Jane Birkin, the style icon and activist for democracy and animal rights, passed away on July 16, 2023, but her legacy will live on through her status as a fashion icon and, above all, her effortless elegance

Jane Birkin's legacy will live on through her status as a fashion icon and, above all, her effortless elegance

Birkin was a British-French actress and singer born in 1946 in the United Kingdom, famous for being the inspiration for the Birkin bag by Hermès. Defined by Paul Rowland as a "timeless muse", Birkin's style was about simplicity and attitude. From the beginning of her career, her style was so simple and elegant that she introduced something new into the fashion vocabulary and "set a style example for a generation of women," as Anna Sui explains.

Birkin was a British-French actress and singer famous for being the inspiration for the Birkin bag by Hermès

Birkin "set a style example for a generation of women" –Anna Sui

She was the muse of Serge Gainsbourg, singer and music lover, but she also inspired other artists who worked in different artistic disciplines such as Julian Schnabel, who made a series of oil paintings in honor of Birkin. In this entry we would like to highlight the influence of the actress and singer, whose impact encompassed a wide variety of artistic mediums.

She was the muse of Serge Gainsbourg, but she also inspired other artists who worked in different artistic disciplines such as Julian Schnabel

The "Jane Birkin" series, made in 1990 and alluding to the actress and singer, whom Schnabel did not know personally, was also a tribute to a sailboat with that name. The connection is reflected in the painting's unusual format, which is reminiscent of an inverted sail and represents the support material, since the artist painted on an old sail he had purchased in Egypt. This series of abstract works in a neo-expressionist style, consisting of seven large paintings, was exhibited in New York in 1994.

The "Jane Birkin" series, made in 1990 and alluding to the actress and singer, whom Schnabel did not know personally, was also a tribute to a sailboat with that name

This series of abstract works in a neo-expressionist style, consisting of seven large paintings, was exhibited in New York in 1994