Auguste Rodin

Alain Kotlar, Paris
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Good condition. Varied black and dark brown patina. There are small scattered areas of patina rubbing to the top of the chest as well as a few light, scattered nicks and scratches throughout the work.
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Unlike the Gates of Hell (1880-1917), where Rodin incorporated many sculptures which were originally conceived as single figures, late in his career, Rodin incorporated objects from the real world as well as fragments from his own sculpture in his oeuvre.  Mary L. Levkoff writes, "It is widely recognized that late in life Rodin achieved a kind of classicizing tranquility in his sculpture.  This can be seen in the Whistler memorial and in the serene maquette for the Monument to Puvis de Chavannes (fig. 1).  They may have been inspired by Classical prototypes: respectively the Victory Writing on a Shield and Pothos attributed to Skopas (Rome, Capitoline Museum).  Taken together, these very different compositions that were created after the Balzac reveal how remarkably versatile, truly creative, and expressive Rodin was.  This is why his career and his sculptures are endlessly fascinating" (Mary L. Levkoff, 'The Monuments to the Burgherds of Calais, Victor Hugo, and Honoré Balzac,' Rodin:  A Magnificent Obsession, London, 2001, p. 85).

This figure represents the final state of the character "Le Genie du Repose Eternel", a central element of a monument to Puvis de Chavannes whom Rodin greatly admired.  In 1910, a plaster of the Final State of "The Genius" was entrusted by Rodin to the care of one of his best practitioners, the sculptor Charles Despiau, to produce the marble.  But, as Despiau was called up for military duty, he was unable to finish the work before Rodin's death (the unfinished marble resides in the gardens at Musee Rodin).  The final state of the plaster, which remained mostly hidden and unknown for the remainder of the 20th century, was given to the Musee Rodin in 2000 and allowed for the first casting in 2001.

 

Fig. 1 Auguste Rodin, Monument to Puvis de Chavannes, Musée Rodin, undated aristotype by Jean-François Limet