Auguste Rodin

Maison Colin, Paris

M. Burg, Paris (acquired from the above in April 18, 1940)

Sale: Etude Gauthier-Goxe & Belaïsch, Enghien, May 28, 2000, lot 152

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Musée Rodin, catalogue sommaire des oeuvres d'Auguste Rodin et autres oeuvres d'art de la donation Rodin, Hôtel Biron, Paris, 1924, no. 77, illustration of the marble p. 33

Musée Rodin, catalogue sommaire des oeuvres d'Auguste Rodin et autres oeuvres d'art de la donation Rodin, Hôtel Biron, Paris, 1926, no. 77, illustration of the marble p. 31

Georges Grappe, Catalogue du Musée Rodin, Paris, 1944, no. 166, illustration of the marble p. 58

Cécile Goldscheider, Rodin, sa vie, son oeuvre, son héritage, Paris, 1962, illustration of the marble p. 49

Ionel Jianou & Cécile Goldscheider, Rodin, Paris, 1967, illustration of the marble pls. 54-55

Robert Descharnes & Jean-François Chabrun, Auguste Rodin, Lausanne, 1967, illustration of the marble p. 131 and a photograph of the studio p. 190

John L. Tancock, The Sculpture of Auguste Rodin, Philadelphia, 1976, illustration of the marble p. 77  

Albert E. Elsen, In Rodin's Studio, A Photographic Record of Sculpture in the Making, Ithaca, 1980, illustration of the marble on the cover

Hélène Pinet, Rodin, sculpteur et les photographes de son temps, Paris, 1985, no. 34, illustration of the marble p. 46

Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, The Bronzes of Rodin, Catalogue of Works in the Musée Rodin, vol. I, Paris, 2007, illustration of another cast p. 160

Excellent condition. The bronze bears a mottled green and brown patina that is in excellent condition. There are no scratches, abrasions or significant patina loss on the sculpture. The sculpture is structurally sound.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Le Baiser is one of Rodin's best-known and most highly regarded sculptures.  Originally intended for the left side of his monumental project, The Gates of Hell, the present work portrays a scene from Dante's Inferno.  Rodin depicts the ill-fated lovers, Paolo and Francesca, who were murdered by Francesca's husband and Paolo's brother, Vanni Malatesta. Banished to hell for their adulterous passion, the two lovers were doomed to spend eternity in an embrace. Among all the love stories in Dante's La Divina Commedia, this forbidden liaison, so reminiscent of courtly love, had the greatest resonance for a late 19th century audience. Unlike more austere, contemporary variations of this subject, Rodin depicts the lovers in the throws of a passionate kiss.  The sensuality of this work, enhanced by the tenderness of the figures' kiss, has made Le Baiser one of the most celebrated images of love in Western art.

After exhibiting his large marble version of Le Baiser at the annual salon in 1898, Rodin entered a contractual agreement with the Leblanc-Barbedienne foundry whereby bronze editions of this work would be cast over the next ten years.  Beginning in 1898, Barbedienne cast a 71 cm-high edition of Baiser, followed by editions of three smaller versions.  The present cast is number 13 from that first, 71cm reduction of Rodin's original sculpture.  Other casts from this edition are in the collections of the Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne; National Museum of Romania, Bucharest; Pushkin Museum, Moscow; Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest; Fondation Gianadda, Martigny; Fuji Art Museum, Tokyo; National Museum, Warsaw and the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.