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Lot Essay
RODIN'S CHOICE OF EVE AS A THEME FOR A LARGE FIGURE REFLECTS THE GREAT POPULARITY OF THE SUBJECT IN THE SALONS AFTER THE 1850S. WHILE CREATING LES PORTES DE L'ENFER - RODIN'S PIèCE DE RéSISTANCE AND LIFELONG PROJECT, COMMISSIONED IN 1880 FOR THE PLANNED AND LONG-AWAITED MUSéE DES ARTS DéCORATIFS IN PARIS - THE SCULPTOR STARTED HIS OWN, ORIGINAL MEDITATION UPON THE FIGURE OF EVE, SEEN AS THE ARCHETYPE OF THE FALLEN WOMAN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SINS OF MANKIND. FROM THE BEGINNING, RODIN CHOSE TO CAPTURE THE WOMAN IN THE VERY MOMENT OF HER TRAGIC AWARENESS OF THE SIN, HIDING HER BENT HEAD IN HER ARMS, DEVASTATED BY SHAME AND REMORSE.
WITH AN UNORTHODOX COUP DE GéNIE, HOWEVER, RODIN'S VISION OF EVE EXTENDED BEYOND THE SALACIOUS DISTASTE OF MOST CONTEMPORARY REPRESENTATIONS, AND HE CREATED A NEW IMAGE, EXTREMELY ORIGINAL AND COMPLEX, PROFOUNDLY INFLUENCED BY MASACCIO'S (FIG. 1) AND MICHELANGELO'S DRAMATIC INTERPRETATIONS OF THE THEME. AS JACQUES DE CASO POINTS OUT, IT SEEMS THAT 'NOTHING IN RODIN'S SCULPTURE SUGGESTS THAT SHE IS IN HERSELF, EVIL. A CURIOUS SELF-SUFFICIENCY SURROUNDS HER AS SHE WITHDRAWS LANGUIDLY INTO HERSELF; SHE SEEMS TO BE BOTH JUDGE AND VICTIM. THE ARTIST'S SYMPATHETIC TREATMENT MAY BE A RESULT OF HIS VENERATION FOR WOMANKIND...' (OP. CIT., P. 143). RODIN WAS UTTERLY FASCINATED BY EVE, AND HIS IDEA OF THE FIRST WOMAN - SUPERIOR TO MAN BECAUSE OF HER LATER CREATION - WAS ALSO PARTICULARLY CLOSE TO THAT OF BALZAC, WHO STATED: '...SORTIE LA DERNIèRE DES MAINS QUI FAONNAIENT LES MONDES, [EVE] DOIT EXPRIMER PLUS PUREMENT QUE TOUTE AUTRE LA PENSéE DIVINE... ' (EUGéNIE GRANDET, OEUVRES COMPLèTES DE H. DE BALZAC, PARIS, 1900, PP. 263-264). VICTOR HUGO WAS SIMILARLY INSPIRED BY THE FIGURE OF EVE:
EVE OFFRAIT AU CIEL BLEU SA SAINTE NUDITé;
EVE BLONDE ADMIRAIT L'AUBE, SA SOEUR VERMEILLE.
CHAIR DE LA FEMME! ARGILE IDéALE! O MERVEILLE!
O PéNéTRATION SUBLIME DE L'ESPRIT
DANS LE LIMON QUE L'ETRE INEFFABLE PéTRIT!
MATIèRE Où L'âME BRILLE à TRAVERS SON SUAIRE!
BOUE Où L'ON VOIT LES DOIGTS DU DIVIN STATUAIRE...
(FROM LA CONSCIENCE, OEUVRES COMPLèTES DE VICTOR HUGO: LA LéGENDE DES SIèCLES, PARIS, 1968, PP. 30-31, PP. 144-150).
RODIN, INTRIGUED BY THE CHALLENGE OF DEPICTING THE FIRST WOMAN 'APRèS LE PéCHé', EXECUTED A LIFE-SIZE VERSION IN 1881; IT WAS THE HALF-SIZE REDUCTION, HOWEVER, WHICH WAS FIRST EXHIBITED PUBLICLY, APPEARING AT THE SALON OF 1883. THE SCULPTURE BECAME ONE OF RODIN'S MOST POPULAR WORKS AND BY 1887 SEVERAL SIMILAR MARBLE VERSIONS HAD BEEN COMMISSIONED BY PARISIAN COLLECTORS.
