^Lot 505 Auguste Rodin

Seminal and highly lauded French sculptor (1840–1917) whose works, including the iconic ‘The Kiss’ and ‘The Thinker,’ earned him a place among the most influential artistic figures of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. ALS in French, signed “A. Rodin,” one page, 4.25 x 7, May 28, 1898. Letter to an unidentified woman, possibly Rodin’s close friend and biographer, Judith Cladel. In full (translated): “You will always find me at my home on Saturday from 3 to 5, glad to see you. All my best compliments.” A partial separation along central horizontal fold, some scattered light soiling and creasing, and a uniform shade of toning, otherwise fine condition.

Rodin frequently received visitors from all over the world at his country estate in Meudon and home in Paris. In May 1898, many of his visitors came to console him after the rejection of his statue of Balzac, a piece that took him seven years to complete. Earlier that month, Rodin had sent the sculpture to be displayed at the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts held at the Galerie des Machines in Paris. Jean Villemer reported in Le Figaro some of the remarks he heard as the public passed by the statue: ‘Dreadful … It’s a madman … It’s Balzac at Charenton [the psychiatric hospital] and he’s wearing his hospital gown … But it’s a snowman! Look, it’s melting! It already leans to one side: it’s going to fall.”

The statue had been commissioned by the Committee of the Société des Gens des Lettres, which rejected Rodin’s work and wrote “it has the duty to protest against the sketch exhibited at the Salon by M. Rodin, in which it refuses to recognize the statue of Balzac.” Although leading artists, musicians and writers lined up in support of Rodin—drafting a statement calling committee’s views “without importance” and creating a fund to buy the statue—the sculptor declined any bids for the work and kept the sculpture in his home at Meudon. A fine note from the famed artist at a turning point in his career.