Auguste Rodin

Private Collection, France
Sale: Tajan, Paris, June 16, 1997, lot 2
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Léon Maillard, Auguste Rodin, Statuaire, Paris, 1899, illustration of another cast pp. 121-22
Georges Grappe, Catalogue du Musée Rodin, Paris, 1927, nos. 69-70, illustration of another cast p. 42
Judith Cladel, Rodin, London, 1936, illustration of the marble version p. 97
Georges Grappe, Le Musée Rodin, Paris, 1944, no. 87, illustration of another cast pl. 56
Robert Descharnes & Jean-François Chabrun, Auguste Rodin, London & Melbourne, 1967, illustration of another cast p. 134
Ionel Jianou & Cécile Goldscheider, Rodin, Paris, 1967, illustration of another cast pls.
56-57
John L. Tancock, The Sculpture of Auguste Rodin, Philadelphia, 1976, no. 32b, illustration of another cast p. 246
Rodin (exhibition catalogue), Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny, 1984, no. 63,
illustration of another cast p. 111
Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, The Bronzes of Rodin, Catalogue of Works in the Musée Rodin, vol. I, Paris, 2007, no. S.777, illustration of another cast p. 334

The work is in excellent condition overall. Golden brown patina. Very minor surface dirt in crevices. A few minor surface scuffs and scratches.
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.

Éternel printemps was one of Rodin's most celebrated sculptures of the 1880s. The theme of embracing lovers preoccupied Rodin and calls to mind the story of Paolo and Francesca, Dante's mythical paramours who were condemned to spend eternity locked in a maelstrom of passion. For the figure of the woman Rodin used the highly sensual Torse d'Adèle, 1882, which was named after the model who posed for the sculptor. This form was first used to the left of the tympanum of the Gates of Hell and again later in La Chute d'un ange, but it gained its greatest fame when it was united with the figure of the youthful male in the present work.  Animated by the dazzling play of light on the surface and the sweeping upward movement of the man, the figures seem ready to take flight. As Ionel Jianou and Cécile Goldscheider have noted: "Rodin is an artist who can see and dares to express in all sincerity what he has seen. He discovers the enchantment of light and its resources, the vibration and intimate movement of surfaces and planes, the throb of passion that animates form. He uses 'highlights, heavy shadows, paleness, quivering, vaporous half-tones, and transitions so finely shaded that they seem to dissolve into air', giving his sculpture 'the radiance of living flesh'" (Ionel Jianou & Cécile Goldscheider, op. cit., p. 19).

From dealing with love in an allegorical way, Rodin began treating it in more human terms. As evident in the present work, there is a marked increase in the eroticism of his art and a corresponding growth in the daring movement of the poses which could be a reflection of the artist's studio practice allowing the models to move freely and independently. Rodin himself proclaimed: "Sculpture does not need to be original, what it needs is life... I used to think that movement was the chief thing in sculpture and in all I did it was what I tried to attain... Grief, joy, thoughts—in our art all becomes action" (quoted in, ibid., pp. 19-20).



This work will be included in the forthcoming Catalogue Critique de l'oeuvre sculpté d'Auguste Rodin being currently prepared by Galerie Brame & Lorenceau under the direction of Jérôme Le Blay under the archive number 2007-1257B.