Rodin_2011

he started to make my portrait with charcoal. A true Rembrandt.” 1 However, today, this identification seems very unlikely. First, the letter was written in 1887 , at least six years before the Séverine portraits were drawn, and at least a minimum of eight years from the date of 1895 – 1900 that Varnedoe himself assigned the portrait. Secondly, experts in Mirbeau, such as Pierre Michel, do not see any resemblance to Mirbeau in this drawing, nor do specialists in Rodin. Photos of Mirbeau and the other well known portraits of him by Rodin, including a bust and several pen and ink drawings of 1892 in the copy of Mirbeau’s novel Sébastien Roch owned by the Goncourt brothers 2 , show a very different person indeed. Mirbeau always wore a stylish moustache and only grew a beard when he was very old; while the open smock indicates that this is not a man of letters but an artist. While the exact identification of the model is an interesting point of discussion, the drawing is unquestionably a beautiful portrait, and unique in its size, its technique, and that it is based on a living male model. 1 . Letter by Goncourt to Rodin (fonds Herriot, Lyon), as cited by C. Judrin, Rodin et les écrivains de son temps , Paris, Musée Rodin, 1976 , p. 75 , author’s translation 2 . Edmond de Goncourt put together a collection of 29 books published by his friends who were writers, and had the covers decorated with portraits of himself made by his friends who were painters.