Dominion Gallery, Montreal (acquired in 1973)
Private Collection, Japan (acquired circa 1995)
Private Collection

Very good condition. Surface is slightly dirty. Minor typical rubbing to patina at several of the extremities at front. There is minor patina loss at the top of the base to left of figure's right foot.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

When Rodin received the commission from the Société des Gens de Lettres in 1891 to execute a monument to Balzac, he offered to complete a bronze figure three meters in height within a period of eighteen months. What followed was a seven-year period of intensive contemplation of the life of this prolific writer, and one of the most memorable testaments to creative genius. Rodin's monolithic depiction of Balzac signified a departure from the allegorical sculpture of the nineteenth century, and marked a culmination of his long involvement with monumental public sculpture. According to Albert Elsen, "The artist himself regarded this as his most important and daring work, `the sum of my whole life, result of a whole lifetime of effort, the mainspring of my aesthetic theory. From the day of its conception, I was a changed man' '' (Albert E. Elsen, Rodin, New York, 1963, p. 89).

Although Rodin never personally met Honoré de Balzac, and was only a child at the time of the great writer's death, he had considered the project of the monument for many years. Once officially assigned to the task, the artist embarked on an extensive campaign of research, consulting texts by and about the author, as well as earlier portraits by other artists. As Athena Tacha Spear has written, "He read all of Balzac's novels and biographies; he looked at many of the portraits made during the writer's lifetime; he traveled often around Tours, Balzac's homeland, to study the physiognomy of the people and the nature of that region; he even obtained the proportions of Balzac's body from his tailor and thus was able to employ for the studies of the figure the appropriate models" (Athena Tacha Spear, Rodin Sculpture, Cleveland, 1967, pp. 9-10).

In the preliminary stages of production, during which he produced studies representing Balzac in various moods and at different phases of maturity, Rodin's concept was still naturalistic in inspiration. In one version the figure is dressed in contemporary costume and leans against a pile of books. Rodin so🌺on realized, however, that these attempts to recreate the outward appearance of the writer would never succeed in conveying his intensity and the magnitude of his literary contributions. The celebrated study of Balzac in the nude, probably executed in 1892, represented a shift in Rodin's concept as he moved away from the relatively conventional early studies in the direction of a much🥂 more dynamic expression.

By 1896, Rodin started working with a new model, and created two studies that bear no relationship to the physical form of Balzac, as had been the case in earlier versions. As Athena Tacha Spear has noted, "[Late] head studies show Balzac[...] at a mature age but long-haired. The modeling is becoming more and more arbitrary, with deeply hollowed eyes, exaggerated projections of the eyebrows and moustache, agitated planes and profuse skin roughnesses''(Athena Tacha Spear, Rodin Sculpture, Cleveland, 1967🦩, pp. 22-23). The expressive rendering of Balzac's head, crowned with a mane of hair and thrown back in contemplation, reflects his fiery genius, while the large Dominican robe, which was the writer's favorite working attire, conceals the rest of his body and creates a massive and commanding presence.

The exhibition of Balzac at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1898 incited an uproar within the artistic community of Paris. Although supporters of Rodin praised Balzac as a masterpiece, the public was shocked at the artist's progressive interpretation. Rodin was deeply wounded by the public outcry but also scornful of the petty nature of much of the criticism: "What right have they to reproach me for that dressing gown with floating sleeves? Would an inspired writer who walks feverishly up and down in his apartment at night in the pursuit of inner visions dress any other way? It has never been done before! A statue for a public place must represent a great man in theatrical attitude, capable of making him admired by posterity. But such reasons are absurd! I claim that there was only one way of evoking my character; I had to show Balzac laboring in his study, his hair in disorder, his eyes lost in a dream, a genius who, in his small room, reconstructs piece by piece a whole society to make it vibrate tumultuously in front of his contemporaries and of generations to come...'' (quoted in John Tancock, The Sculpture of Rodin, Philadelphia, 1976, p. 442). In the end, the Société des Gens de Lettres did not accept the sculpture, and Rodin arranged for its return to his studio at Meudon, where it was later recorded in Edward Steichen's memorable photographs of Monument to Balzac in the Moonlight. It was to be Rodin's last monumental project.

Figure 1, Edward Steichen, Monument to Balzac in the Moonlight, 1908