Sarah Bernhardt loves Louise Abbéma

- and Louise Abbéma loved Sarah Bernhardt. True! I'm especially interested in historical lesbian relationships between women artists and I've just discovered this one. Sarah Bernhardt (pictured above) was an internationally mega-famous French actress who specialised in tragic roles during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Known worldwide as 'the divine Sarah' she played female and (unusual for the time) male roles. These included Camille, Tosca, Joan of Arc, Cleopatra and an unforgettable Hamlet. Born in Paris in 1844 to a Dutch Jewish unmarried courtesan and a wealthy Catholic Frenchman, Bernhardt received a Catholic education and displayed 'star' qualities from a young age. Given her unconventional upbringing, there was no hesitation about allowing Sarah to display her talents on stage. Sarah met Louise in 1874 and the pair remained very close until Sarah's death in 1923 (- many other affairs notwithstanding). Here's a self portrait by Louise Abbéma dated 1876:

Louise Abbéma was a well regarded French impressionist painter, about nine years younger than Sarah. It was rumoured that the pair were lovers but, as so often happens, this rumour was suppressed in favour of 'just good friends'. However! An interesting piece of clarification eventually emerged. Louise once painted a picture of herself and Sarah Bernhardt together in a rowboat on a lake in Paris. Its title: Sarah Bernhardt et Louise Abbéma sur un lac, 1883. Louise sent her oil painting to the Comédie Française with a letter saying: 'A painting by Louise Abbéma on the anniversary of their love affair'. In the painting the somewhat androgynous and angular Louise stands with a red umbrella as halo while she looks at the softer, more curvaceous Sarah who sits with a hand outstretched towards a duck. Two black swans swim nearby - perhaps an echo of the lover's long-term relationship? (See painting further below.)

Bernhardt as Hamlet

Interestingly, despite a fabulously stellar acting career, Sarah Bernhardt was also an amateur sculptor and painter. Sarah and Louise often depicted their love for each other through their art. Among many varied works, Sarah created a bronze sculpture of their hands intertwined. Amazingly, this sculpture is held by the NGV (National Gallery of Victoria in my home town of Melbourne, Australia). It's title reads: Embracing Hands of Sarah Bernhardt and Louise Abbéma (c1908) by Sarah Bernhardt. See https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/153081/

Who knew?! I discovered all this by chance when I was looking for something else. Fabulous! The embracing hands sculpture can be viewed on the 2nd floor of NGV International. 


Upper painting of Sarah and Louise in rowboat by Abbéma; lower pic of Sarah Bernhardt with her sculpture of Louise Abbéma.

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