RODIN WAS VERY PARTICULAR IN HIS CHOICE OF THE MODEL FOR EVE. THE BIBLICAL ORIGINATOR OF SIN, CAUGHT IN A DRAMATIC - AS WELL AS POWERFULLY CLASSICAL - CONTRAPPOSTO, INTENDED TO DISPLAY BOTH THE TRADITIONAL CONCEPT OF THE éTERNEL FéMININ AND THE IRRESISTIBLE BEAUTY OF THE FIRST WOMAN, IS ALL THE WHILE INVESTED WITH HIS SYMPATHY FOR THE WOMAN'S FRAILTY. HE CHOSE THE ITALIAN ADELE ABRUZZEZZI, OF WHOM HE WAS LATER TO RECALL 'THE DARK ONE HAD SUNBURNED SKIN, WARM, WITH THE BRONZE REFLECTIONS OF THE WOMEN OF SUNNY LANDS, HER MOVEMENTS WERE QUICK AND FELINE, WITH THE LISSOMENESS AND GRACE OF A PANTHER; ALL THE STRENGTH AND SPLENDOUR OF MUSCULAR BEAUTY AND THAT PERFECT EQUILIBRIUM, THAT SIMPLICITY OF BEARING THAT MAKES GREAT GESTURE' (QUOTED IN A.A. ELSEN, AUGUSTE RODIN: READINGS ON HIS LIFE AND WORK, NEW JERSEY, 1965, P. 164). THE ARTIST ENJOYED RELATING HOW, WHILE WORKING WITH ADELE, HER SHAPE APPEARED TO CHANGE FROM DAY TO DAY. HE ACCORDINGLY HAD TO MODIFY HIS WORK UNTIL THE TIME FINALLY ARRIVED WHEN HE REALISED SHE WAS PREGNANT. NOT ONLY WAS ADELE TO BEAR AN ILLEGITIMATE CHILD, BUT SHE SHORTLY RAN AWAY WITH HER RUSSIAN LOVER.
THE PRESENT STATUE WAS ACQUIRED FROM RODIN BY THE PROMINENT FRENCH BANKER ALBERT KAHN (1860-1939) IN ABOUT 1897, AND IT HAS REMAINED IN THE FAMILY EVER SINCE. ALBERT KAHN WAS RODIN'S MOST SUPPORTIVE PATRON, THE FAITHFUL MéCèNE WHO SPONSORED THE FAMOUS EXPOSITION DE L'ALMA, AN EXHIBITION OF RODIN'S WORKS HELD IN PARIS IN 1900 AT THE SAME TIME AS THE EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE. IT WAS THIS EXHIBITION WHICH MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE SCULPTOR'S INTERNATIONAL FAME. KAHN WAS A TYPICAL SELF-MADE MAN; EXTREMELY DYNAMIC AND AMBITIOUS, HE STARTED HIS CAREER IN THE BANKING BUSINESS AS A PORTER, QUICKLY RISING UP THE HIERARCHY UNTIL HE BOUGHT THE BANK IN THE 1890S, AND CHANGED ITS NAME TO BANQUE KAHN, PARIS.
A TRUE UMANISTA IN HIS IDEALS AND LARGESSE, HE GREATLY ADMIRED RODIN'S WORK, BECOMING HIS MOST IMPORTANT COLLECTOR SINCE 1886. BETWEEN 1886 AND 1908 HE BOUGHT FIVE DIFFERENT MARBLES FROM THE SCULPTOR: L'ETERNEL PRINTEMPS, LA MAIN DE DIEU, LA CHUTE D'ICARE (NOW IN THE MUSéE RODIN, PARIS), FUGIT AMOR, AND THIS FINE EXAMPLE OF EVE.
