Study of Honoré de Balzac
1891–1892
- Medium
- bronze
- Dimensions
- 52.7 × 39.4 × 32.4 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-193983
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 th…
Provenance
Hahn, 1972.277
Registry history
- 1891–1892 — Recorded in the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art — sculpture
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