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Lot Essay
Originally conceived in 1880-82 for the tympanum of the Gates of Hell, where she is cradled in the arms of L'homme qui tombe, as well as crouching in slightly varied form to the left of Le penseur, Femme accroupie belongs to the group of major early works inspired by Michelangelo, whose sculpture so affected Rodin when he first visited Italy in 1875. 'One of Rodin's most daring and expressive figures, The Crouching Woman is remarkable for the complexity and compactness of the pose. Created at the same time as those works...in which the influence of Michelangelo is most pronounced, it seems probable that in this work Rodin tried to emulate yet another aspect of Michelangelo's style' (J.L. Tancock, op. cit., p. 136).
The model for Femme accroupie was most probably Adèle, who posed for Rodin over a period of four years. Later, the head of the work was detached from its resting place on the figure's right knee and exhibited as an independent sculpture known as Head of lust. According to Georges Grappe, Rodin further modified the original form to create a caryatid figure which he considered using for a fountain. Other casts of Femme accroupie of this size are in the collections of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyons, the Queensland Art Gallery, Australia and the Hirshhorn Museum and the Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C.
Although she has an essentially inward and closed form, Rodin imbues Femme accroupie with a refined contrapposto which is superbly animated by the interplay of light on her graceful figure. A daring and complex pose and a highly expressive figure, Femme accroupie is one of Rodin's most dynamic works.
The model for Femme accroupie was most probably Adèle, who posed for Rodin over a period of four years. Later, the head of the work was detached from its resting place on the figure's right knee and exhibited as an independent sculpture known as Head of lust. According to Georges Grappe, Rodin further modified the original form to create a caryatid figure which he considered using for a fountain. Other casts of Femme accroupie of this size are in the collections of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyons, the Queensland Art Gallery, Australia and the Hirshhorn Museum and the Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C.
Although she has an essentially inward and closed form, Rodin imbues Femme accroupie with a refined contrapposto which is superbly animated by the interplay of light on her graceful figure. A daring and complex pose and a highly expressive figure, Femme accroupie is one of Rodin's most dynamic works.