Rodin_2011

7. Mask of Madame Rodin (Rose Beuret) (Masque de Rose Beuret)

Conceived ca. 1882 ; this sand cast executed in March–April 1917 by Alexis Rudier with Patinated black and blue undertones and accents by Jean Limet Height (including base) 10 5 ⁄ 8 inches ( 27 cm) Signed on the neck lower right Foundry mark in the back: A. RUDIER F. EUR PARIS provenance Cast ordered by Rose Beuret Rodin; given by Madame Rodin to Rodin’s second cousin, Henri Cheffer, March, 1917 ; thence by descent; by private sale to Private Collection. selected literature Georges Grappe, Catalogue du Museé Rodin, vol. I. Hôtel Biron , Paris, 1927 , p. 6 5 , no. 1 6 0 ; Grappe, Paris, 1944 , p. 8 6; Ionel Jianou and Cécile Goldscheider, Rodin, Paris, 19 6 9 , p. 103 ; John L. Tancock, The Sculpture of Auguste Rodin: The Collection of the Rodin Museum, Philadelphia , Philadelphia, 197 6, pp. 480 , 482 , 48 6, no. 80 – 1 ; Albert E. Elsen, In Rodin’s Studio , Ithaca, 1980 , p. 1 6 4 ; Joan Vita Miller and Gary Marotta, Rodin: The B. Gerald Cantor Collection., excat New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 198 6, p. 103 ; Nicole Barbier, Marbres de Rodin: Collection du musée , Paris, 1987 , p. 3 6; Alain Beausire, Quand Rodin exposait , Paris, 1988 , pp. 57 –6 0 ; Ruth Butler, Rodin: The Shape of Genius , New Haven, 1993 , pp. 4 66, 5 6 9 ; Antoinette Le Normand-Romain et. al., Rodin en 1900. L’exposition de l’Alma, excat, Paris: Musée de Luxembourg, 2001 , p. 82 ; Albert E. Elsen, Rodin’s Art: The Rodin Collection of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University , Stanford, 2003 , pp. 452 – 455 , no. 132 ; Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, Rodin et le bronze , Paris, 2007 , vol. II, p. 20 6; Jérôme Le Blay, Catalogue critique de l’oeuvre scultpé d’Auguste Rodin (in preparation), Paris, no. 200 6- 904 B. This sculpture is the last of Rodin’s portraits of Rose Beuret ( 1844 – 1917 ), the seamstress from Champagne who met Rodin in 18 6 4 and became his model, mistress, and, in 18 66, the mother of his child (whose paternity Rodin did not legally declare). She devoted her life to the sculptor and was his lifelong companion, the custodian of his studio, and mistress of the estate at Meudon. Rodin married Rose just days before her death, on 19 January, 1917 . Rodin modeled Rose’s features in four works. Both Mignon (c. 18 6 7 –6 8 ) and Bellona ( 1877 ) emphasize the sitter’s dynamic expression and strong temperament. The present work and the similar Alsatian Woman , probably executed slightly earlier, depict Rose as a mature woman with eyes closed and a pensive, inward expression. The present work was apparently Rodin’s favorite among the four portrayals. He exhibited it frequently, often with the title Madame Rodin , beginning with the plaster, which was installed on top of a tall column, itself mounted on a base, at the Rodin retrospective at the Pavillon de l’Alma, Paris, in 1900 . From 1904 , Rodin sent the bronze to a number of important international exhibitions, including the Exhibition of Fine Arts in Dusseldorf, Weimar, and Leipzig ( 1904 ).