Mar 14, 2024 - Sale 2662

Sale 2662 - Lot 47

Price Realized: $ 3,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
GEORGE CLAIRIN
La Follia (Sarah Bernhardt).

Oil on panel, circa 1879. 280x195 mm; 11x7⅝ inches. Signed in oil, lower right recto and titled in oil, lower left recto.

Provenance: Private collection, New York.

The current work is a portrait of the actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), who was a close friend of the artist. Clairin (1843-1919) was a French Orientalist painter and illustrator. He was influenced by Eastern imagery Moorish architecture, and visited North Africa many times, in particular Algeria, Morocco and Egypt. As a Parisian socialite, he befriended Bernhardt and they remained close for more than fifty years. Clairin is today best known for his "in costume" and informal intimate portraits of the popular actress.