PAUL KHAN FINANCED HIS OWN, PERSONAL UTOPIA; THE AMBITIOUS PROJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH FOR POSTERITY THE LIVES AND ENVIRONMENTS OF PEOPLE WORLDWIDE BEFORE THEY WERE IRREVOCABLY ALTERED BY THE MARCH OF INDUSTRIALISATION AND URBANISATION. THE IMPRESSIVE RESULTS OF HIS ENTERPRISE - SO ROMANTICALLY IDEALISTIC THAT IT DROVE HIM TO BANKRUPTCY - NOW FORM THE ARCHIVES DE LA PLANèTE, HOUSED IN THE MUSéE KHAN IN BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT, PARIS.
WITH AN UNORTHODOX COUP DE GéNIE, HOWEVER, RODIN'S VISION OF EVE EXTENDED BEYOND THE SALACIOUS DISTASTE OF MOST CONTEMPORARY REPRESENTATIONS, AND HE CREATED A NEW IMAGE, EXTREMELY ORIGINAL AND COMPLEX, PROFOUNDLY INFLUENCED BY MASACCIO'S (FIG. 1) AND MICHELANGELO'S DRAMATIC INTERPRETATIONS OF THE THEME. AS JACQUES DE CASO POINTS OUT, IT SEEMS THAT 'NOTHING IN RODIN'S SCULPTURE SUGGESTS THAT SHE IS IN HERSELF, EVIL. A CURIOUS SELF-SUFFICIENCY SURROUNDS HER AS SHE WITHDRAWS LANGUIDLY INTO HERSELF; SHE SEEMS TO BE BOTH JUDGE AND VICTIM. THE ARTIST'S SYMPATHETIC TREATMENT MAY BE A RESULT OF HIS VENERATION FOR WOMANKIND...' (OP. CIT., P. 143). RODIN WAS UTTERLY FASCINATED BY EVE, AND HIS IDEA OF THE FIRST WOMAN - SUPERIOR TO MAN BECAUSE OF HER LATER CREATION - WAS ALSO PARTICULARLY CLOSE TO THAT OF BALZAC, WHO STATED: '...SORTIE LA DERNIèRE DES MAINS QUI FAONNAIENT LES MONDES, [EVE] DOIT EXPRIMER PLUS PUREMENT QUE TOUTE AUTRE LA PENSéE DIVINE... ' (EUGéNIE GRANDET, OEUVRES COMPLèTES DE H. DE BALZAC, PARIS, 1900, PP. 263-264). VICTOR HUGO WAS SIMILARLY INSPIRED BY THE FIGURE OF EVE:
EVE OFFRAIT AU CIEL BLEU SA SAINTE NUDITé;
EVE BLONDE ADMIRAIT L'AUBE, SA SOEUR VERMEILLE.
CHAIR DE LA FEMME! ARGILE IDéALE! O MERVEILLE!
O PéNéTRATION SUBLIME DE L'ESPRIT
DANS LE LIMON QUE L'ETRE INEFFABLE PéTRIT!
MATIèRE Où L'âME BRILLE à TRAVERS SON SUAIRE!
BOUE Où L'ON VOIT LES DOIGTS DU DIVIN STATUAIRE...
(FROM LA CONSCIENCE, OEUVRES COMPLèTES DE VICTOR HUGO: LA LéGENDE DES SIèCLES, PARIS, 1968, PP. 30-31, PP. 144-150).
RODIN, INTRIGUED BY THE CHALLENGE OF DEPICTING THE FIRST WOMAN 'APRèS LE PéCHé', EXECUTED A LIFE-SIZE VERSION IN 1881; IT WAS THE HALF-SIZE REDUCTION, HOWEVER, WHICH WAS FIRST EXHIBITED PUBLICLY, APPEARING AT THE SALON OF 1883. THE SCULPTURE BECAME ONE OF RODIN'S MOST POPULAR WORKS AND BY 1887 SEVERAL SIMILAR MARBLE VERSIONS HAD BEEN COMMISSIONED BY PARISIAN COLLECTORS.
