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George and Sarah
Signed and dated at lower right Guy Pene de Bois 20. George Moore full-length, seated on the left side of the picture, half-turned to his left, hat perched on his knee, beside a sofa where a woman with red hair in a red dress reclines, with a tumbler containing a red beverage on a small table to her left.
The National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian calls this picture George Moore and Sarah Bernhardt. The owner calls it George Moore and Female Figure and explains:
Our records for this painting indicate that the female sitter is only identified as Sarah Bernhardt in a letter from Mary Dale dated 1963. As the provenance of this painting indicates it was once part of Chester Dale’s collection, perhaps Mary had further insight into the identity of the woman in the painting. However, according to the daughter of du Bois, Yvonne Pene du Bois, this is not a portrait of Sarah Bernhardt. Specifically she says, “Sarah Bernhardt, the actress, could never be conceitedly as uncontrolled as that poor [unclear] beaten lamp.” The owner’s summary of provenance and exhibition history is appended.
Owned by the Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts, USA; gift of the estate of Chester Dale.
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