Sarah Bernhardt
printmaker
William Nicholson
(Newark-on-Trent, 1872 - 1949, Berkshire)
publisher
William Heinemann
(Surbiton, Surrey, 1863 - 1920, London)
after
Reutlinger Family
(active Paris, 1850 - early 20th century)
subject
Sarah Bernhardt
(Paris, 1844 - 1923, Paris)
Date1897-1899
Place MadeLondon, Greater London, England, Europe
MediumColored woodcut
Dimensions26 x 25.2 cm (10 1/4 x 9 15/16 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberARC.006425
eMuseum ID728590
EmbARK ObjectID26512
Other NumberP27w573
TMS Source ID10220
Last Updated11/26/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryBased on an 1897 photograph taken by Léopold-Émile Reutlinger, this colored woodcut created by William Nicholson depicts the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt posed in front of a curtain on a stage. Bernhardt was a fixture in the world of theater in the late 1800s and early 1900s and appeared in some of the earliest motion pictures.
Bernhardt and Isabella likely met in the 1870s on the European theater circuit. Correspondences between the two suggest that they shared a fond friendship, and Isabella displayed memorabilia related to the actress in the Modern Actors Case in the Long Gallery of her museum.
Bernhardt and Isabella likely met in the 1870s on the European theater circuit. Correspondences between the two suggest that they shared a fond friendship, and Isabella displayed memorabilia related to the actress in the Modern Actors Case in the Long Gallery of her museum.
BibliographyNotesNathaniel Silver and Diana Seave Greenwald. Isabella Stewart Gardner: A Life (Boston, 2022), pp.118-121, fig. 64.
MarksNotesSigned in print (lower right): William Nicholson.
Inscribed (lower center): Sarah Bernhardt.
Inscribed (lower center): Sarah Bernhardt.
ProvenanceNotesPurchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from Goodspeed’s Book Shop, Boston on 10 February 1921 for $2.
Boston Evening Transcript
26 March 1923
