Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)

This work will be included in the forthcoming Auguste Rodin catalogue critique de l'oeuvre sculpté currently being prepared by the Comité Rodin at Galerie Brame et Lorenceau under the direction of Jérôme Le Blay under the archive number 2010-3228B.

The present lot was cast in a special edition of at least five lost wax casts commissioned in 1915 to the Fumière & Cie, Thiébaut Frères foundry by Loïe Fuller, an American dancer who captivated Parisian audiences in the late 19th century with her innovative use of lighting, silk drapes and dance. Fuller's pioneering work in the field of dance attracted the attention, respect and friendship of many French artists including Auguste Rodin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Fuller is largely responsible for bringing Rodin's art to the attention of American collectors and scholars in the early 20th century. According to correspondence between Georges Grappe, curator of the Musée Rodin and Charles Fumière, former head of the Fumière foundry, Fuller intended for these casts to be given as gifts to important patrons of a project in San Francisco referred to at the time as the Musée de la Pensée et de l'Habileté.