Auguste RODIN (1840-1917). - Lot 107

Lot n° 107
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Estimation :
15000 - 20000 EUR
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Result : 90 520EUR
Auguste RODIN (1840-1917). - Lot 107
Auguste RODIN (1840-1917). Young girl with flowers, circa 1877. Terracotta bust signed "A Rodin" on the reverse. H. 50.5 cm. (small accidents and small missing pieces). Provenance : Gift of Auguste Rodin to Charles FEIL (1825-1887) around 1877 ; Louise FEIL, wife of Charles PAISSEAU (1850-1919) ; Doctor Georges PAISSEAU (1876-1948) ; Pierre-Henry PAISSEAU (1919-1998) ; by descent. Related literature : -Cécile GOLDSCHEIDER, Auguste RODIN: Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre sculpté, Lausanne, Wildenstein Institute, Paris, Bibliothèque des arts, 1989, t.I ; -Micheline HANOTELLE, Paris-Brussels: Around RODIN and MEUNIER, Courbevoie, ACR édition, 1997; -June Ellen HARGROVE, Gilles GRANDJEAN, CARRIER-BELLEUSE, le maître de RODIN, cat. exp., Compiègne, Palais de Compiègne, 22 May-27 October 2014, Paris, RMN, 2014 ; -Catherine CHEVILLOT, Antoinette Le NORMAND ROMAIN, RODIN, Le Livre du Centenaire, cat. exp., Paris, Grand Palais, March 22-July 31, 2017, Paris, RMN and Musée Rodin éd. 2017. Note: After his demobilization in 1870, Auguste Rodin joined his master Albert-Ernest CARRIER-BELLEUSE (1824-1887) in Belgium. The man known as the "Clodion of the Second Empire" directed the construction of the Bourse de Commerce in Brussels. On his return to Paris in 1877, Rodin moved into a studio on rue Lebrun and became friends with his neighbor, Charles FEIL (1825-1887). The latter, a famous glass chemist, supported the young sculptor financially. In gratitude, Auguste RODIN offers him this unpublished terracotta bust. According to a habit established throughout his career, the artist pays tribute to his supporters, whether journalists, art critics or politicians, by donating works of his own. In RODIN's early works, the influence of CARRIER-BELLEUSE, described by Henry NOCQ as "the imprint (which) persisted in spite of everything", is visible both in his technique and in his style. This similarity can be seen in his busts of Jeune fille, chapeau fleuri de roses (Paris, Musée Rodin, inv. S.1056) of 1864, Madame CRUCHET of 1868 (Paris, Musée Rodin, inv. S. 00191) and Autumn or Grapes of 1874 (former collection of Mathias GINSBACH), of which it could possibly be the counterpart. In which case, this rose-capped bust could personify the season of Spring. However, if the "Carrier-Belleusian" imprint is obvious, we can already see in the inclination of the head, the asymmetry of the drapery and the melancholic expression the very particular hand of the genius from Meudon. RODIN, feeling that he owed CARRIER-BELLEUSE a moral contract, neglected to sign this bust before offering it to Charles FEIL. In the archives of the Musée RODIN, we find a correspondence from Charles PAISSEAU (1850-1919), Charles FEIL's son-in-law, from whom he inherited this bust. He wrote to the sculptor, then at the height of his fame, on October 27, 1900: "I have come to ask you to kindly sign this head for us, as mine and I are passionate admirers of your work. The signature on the back of the bust is indeed incised by Rodin's hand into the already fired clay. There was a written reply, according to family tradition, which disappeared during the Second World War, in which Rodin specifies that he had the bust brought to him, had recognized with "visible pleasure his beautiful model" and had signed it. This unknown and unpublished terracotta adds to the rare corpus of RODIN's early terracotta works. Expert : Cabinet LACROIX-JEANNEST
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