Sculpture Collection Auguste Rodin Study for Head of Honoré de Balzac French, 1840-1917 7 x 8 x 6 1/2 inches On July 9, 1891, the Societé des gens de lettres, which had been considering a monument to Balzac for about 40 years (and in fact had given the commission to Henri Chapeau, who died without having done the work), signed a contract with Rodin to create a statue commemorating the author, with the understanding that the work would be completed in two years. Rodin was very enthusiastic about the project, and even found the tailor who made Balzac's clothes, ordering from him a complete set of clothing. He then found a model who fit the clothes, and did his models from him. In addition, he collected drawings and photographs of Balzac, and made numerous busts, heads, nude studies, and clothed figures. His final work was done over one of the nudes, with cloth dipped in plaster draped about it. The schedule was not met, and when the Societe visited his studio to see the work in progress, they were horrified at the models, which they felt were indecent and strange. Rodin's presentation of the model at the Salon in April 1898 created a scandal, and the commission was taken away from the artist. The statue was not cast until 1939, 18 years after Rodin's death, when it was installed on the corner of the boulevard Montparnasse and the boulevard Raspail. - From the catalogue, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. David Lloyd Kreeger, Editor Margy P. Sharpe, 1976. |
  
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