Sarah Bernhardt Research Paper

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The portrait study of Sarah Bernhardt was photographed in the year 1864 by the photographer Gaspard Felix Tournachon known as Nadar. The portrait displays Sarah Bernhardt before her rise to fame and revealed her shoulders, however, the rest of her body was covered with a velvet fabric (Baldwin/1999). The portrait should be preserved as Sarah Bernhardt was a talented French actress that became famous in France then around the world and Nadar is a famous figure in history known for his many accomplishments in different fields of art and photography. During the time of the portrait of Sarah Bernhardt, Napoleon III, was the Emperor of France. Napoleon III had lost motivation to pursue foreign policy during the time of the painting (Echard/2003). …show more content…

4, 1870. This resulted in the overthrow of the government, the abdication of Napoleon III, and the end of the Second Empire.” The event of the overthrow of the French government is a major event that would affect Sarah Bernhardt and Nadar.
Another event that was occurring during the time of the portrait of Sarah Bernhardt is the American Civil War. The event would directly affect Nadar and Sarah Bernhardt as the United States of America was a major source of cotton and caused a cotton famine in many European countries. The cotton famine would have directly affected their lives in one way or another as cotton was a major resource produced by south United States (Peters, 2001).
The work was typical for its era as the portrait of Sarah Bernhardt “provided a better resemblance to the person portrayed than paintings or drawings”(Kuitert/2007). Photography gives us a greater resemblance to what is portrayed as paintings can be askew from reality as the artist can have a bias, although, a camera takes in light and gives us a more accurate depiction. During the 1860s it was typical for photography to be black and white as the only way to photography was in black and white (New York …show more content…

I personally find Nadar’s life interesting as he is not afraid to pursue his passion which changes a few times throughout his life. First, he follows a group of “artist and intellectuals” that “renamed themselves in defiance of the government”(Smithsonian/2017). Then, Nadar became a portrait and then got tired of it and quit. Finally, Nadar has been described as “pioneering aerial photography”(Sante/2017)and the “first aerial photographer”(Fiero/2011) expressing that he has been successful in many fields of study.
During the same time as the portrait study of Sarah Bernhardt across the world in the United States, there was a painting of Robert E. Lee being created. The major difference between the two pieces of work is one is an oil painting while the other is a portrait (National Portrait Gallery/2018). The Robert E. Lee painting shows an older man in a coloured world while the portrait of Sarah Bernhardt shows a young woman graceful in a black and white world. Robert E. Lee was the commander of the Confederate army while Sarah Bernhardt was a star before the fame and a whole life ahead of

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