Auguste Rodin

Gaston Bernheim-Jeune, known as Gaston de Villers, the director of Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris (acquired from the artist)

Private Collection (by descent from the above)

Sale: Christie's, London, February 6, 2007, lot 1

Acquired at the above sale

Leonce Bénédite, Rodin, London, 1924, illustration of a larger cast pl. 20

Albert Edward Elsen, Rodin (exhibition catalogue), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1963, illustration of the terra cotta and another cast pp. 58-59

Denys Sutton, Triumphant Satyr, The World of Auguste Rodin, London, 1966, illustration of another cast fig. 20

Robert Descharnes & Jean-François Chabrun, Auguste Rodin, Paris, 1967, illustrations of the terracotta version and larger cast p. 93 

Ionel Jianou & Cécile Goldscheider, Rodin, Paris, 1967, illustration of another cast pl. 22

Cécile Goldscheider, Rodin (exhibition catalogue), The Hayward Gallery, London, 1970, illustration of another cast p. 41

Albert Edward Elsen, Rodin, London, 1974, illustrations of the terracotta version and larger cast pp. 58-59 

John L. Tancock, The Sculpture of Auguste Rodin, Philadelphia, 1976, illustrations of the terracotta and two other bronze casts pp. 136-140

Frederic V. Grunfeld, Rodin, A Biography, New York, 1987, pp. 187-188, 270 & 455

Ruth Butler, Rodin: The Shape of Genius, New Haven, 1993, pp. 187-188 & 192

Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, The Bronzes of Rodin, Catalogue of Works in the Musée Rodin, vol. I, Paris, 2007, illustrations of another cast pp. 360-362

This work is in very good condition. General wear to patina consistent with age and handling mostly to figure's left knee cap and left elbow. Shallow surface scratch to her lower abdomen, otherwise fine.
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.

Femme accroupie is one of Rodin's most remarkable sculptures in its complex rendering of human form. Conceived in 1882, this sculpture was created around the time that Rodin received the commission to design the decorative portals for a new Museum of Decorative Arts, the work later to be known as Porte de l'Enfer. Appearing twice in this monument as part of the figures Je suis belle and L'homme qui tombe, her raw beauty brings to mind both Michelangelo and Delacroix (fig. 1).

According to Catherine Lampert, "Rodin may have been tempted for years to place a model in the pose of Michelangelo's Crouching Youth... Something about the sculpture's unearthly expression, defined by the pronounced Gothic cheekbones and open mouth, distinguishes her from the look of the usual hired models, those who pout or feign shyness... If anything, her type, with parted lips and dark sensuality, reminds us of Delacroix's ravaged women" (C. Lampert, Rodin Sculpture and Drawings, London, 1986, pp. 57 and 61).

The penetrating expression rendered in the present sculpture calls to mind the words of poet Rainer Maria Rilke: "Again and again in his figures Rodin returned to this bending inward, to this intense listening to one's own depth" (R. M. Rilke, Rodin, London, 1946, p. 23). Recognizing the power of this sculpture, first conceived in the scale of the present bronze, Rodin later enlarged and reduced it for use in cognate works.