She then performed in Moliere’s language (!) in Russia, South America and even Australia, becoming the first actress of her time to travel across five continents. An exhibition hall retraces her great epics. While advertising posters appear in France, she lends her image to many brands: biscuits, drugs, alcohol, face powder … Today we compare her profitable activities with the profession of influencer. She will then have two theaters of her own in her name, which will allow her to choose her roles.
The exhibition also traces his political commitment. Victim of anti-Semitic caricatures (she has Jewish origins through her mother), the actress publicly supports Alfred Dreyfus during his trial. An ardent patriot who hated war, he had converted the Odéon theater into a military hospital during the war against Prussia in 1870. Then, during World War I, he went to the front to support soldiers as he suffered the amputation of a leg in 1915. The last section of the exhibition is devoted to his haven of peace, Belle-île-en-mer, a place then unknown to tourism, with which he fell in love at the end of the 1890s. He bought a military fort there at Pointe des Poulains and lived there during his holidays. Inspired by the seabed, she creates suggestive aquatic sculptures, visible at the Petit Palais. Her artistic soul never leaves her.
One hundred years after his death on March 26, 1923 on the set of the film The seer, Sarah Bernhardt always fascinates with her great modernity. We can easily imagine him alive today. Rejecting labels, the actress has known romantic passions with men and women. She harbored a taste for transvestism and androgyny. She has known how to capitalize on a celebrity for which she has also paid the price. Above all, what is striking and inspiring in Sarah Bernhardt’s life is her supreme freedom.
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Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
