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 2008-2029B.

Frère et soeur is unusual within Rodin's oeuvre for its treatment of the subject of sibling love. While a possible prototype for the infant can be found in Idylle d'Ixelles, executed in 1876 when Rodin was in Belgium and known to have modeled numerous studies of children, the young girl is an homage to the work of his pupil and lover, Camille Claudel. Around 1886, Claudel sculpted Jeune fille à la gerbe (Paris, no. 19), which Rodin admired for her graceful, slender body and the tenderness evoked by her pose. He was inspired by this sculpture to create the beautiful Galatée (Tancock, no. 25-4) sitting on a rock, which he then incorporated in Frère et soeur. Around 1890 Rodin transformed these two figures into the present young girl embracing her younger brother, who, in resisting her affection, creates a scene notable for its freshness of inspiration.