Auguste RODIN (1840-1917) Portrait of Madame... - Lot 10 - Daguerre

Auguste RODIN (1840-1917) Portrait of Madame Cruchet Terracotta. Signed A. Rodin in pencil on the back. H. 27 cm Some scratches and wear. Provenance: Maurice Fenaille collection; by descent. Like many artists, Auguste Rodin began by portraying his family before becoming a great portrait painter portraitist from the 1880s. Although his first bust dated 1860 represents his father, he also modelled the features of the features of people who come to his aid in gratitude, as in the case of Dr. Thiriar or of the contractor and decorator Cruchet in whose workshop he worked as a practitioner. This charming small-scale bust in terracotta belongs to a series of several variants representing the wife of this man who became one of the artist's first patrons. This portrait, exalting feminine grace, was done during the period when Rodin was working in the studio of Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, bears witness to the influence of the of the great master, whose busts in particular were very successful and representative of the taste of the Second Empire. In Rodin's early works, this influence of Carrier-Belleuse, which Henry Nocq described as The influence of Carrier-Belleuse, which Henry Nocq described as "the imprint (which) persisted in spite of everything", is visible both in the technique and in his style. Thus, we find the dexterity of the modelling of the material, combined with a sense of the picturesque anecdote with the flower clasp flowers adorning the headdress. This influence of Carrier-Belleusian realism reaches its peak in the last Portrait of Madame Cruchet, painted later, in 1878, at a time when Rodin was using his experience in the representation of charming portraits or fantasy busts (A.Rodin, Bacchante, around 1874, terracotta, H. 39.4 cm, signed A. Rodin, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art). Related works: - Auguste Rodin, Madame Cruchet, 1868, stained plaster, H. 24.5 cm, n°inv; S00191 - Auguste Rodin, Madame Cruchet, terracotta, H. 26.7 cm, San Francisco, California, Fine Arts museums of San Francisco, No. 1933.12.22 Related literature - Carrier-Belleuse. Le maître de Rodin, exhibition catalogue, Compiègne, Palais, 22 May - 27 October 2014", RMN, Paris, 2014, pp. 130-145 ; - Hémène Marraud, "Dons, dédicaces, échanges : Rodin au coeur de son oeuvre", pp. 252- 254, ed. Catherine Chevillot and Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, Rodin, le livre du centenaire, catalogue of the exhibition held at the Paris, Grand Palais, 22 March-31 July 2017.