Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)

Property from the JULES MASTBAUM FAMILY COLLECTION

Details

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)

Tête de Père Pierre-Julien Eymard

signed on the right side 'A. Rodin.', inscribed with foundry mark on the back '.Alexis.RUDIER. Fondeur.PARIS.'--bronze with black and green patina
Height: 6in. (15.2cm.)

Original version executed in 1863; this bronze version cast 1925-1926

Provenance

Musée Rodin, Paris (acquired by Jules Mastbaum, 1926)

Literature

G. Grappe, Le Musée Rodin, Paris, 1934, p. 25 (plaster version illustrated)
I. Jianou and C. Goldscheider, Rodin, Paris, 1967, p. 83
J. L. Tancock, The Sculpture of Auguste Rodin, Philadelphia, 1976, pp. 468-472, no. 78a (another cast illustrated, p. 469)

Lot Essay

Father Pierre-Julien Eymard (1811-1868) was a critical influence on Rodin as a young man. Father Eymard founded the order of the Society of the Blessed Sacrament in the 1850s. Rodin entered the order to seek solace after the death of his sister Marie in 1862. There, known as Brother Augustin, Rodin modeled a bust of the order's spiritual leader. Father Eymard was so impressed with the result that he persuaded Rodin to return to secular life and pursue a vocation as a sculptor. Father Eymard was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1962.