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Head of Balzac
ca. 1897
One of Rodin’s most controversial projects was a
full-standing monument to the writer Honoré de
Balzac (1799–1850), rejected by the group who commissioned it in 1898. Rodin produced numerous
studies for Balzac’s head, the wellspring of the author’s
celebrated intellect, pushing the expressive potential
of modeling toward increasingly abstracted forms.
Here, an unusual elongated marble base tilts Balzac’s
head to the same angle as in the finished monument.
- Artist
- Auguste Rodin
- Title
- Head of Balzac
- Date
- ca. 1897
- Object Type
- Sculpture
- Medium
- bronze
- Dimensions
- with base: 15 3/4 x 8 3/4 x 8 in. (40.005 x 22.225 x 20.32 cm) bronze only: 6 3/4 x 8 3/4 x 8 in. (17.145 x 22.225 x 20.32 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Alma de Bretteville Spreckels
- Accession Number
- 1941.34.5