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Honoré de Balzac

Bust
ca. 1891- ca. 1892 (made)
Artist/Maker
Alexis Rudier (Founder)
Rodin (sculptor)
Place of origin
France (made)

The bust is cast from one of the first studies in clay for a monument commemorating the French writer Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), commissioned in 1891 by the Society of Writers under the presidency of Emile Zola.

Balzac had then been dead for over 40 years. Rodin attempted to overcome this difficulty by researching the writer's life and visiting the region around Tours where he had lived in order to study the local facial types. But another, and more reliable, source for this bust was a portrait of Balzac of about 1822, attributed to Achille Devéria. The spirited and free handling of the clay of the original study, retained in the bronze, together with the erect head and direct gaze of the sitter, convey the confidence and determination associated with youth. Later - and controversially - Rodin decided to represent Balzac as an older rather haggard man, over life size, and enveloped in a long, loose robe.

Object details

Category
Sculpture
Object type
Bust
TitleHonoré de Balzac (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Bronze
Bronze
Brief description
Bust of Honoré de Balzac, by Auguste Rodin, French, bronze, ca. 1891-2
Dimensions
  • Height: 450mm
  • Width: 800mm
  • Weight: 42kg
  • Depth: 600mm
Marks and inscriptions
  • A. Rodin (Inscribed on the front of the left shoulder)
  • Alexis Rudier/Fondeur, Paris (Inscribed on the back of the right shoulder)
  • ALEXIS RUDIER.FONDEUR.PARIS (Marked)
Gallery label
(2021)
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917)
Portrait of Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) after Devéria
1891–92

This bust was cast from an early study for Rodin’s monument to the French writer Balzac. Rodin studied existing likenesses of him and based this bust on the portrait of the writer in his twenties by Achille Devéria. Rodin’s spirited handling of the clay, retained in the bronze, suggests the vitality of youth. His completed monument to Balzac shows him as an older man.

Paris
Bronze, cast by Alexis Rudier
(June 2006)
This bust is an early study for Rodin's controversial monument to the French writer, Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), commissioned in 1891 by the Société des Gens des Lettres, and completed in 1898. The plaster model was rejected by the Société, as being a 'shapeless mass', and Rodin took it to his home at Meudon; it was eventually cast in bronze after his death.
(March 2007)
This bust is cast from an early study for the monument to the French writer Balzac (1799-1850). The spirited handling of the clay, retained in the bronze, suggests the vitality of youth. In 1914, Rodin exhibited the bust in a London exhibition of French contemporary art. This was a reference to his final, highly controversial monument to Balzac, which showed him as an older man enveloped in a loose robe.
Credit line
Given by Rodin in November 1914
Object history
Given by Rodin in November 1914
Summary
The bust is cast from one of the first studies in clay for a monument commemorating the French writer Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), commissioned in 1891 by the Society of Writers under the presidency of Emile Zola.

Balzac had then been dead for over 40 years. Rodin attempted to overcome this difficulty by researching the writer's life and visiting the region around Tours where he had lived in order to study the local facial types. But another, and more reliable, source for this bust was a portrait of Balzac of about 1822, attributed to Achille Devéria. The spirited and free handling of the clay of the original study, retained in the bronze, together with the erect head and direct gaze of the sitter, convey the confidence and determination associated with youth. Later - and controversially - Rodin decided to represent Balzac as an older rather haggard man, over life size, and enveloped in a long, loose robe.
Bibliographic references
  • Hawkins, Jennifer, Rodin Sculptures, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1975, p.23, ill. 17.
  • Lawton, Frederik. The Life and Works of Auguste Rodin. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1906. pp. 174-190.
  • Victoria and Albert Museum. Catalogue of Sculpture by Auguste Rodin. London. p. 18. pl. X.
  • Brown, F. P. London Sculpture. Oxford, 1934. p. 82.
  • Mitchell, Claudine. The Gift to the British Nation: Rodin at the V&A. In: Mitchell, Claudine. ed.Rodin: The Zola of Sculpture. Henry Moore Institute, 2003. pp. 183-200.
  • Alley, R. Tate Gallery Catalogue: Foreign Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture. London, 1959. pp. 217-218.
  • Antoinette, Le Normand-Romain. The Bronzes of Rodin: Catalogue of Works in the Musée Rodin. London : Lund Humphries ; Paris : Éditions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 2007. p. 173.
  • Lampert, Catherine, Rodin, London, Royal Academy of Arts, 2006
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.42-1914

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Record createdJune 5, 2007
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O135951/honoré-de-balzac-bust-rodin/
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