28 Auguste RODIN (1840-1917) Man with a broken... Lot 28

28 Auguste RODIN (1840-1917) Man with a broken nose, mask - type II, 2nd model, 1903 Sculpture in bronze with black-green shaded patina, signed "A. Rodin", stamped "A. Rodin" stamp embossed inside Cast by Alexis Rudier, inscription in hollow, circa 1926 H. 25.5 x W. 20 x D. 21.5 cm Total height with onyx pedestal 37.5 cm Designed circa 1863-1864, this version designed in 1903, this impression cast in 1926. Provenance : Musée Rodin, Paris. Eugène Rudier, Le Vésinet, Monsieur Raymond Subes, Paris, then by descent. Bibliography: A. Le Normand-Romain, Rodin et le bronze, catalog des œuvres conservées au musée Rodin, 2007, tome 2, pp. 415 & 416, model reproduced on pp. 414 & 415. Further bibliographies on request. Will be included in the critical catalog of Auguste Rodin's sculptural work, currently currently being prepared by Galerie Brame & Lorenceau, under the direction of Jérôme Le Blay. Rodin was very attached to this early work, in which his future personality was already revealed. future personality: "This mask determined all my future work. It was the first good sculpture I ever made [...] I never succeeded in making a figure as good as Le Nez cassé". The Broken Nose". The work takes as its starting point the portrait of an old habitué of the Saint-Marcel district, where Rodin had moved in May 1863. The man, who earned his living by who earned his living doing odd jobs of all kinds, was known as "Bibi"... portrait was probably painted at the end of 1863. The Man with the Broken Nose was reproduced in plaster and exhibited in Brussels in 1872, and later translated into marble when the sculptor could afford it. At the 1875 Salon, the work was accepted. The bust, in the tradition of portraits of ancient philosophers was bound to please the jury. Encouraged by this success, Rodin had it cast in bronze. first cast was exhibited at the 1878 Salon under the simple title of M**(n°4558). It the title Man with a Broken Nose, probably because of its striking resemblance to with Daniele da Volterra's portrait of Michelangelo. It was under this name that most often mentioned, and it was the name he carried from then on.