Auguste RODIN (1840-1917) - Lot 57

Auguste RODIN (1840-1917) Baigneuse Zoubaloff Model created before 1888. Plaster. Signed Rodin on the back of the rock. Crack to the right arm and spall to the right elbow, a few small scratches, soiling. H. 37 cm Provenance: private collection, acquired in the Paris art trade in 1984. Other plaster models in the Musée Rodin, Meudon: Auguste Rodin, Baigneuse Zoubaloff, circa 1888, plaster, signed "Rodin", H.?36 L. 18.5 D. 22 cm, Meudon, Musée Rodin, inv. S.887?; Auguste Rodin, Baigneuse Zoubaloff, circa 1888, plaster, signed "Rodin", H. 36.4 W. 18.2 D. 23.5 cm, Meudon, Musée Rodin, inv. S.928 Auguste Rodin, Baigneuse Zoubaloff plaster, signed "Rodin", H. 36.2 L. 22.2 D. 18.3 cm, Meudon, Musée Rodin, inv. S. 3226; Auguste Rodin, Baigneuse Zoubaloff plaster, signed "Rodin", H. 36.4 L. 18.2 D. 23.5 cm, Meudon, Musée Rodin, inv. S. 3201; Auguste Rodin, Baigneuse Zoubaloff, without head, right leg or arms, 1888, plaster, H. 30.7 W. 18.3 D. 19.2 cm, Meudon, Musée Rodin, inv. 2819; Auguste Rodin, Baigneuse Zoubaloff, incomplete plaster, Meudon, Musée Rodin, inv.2910. Other plaster models in public collections: Auguste Rodin, Baigneuse Zoubaloff avant 1888, plaster, signed "Rodin", H. 36.8 W. 17.7 D. 20.9 cm, Stanford, Cantor Collection, inv. 1977.14?; Auguste Rodin, Baigneuse Zoubaloff, before 1888, plaster, signed "Rodin", H. 36.3 W. 18 D. 23.1 cm, Buenos Aires, museo nacional de bellas artes, inv. 7765; Auguste Rodin, Baigneuse Zoubaloff circa 1883-1885, plaster, signed "A. Rodin", H. 35 W. 16 D. 18 cm, Aix-les-Bains, Musée Faure, inv. S 205; Auguste Rodin, Baigneuse Zoubaloff, plaster, dedicated and signed "A mon cher Ami / Bracquemond / Rodin", H. 36 cm, Cairo, Guézireh Museum, inv. 858 or 743. Related literature: Catherine Chevillot, Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, Rodin, le livre du centenaire, cat. exp., Paris, Grand Palais, 22 mars- 31 juillet 2017, Paris, RMN, 2017, bronze model listed under Cat. 60, p. 104 and p. 350; Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, Les bronzes de Rodin, catalog des œuvres au musée Rodin, Paris, Musée Rodin, RMN, 2007, vol. 1, pp. 156-157; Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, Maria Florencia Galieso, Benoit Lafay, Rodin en Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Antorchas Foundation 2001, p. 156 ; Dominique Lobstein, "Anthony Roux. Portrait d'un collectionneur et mécène", in Dossier de l'Art, October 1998, pp. 58-64. Sitting on a rock, body slightly tilted back, arms positioned as if resting on armrests, the relaxed attitude of this Bather was probably inspired to Auguste Rodin by one of his models during a posing session in his studio. Described by Georges Grappe in 1927 as a "joyful, sensual little figure", this female figure is reminiscent of Rodin's favorite 18th-century terracottas of amiable bathers. Although the Museum's former director dates the original plaster cast to 1888, the model was undoubtedly made earlier. In 1888, the collector and patron Antoni Roux, who had met Rodin a year earlier, acquired a plaster cast and a bronze of La Baigneuse. Anxious to have exclusive rights to the work, the collector asked Rodin not to make any further proofs of this young girl in the bath. The sculptor agreed, specifying in a receipt dated September 24, 1888 that "two or three proofs had previously been given in plaster to friends". In reality, as Rodin was in the habit of donating plaster casts from his studio to friends and supporters, these proofs were probably quite numerous. There are ten plaster casts in public collections. Six proofs are held by the Musée Rodin, including the one acquired by Antoni Roux. This copy, which later passed into the collection of Jacques Zoubaloff, was purchased by the museum in 1927 (S. 887). Other proofs can be found in the collections of museums in Buenos Aires, Cairo, Stanford and Aix-les-Bains. Another print, from the Fabius gallery, went on sale in 2024.