ARTCURIAL - An Exceptional RODIN Marble Rediscovered

USPA NEWS - This year is the commemoration of the Centenary of Auguste RODIN's death (1840-1917), ARTCURIAL, on May 30, will auction 'Andromède', one of the Artist's rare marbles of exceptional pedigree. Remaining in the ownership of the same family since its creation in 1887, Art Historians had lost its trace

This year is the commemoration of the Centenary of Auguste RODIN's death (1840-1917), ARTCURIAL, on May 30, will auction 'Andromède', one of the Artist's rare marbles of exceptional pedigree. Remaining in the ownership of the same family since its creation in 1887, Art Historians had lost its trace over the générations. 130 years after its creation, ARTCURIAL associate Directors Stéphane AUBERT and Bruno JAUBERT located it in MADRID.

Thereafter the story of this exceptional discovery : in 1888, Chilean Diplomat Carlos Lynch of Morla, stationed in PARIS, asks his friend Auguste RODIN to produce the portrait of his young wife,Louisa. The Sculptor immortalises the young woman's beauty in a marble bust. The resulting masterpiece of Portraiture Art was exposed at the Salon National des Beaux-Arts, the same year. The acclaim was of such magnitude that the French State expressed the desire to acquire the piece and to integrate it to the Musée du Luxemboug collection, the Museum of Contemporary Art of the time.

As a patron of the Arts and a friend of FRANCE, Carlos Lynch de Morla agrees to relinquish the bust, allowing it to join the French public collections. Today, it can be admired at the Musée d'Orsay. As a gesture of appreciation to the couple, Auguste RODIN gives a white marble sculpture representing a naked youg woman draped over a rock, 'Adromède', to his Chilean friends. 'Andromède' is one of the most beautiful examples of a modern and sensual transposition of an ancient myth in RODIN's work.

The locations of the other four 'Andromède' sculptures are known. The first, probably created in 1885 was initially owned by Roger MARX, now presented in the Philadelphia Rodin Museum. Another, commissioned by Maurice FENAILLE, is kept at the Paris Rodin Museum, and a third, which originated from the Jacques ZOUBALOFF collection, is kept at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires. The fourth is part of the Gabriel HANOTAUX collection. In 2006 it was auctioned in New York for $3m. The fifth sculpture, presented here, was mentioned as remaining in the Morla family in the 1930's by Georges CLUSTER, first curator of the Rodin Museum.

For 130 years, it remained in the family, before being rediscovered in 2017 by the two ARTCURIAL Associate Directors Stéphane AUBERT and Bruno JAUBERT.

Source: ARTCURIAL - Presentation of the Sculpture 'Andromède' in the presence of ARTCURIAL Associate Directors Stéphane AUBERT & Bruno JAUBERT

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About RODIN (1840-1917) : 'RODIN - La Sculpture Nue' by Victoria CHARLES (Eyrolles Editions). This Book recently published follows the Exhibtion celebrating the Centenary of RODIN' s Death at The Grand Palais, Galeries Nationales (PARIS) March 22,2017 - July 31, 2017. The Exhibition will expose to the Public some of his mot famous Works of Art (Le Penseur, Le Baiser, les Bourgeois de Calais“¦). It traces the Dreams and the successes of this Poet of Passion, undisputed Master and Sacred Monster. Between scandals and strokes of brilliance, he revolutionized the artistic creation before Braque, Picasso or Matisse, Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of Modern Sculpture. Sculpturally, Rodin possessed a unique ability to model a complex, turbulent, deeply pocketed surface in clay. By 1900, he was a world-renowned Artist. Wealthy private clients sought Rodin's work after his World's Fair Exhibit, and he kept company with a variety of high-profile intellectuals and artists...