Auguste Rodin

Musée Rodin, Paris
Charles Pacquement, Paris (and sold: Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, December 12, 1932, lot 72)
Galerie Eugène Blot, Paris (acquired at the above sale)
Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 31, 1956, lot 6
Galerie Fine Arts Associates (Otto Gerson), New York (acquired at the above sale)
(Probably) Private Collection, United States
Marlborough Gallery, Inc., New York (acquired in 1965)
Mr. & Mrs. Josef Rosensaft, New York (acquired from the above in 1965 and sold: Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, March 17, 1976, lot 3)
Acquired at the above sale

New York, Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, Curt Valentin, 1963, no. 4, illustrated in the catalogue

Georges Grappe, Catalogue du Musée Rodin, Paris, 1927, nos. 110-115, illustration of the plaster version p. 52
Georges Grappe, Catalogue du Musée Rodin, Paris, 1944, no. 167c, illustration of the plaster p. 60
Robert Descharnes & Jean-François Chabrun, Auguste Rodin, Lausanne, 1967, illustration of the monumental bronze version p. 114
Ionel Jianou & Cécile Goldscheider, Rodin, Paris, 1967, illustration of the monumental bronze version pl. 41
Ludwig Goldscheider, Rodin Sculptures, London, 1970, illustration of another cast pl. 39; illustration of the plaster version pl. 38
John L. Tancock, The Sculpture of Auguste Rodin, Philadelphia, 1976, no. 67-69-13, illustration of another cast p. 390
Claudie Judrin, Monique Laurent & Dominique Viéville, Auguste Rodin, Le Monument des Bourgeois de Calais (1884-1895), Paris & Calais, 1977, no. 87, illustration of another cast p. 223
Jacques de Caso & Patricia B. Sanders, Rodin's Sculpture, A Critical Study of the Spreckels Collection, San Francisco, 1977, no. 44, illustration of another cast p.223
Albert Elsen, Rodin's Art, The Rodin Collection of the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, New York, 2003, no. 30, illustration of the monumental version pp. 137-38
Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, The Bronzes of Rodin, Catalogue of the Works in the Musée Rodin, vol. I, Paris, 2007, illustration of another cast p. 237

Greenish black patina. Some surface dirt in the deeper crevices. A few dots of accretion near the bottom of the figure's robes. A few spots of patina loss at back of figure's robes near figures knees and on robe near figure's front left knee. Minor patina rubbing on the backs of the hands and in the hair, otherwise fine. This work is in very good condition.
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.

In 1884 Rodin was approached by the mayor of Calais to create a monument to the celebrated burghers of the city who in 1347 had offered themselves to the King of England, Edward III, in return for the lifting of a year long siege of the town. Edward agreed on condition that the burghers presented themselves wearing nooses, sackcloth and carrying the keys to the city. The lives of the burghers were spared, but in the moment depicted by Rodin they are shown in expectation of their deaths. Pierre de Wiessant was the fourth burgher to offer his life, immediately after his brother Jacques de Wiessant. Their heroic act and that of the four burghers who accompanied them is commemorated in Rodin's monumental sculpture Les Bourgeois de Calais now widely recognized as one of the greatest achievements in modern sculpture. Rodin worked tirelessly on developing the character of the individual figures and rather than idealizing the men he sought to explore the physical and psychological tension occasioned by this historic event. 

Antoinette Le Normand-Romain writes that "Pierre de Wiessant offers the image of suffering in the extreme. His body, bent, like a taut bow, vibrates with pain, his hands, opening like flowers, sing out" (Antoinette Le Normand-Romain & Annette Haudiquet, Rodin: The Burghers of Calais, Paris, 2001, p. 52).