Sacha GUITRY (1885-1957 )Self-portrait as Prince Louis NapoleonPencil and red pastel. Signed lower right and annotated at the top "Souvenir du Deux Décembre, Napoléon III". 48 x 31.5 cmBibliography : Sacha Guitry - Une vie d'artiste, edited by Noëlle Giret and Noël Herpe, La Cinémathèque Française / BNF / Gallimard, 2007, reproduced in the catalogue p. 208 . Sacha Guitry portrayed himself in the role of Prince Louis Napoleon, a character he had played in a comedy produced for the departure of his friend Georges Noblet, presented at the Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt on 4 December 1920. For this farewell performance that he had organised, Sacha Guitry wrote Comment on écrit l'Histoire, a comedy in two acts, in which Sarah Bernhardt, Yvonne Printemps, Lucien and Sacha Guitry, and Noblet himself played. Gabrielle Dorziat, Le Bargy, Messager, Sem, Mistinguett, Simone, Galipaux, Raimu, etc. also took part in this performance. Georges Noblet dedicated a programme created for this occasion to Sacha Guitry: "How much I am paid for 25 years of constant tenderness. You organized for your old friend, the most moving demonstration of sympathy that could be wished. You have written for me a delicious comedy... one of the most beautiful pearls in your already rich jewel box. To play Napoleon III (Prince Napoleon), you were not afraid to sacrifice a beard that suited you perfectly. I shudder to think that the action could have taken place under Charles the Bald...