Auguste Rodin, 1840 Paris - 1917 Meudon LES BÉNÉDICTIONS... Lot 551

Auguste Rodin, 1840 Paris - 1917 Meudon LES BÉNÉDICTIONS Bronze. Height: 28.1 cm. Width: 24.3 cm. Depth: 23.3 cm. "A.Rodin", stamped on the base "© by Musée Rodin" and "Georges Rudier Fondeur. Paris". Inside the pedestal "No.1723" in red. Enclosed is an expertise Comité Auguste Rodin, by Francois Lorenceau and Jérome Le Blay, 10 April 2010. Group of bronze figures with a nuanced green patina. Design of two winged youthful figures above a conical cloud formation tapering upwards. The model was created by Rodin in 1894, and the French Inspector General Armand Dayot (1851-1934) suggested in the same year that the sculpture be used as the crowning glory for a "Tower Monument of Work". This corresponded to a thought of the emancipation of the working class. The monument should have a height of 130 metres, formally inspired by important buildings of world architecture, such as the Tower of Pisa, the Staircase of Chambord, or the Trajan Column in Rome. On the pedestal should be the allegories of day and night, with the "Gate of Hell" in between. The crowning group "Bénédiction" should allegorise the expression of "joy and love". The monument was never realized, Rodin's group was now exhibited as a work independent of it. Between 1931 and 1945, the Musée Rodin had the foundry Alexis Rudier make at least three casts of the model. Another seven were cast by the Georges Rudier Foundry. This bronze is one of these seven examples. The Comité Rodin dates the execution "after lost mould" for March 1964. The bronze is in very good condition. A.R. Provenance: Musée Rodin Paris, Dominion Gallery Montreal, November 1965, acquired between 1965 and 1970. Literature: Listed in: Catalogue Critique de l'oeuvre sculpté d'Auguste Rodin, prepared by Galerie Brame & Lorenceau, Direction Mr. Jérome Le Blay, No. 2010-3069 B. (12413519) (11)