Auguste RODIN (1840-1917) Néréides, sketch also known as "Si - Lot 146

Auguste RODIN (1840-1917) Néréides, sketch also known as "Sirènes, petit modèle", (before 1887) Bronze proof with shaded brown-green patina. Signed "Rodin" and stamped Alexis Rudier Fondeur Paris on the terrace on the back. Stamped "A. Rodin" inside. Cast in 1945. 21.9 x 22.8 x 13 cm Provenance: - Paris, Galerie Univers du Bronze, 27-29 rue de Penthièvre, 75008 - French private collection This bronze is archived and listed in the archives of the Comité Rodin under no. 2007-V1716B dated December 10, 2007. The buyer will be given a photocopy of this archiving decision. This work will be included in the forthcoming catalog Auguste Rodin critique de l'œuvre sculpté currently being prepared by the Comité Auguste Rodin at Galerie Brame et Lorenceau under the direction of Jérôme Le Blay. A certificate from Galerie Univers du Bronze will be given to the buyer. This suavely arranged garland of women seems to have emerged from the foam of the waves. From the mythological allegory, Auguste Rodin retains only the representation of the female body, without any anecdotal allusion. The composition allows the sculptor to show a profile, a face and a back in the same group. Produced in 1887, the group was to feature in several of the artist's compositions, including La mort du poète (1890), the Monument à Victor Hugo, deuxième projet (1893), and on the Porte de l'Enfer, left panel, above the Ugolin group. This model, which was produced in two sizes (43.5 x 45.5 cm and 21.8 x 22.5 cm), particularly influenced his pupil Camille Claudel when she created La Vague in 1902.