Study of Honore de Balzac, 1891-1892. In 1891 Rodin was commissioned to create a monument honoring the celebrated French writer Honore de Balzac. The figure evolved through multiple stages over a seven-year period as Rodin explored different methods of conveying the author’s genius and personality. This bust is a study for the first version, in which the full figure stands upright with legs apart, arms crossed over his corpulent belly. Rodin’s unglamorous portrayal of a national hero shocked the public accustomed to idealized figures in public monuments. The final desig
Study of Honoré de Balzac, 1891-1892. In 1891 Rodin was commissioned to create a monument honoring the celebrated French writer Honoré de Balzac. The figure evolved through multiple stages over a seven-year period as Rodin explored different methods of conveying the author’s genius and personality. This bust is a study for the first version, in which the full figure stands upright with legs apart, arms crossed over his corpulent belly. Rodin’s unglamorous portrayal of a national hero shocked the public accustomed to idealized figures in public monuments. The final design was even more intensely criticized because Rodin reduced the body to a powerful, abstract mass intended to convey the symbolic essence of the writer’s creative vitality.
Size: 4096px × 5323px
Photo credit: © Heritage Art/Heritage Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1840-1917, 1840-1917), 19th, art, auguste, balzac, bronze, bust, century, cleveland, de, france, french, heritage, honore, impressionism, impressionist, museum, post, post-impressionism, post-impressionist, rodin, sculpture, statue
