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Lot Essay
*This lot may be exempt from sales tax as set forth in the Sales Tax Notice in the back of the catalogue
The number of variations Rodin executed on the theme of lovers is virtually incalculable. The opportunity to explore this theme in depth came with Rodin's 1880 commission from the French state for the monumental La porte de l'enfer. The numerous figures included in this work continued to serve as a well-spring of inspiration throughout his career. The female figure is also closely related to his 1889 composition, Le rêve, where she appears protectively hovering above a sleeping child.
In the catalogue to his groundbreaking 1900 Paris exhibition, Rodin described the present work with the following, "Above the delicate and tender body of a young girl laying dreamily, a succubae quietly approaches like a mist rising from the ground". Rodin cast the present work in bronze, in addition to creating three marble versions. The present version may be traced to a marble that was commissioned by one of Rodin's most important patrons, the Crédit Algérien president Joanny Peytel. A plaster cast was created from this marble, and henceforth used as the model for the present work, in addition to serving as the scale model for the other marbles. The second marble version was formerly in the Marsan Collection, Toulouse (commissioned from the artist in 1897); and the third is housed in the Faure Museum, Aix-les-Bains.
The number of variations Rodin executed on the theme of lovers is virtually incalculable. The opportunity to explore this theme in depth came with Rodin's 1880 commission from the French state for the monumental La porte de l'enfer. The numerous figures included in this work continued to serve as a well-spring of inspiration throughout his career. The female figure is also closely related to his 1889 composition, Le rêve, where she appears protectively hovering above a sleeping child.
In the catalogue to his groundbreaking 1900 Paris exhibition, Rodin described the present work with the following, "Above the delicate and tender body of a young girl laying dreamily, a succubae quietly approaches like a mist rising from the ground". Rodin cast the present work in bronze, in addition to creating three marble versions. The present version may be traced to a marble that was commissioned by one of Rodin's most important patrons, the Crédit Algérien president Joanny Peytel. A plaster cast was created from this marble, and henceforth used as the model for the present work, in addition to serving as the scale model for the other marbles. The second marble version was formerly in the Marsan Collection, Toulouse (commissioned from the artist in 1897); and the third is housed in the Faure Museum, Aix-les-Bains.