Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt

Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt, painted in 1878 and now in Stockholm's Nationalmuseum, is the first of two portraits Bastien-Lepage made of the actress who became one of his closest friends. Bernhardt in 1878 was transitioning from major supporting roles to the theatrical dominance she would achieve after founding her own company in 1880. Bastien-Lepage captured her at this pivotal moment, before she became the unchallenged queen of the French stage. The Stockholm Nationalmuseum's acquisition reflects how widely Bernhardt's fame — and by extension Bastien-Lepage's portraits of her — spread through European culture. The portrait is distinct from his 1879 painting of her with the Orpheus sculpture: here she is presented simply as herself rather than as sculptor. The friendship between painter and actress, both celebrated Parisians working at the intersection of naturalism and theatrical modernism, was one of the defining personal relationships of Bastien-Lepage's short career.

The portrait of Bernhardt's famous face — already one of the most recognized in Paris — demanded that Bastien-Lepage navigate between documentary likeness and the theatrical aura she projected. His naturalist approach aimed to capture the woman behind the performance.