The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.
Sarah Bernhardt (1844–1923) was acclaimed as the greatest actor of her generation. The daughter of a Dutch-born Jewish courtesan, she commenced study at the Paris Conservatoire at age sixteen and at eighteen was accepted into the Comédie Française. She earned great acclaim there and at the Théâtre de l'Odéon with her performances in plays by Moliere, Hugo, Racine and others, but her relentless self-promotion and unconventional lifestyle made her unpalatable to administrators, resulting in her forming her own company in 1879. 'The Divine Sarah' was a prototype of the global superstar, ultimately performing in at least 70 roles in some 125 productions around the world. This photograph by Sydney's Falk Studio was made during her Australian tour in 1891. Established by Melbourne-born H Walter Barnett in 1885, Falk Studios was the go-to studio for portraits of local and visiting celebrities. In the 1890s Barnett established a highly successful photographic studio in London, where he created portraits for royalty and high society clientele. His works were widely admired for their beauty and artistic strength.
Purchased 2017
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Drawn from the NPG’s burgeoning collection of cartes de visite, Carte-o-mania! celebrates the wit, style and substance of the pocket-sized portraits that were taken and collected like crazy in post-goldrush Australia.
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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.
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The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.
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