^Lot 640 Auguste Rodin

ANS in French, signed “A. Rodin,” one page, 4.5 x 7, no date. Brief note to an unidentified gentleman. In full (translated): “I authorize Monsieur A. to photograph the grisaille sketch for the monument of Victor Hugo at the Pantheon.” In very good condition, with a central horizontal fold through upper portion of signature, some mirroring of ink from folding, a couple edge and corner creases, and light pencil remnants to upper left.

In 1889, Rodin was commissioned to create a monument honoring Hugo for the Pantheon. He had created a bust of the great author in 1883 in spite of Hugo’s refusal to sit for him. The Parthenon monument was Rodin’s second commission by the state. Rodin first designed a seated Hugo surrounded by three muses on a rock symbolizing the Island of Guernsey, where the writer had been exiled. This version was deemed unacceptable as it would not fit with the other Parthenon monuments, and Rodin was told to develop a standing statue instead. He completed “The Apotheosis of Victor Hugo” in 1891, but it was never installed in the Parthenon. Rodin also reworked the seated concept for an outdoor installation, but the plaster version he presented appeared incomplete and was rejected. The monument to Hugo would not be cast in bronze until after Rodin’s death. A note from the legendary sculptor involving one of his most trying projects.