RODIN WAS VERY PARTICULAR IN HIS CHOICE OF THE MODEL FOR EVE. THE BIBLICAL ORIGINATOR OF SIN, CAUGHT IN A DRAMATIC - AS WELL AS POWERFULLY CLASSICAL - CONTRAPPOSTO, INTENDED TO DISPLAY BOTH THE TRADITIONAL CONCEPT OF THE éTERNEL FéMININ AND THE IRRESISTIBLE BEAUTY OF THE FIRST WOMAN, IS ALL THE WHILE INVESTED WITH HIS SYMPATHY FOR THE WOMAN'S FRAILTY. HE CHOSE THE ITALIAN ADELE ABRUZZEZZI, OF WHOM HE WAS LATER TO RECALL 'THE DARK ONE HAD SUNBURNED SKIN, WARM, WITH THE BRONZE REFLECTIONS OF THE WOMEN OF SUNNY LANDS, HER MOVEMENTS WERE QUICK AND FELINE, WITH THE LISSOMENESS AND GRACE OF A PANTHER; ALL THE STRENGTH AND SPLENDOUR OF MUSCULAR BEAUTY AND THAT PERFECT EQUILIBRIUM, THAT SIMPLICITY OF BEARING THAT MAKES GREAT GESTURE' (QUOTED IN A.A. ELSEN, AUGUSTE RODIN: READINGS ON HIS LIFE AND WORK, NEW JERSEY, 1965, P. 164). THE ARTIST ENJOYED RELATING HOW, WHILE WORKING WITH ADELE, HER SHAPE APPEARED TO CHANGE FROM DAY TO DAY. HE ACCORDINGLY HAD TO MODIFY HIS WORK UNTIL THE TIME FINALLY ARRIVED WHEN HE REALISED SHE WAS PREGNANT. NOT ONLY WAS ADELE TO BEAR AN ILLEGITIMATE CHILD, BUT SHE SHORTLY RAN AWAY WITH HER RUSSIAN LOVER.
THE PRESENT STATUE WAS ACQUIRED FROM RODIN BY THE PROMINENT FRENCH BANKER ALBERT KAHN (1860-1939) IN ABOUT 1897, AND IT HAS REMAINED IN THE FAMILY EVER SINCE. ALBERT KAHN WAS RODIN'S MOST SUPPORTIVE PATRON, THE FAITHFUL MéCèNE WHO SPONSORED THE FAMOUS EXPOSITION DE L'ALMA, AN EXHIBITION OF RODIN'S WORKS HELD IN PARIS IN 1900 AT THE SAME TIME AS THE EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE. IT WAS THIS EXHIBITION WHICH MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE SCULPTOR'S INTERNATIONAL FAME. KAHN WAS A TYPICAL SELF-MADE MAN; EXTREMELY DYNAMIC AND AMBITIOUS, HE STARTED HIS CAREER IN THE BANKING BUSINESS AS A PORTER, QUICKLY RISING UP THE HIERARCHY UNTIL HE BOUGHT THE BANK IN THE 1890S, AND CHANGED ITS NAME TO BANQUE KAHN, PARIS.
A TRUE UMANISTA IN HIS IDEALS AND LARGESSE, HE GREATLY ADMIRED RODIN'S WORK, BECOMING HIS MOST IMPORTANT COLLECTOR SINCE 1886. BETWEEN 1886 AND 1908 HE BOUGHT FIVE DIFFERENT MARBLES FROM THE SCULPTOR: L'ETERNEL PRINTEMPS, LA MAIN DE DIEU, LA CHUTE D'ICARE (NOW IN THE MUSéE RODIN, PARIS), FUGIT AMOR, AND THIS FINE EXAMPLE OF EVE.
PAUL KHAN FINANCED HIS OWN, PERSONAL UTOPIA; THE AMBITIOUS PROJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH FOR POSTERITY THE LIVES AND ENVIRONMENTS OF PEOPLE WORLDWIDE BEFORE THEY WERE IRREVOCABLY ALTERED BY THE MARCH OF INDUSTRIALISATION AND URBANISATION. THE IMPRESSIVE RESULTS OF HIS ENTERPRISE - SO ROMANTICALLY IDEALISTIC THAT IT DROVE HIM TO BANKRUPTCY - NOW FORM THE ARCHIVES DE LA PLANèTE, HOUSED IN THE MUSéE KHAN IN BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT, PARIS.