“This captivating 1935 portrait captures acclaimed actress Elisabeth Bergner with a soft, intimate gaze, revealing a moment of quiet intensity from a pivotal year in her career.”
In this striking gelatin silver print, the Austrian-British actress Elisabeth Bergner gazes directly at us, her expression a mix of intensity and vulnerability. The photographer, Yosl Bergner, captures her with a soft focus that blurs the edges of her hair and clothing, giving the image a dreamlike quality. Her head is tilted slightly, and her dark eyes, framed by strong brows, hold our attention. The composition is tight, emphasizing her face and the delicate curve of her neck, which emerges from a dark, indistinct background. Created in 1935, the year she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in "Escape Me Never," this portrait offers a glimpse into the public persona of a celebrated stage and film actress at the height of her career, just before she was naturalized as a British subject.
- Artist
- Yosl Bergner
- Date
- 1935
- Medium
- Gelatin silver print
- Location
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Dimensions
- 42 × 34 cm (16 9/16 × 13 7/16 in.)
What to Notice
Four details hide in plain sight. Here’s where to look.
The soft focus blurring the edges of her hair and shoulders.
Her direct gaze, drawing you into the portrait.
The subtle tilt of her head, adding to her pensive expression.
The way her light skin contrasts with the dark background.
Yosl Bergner
1920–2017 · IsraelYosl Bergner, an Israeli painter, transformed everyday kitchen tools into poignant allegories reflecting a world shaped by conflict and memory.
Further Works by Bergner
More works to explore
Beyond Bergner: works from the same years.
Same era · 1920s–1950s
Lozenge Composition with Yellow, Black, Blue, Red, and Gray
Piet Mondrian · 1921 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1920s–1950s
Deux personnages
Pierre Alechinsky · 1950
Same era · 1920s–1950s
That Which I Should Have Done I Did Not Do (The Door)
Ivan Puni · 1931 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1920s–1950s
American Gothic
Okada Saburosuke · 1930 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1920s–1950s
Straße mit Passanten bei Nachtbeleuchtung
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner · 1927 · Museum Frieder Burda
Same era · 1920s–1950s
The Indestructibles
Philip Evergood · 1946 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1920s–1950s
Garden Airplane-Trap
Max Ernst · 1935 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1920s–1950s
Two Women on the Shore
Edvard Munch · 1935 · Munch Museum
Same era · 1920s–1950s
In the Magic Mirror
Paul Klee · 1934 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1920s–1950s
Untitled (Desert Landscape)
Salvador Dalí · 1934 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1920s–1950s
Woman at an Easel (Green Screen)
Georges Braque · 1936 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1920s–1950s
On the Threshold of Liberty
René Magritte · 1937 · Art Institute of Chicago