Auguste Rodin

Conceived circa 1880-1883

Possibly, Henri Duhem, Douai (possibly acquired from one of Rodin's practitioners circa 1919)
Ernest Gaillard, Le Cateau-Cambrésis (possibly acquired from the above circa 1925) 
Melle Gaillard (by descent from the above in 1986)
Galerie Aittouarès, Paris (acquired from the above in 1986)
Solmar Development, Zurich (acquired from the above in 1987)
Private Collection (acquired from the above in 1987)
Sands & Company Fine Arts, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2000 

Ionel Jianou & Cécile Goldscheider, Rodin, Paris, 1967, Musée Rodin plaster listed p. 88; illustration of another plaster pl. 17
John L. Tancock, The Sculptures of Auguste Rodin, Philadelphia, 1976, no. 8-5, illustration of the bronze p. 154
Alain Beausire, Quand Rodin exposait, Paris, 1977, illustration of other versions of the plasters pp. 152, 153 & 209; illustration of the clay model p. 84
Auguste Rodin, Camille Claudel (exhibition catalogue), Contemporary Art Museum, Fondation Basil & Elise Goulandris, Andros, 1996, no. 12, illustration of another plaster n.p.
Rodin - Beuys (exhibition catalogue), Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, 2005, illustration of the marble version p. 253
Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, Rodin et le bronze, vol. I, Paris, 2007, mentioned p. 341


To be included in the forthcoming Catalogue critique de l'œuvre sculpté d'Auguste Rodin being prepared by the Comité Rodin under the direction of Jérôme Le Blay under the archive no. 2010-3205B.

The plaster is stable. This sculpture has a history of use as a workshop master-model, and there are various scouring and pencil marks throughout its surface, together with a yellowing hue to the surface, a result of the combination of workshop handling and residues of a shellac coating that would have been applied for the purpose of taking moulds. The upper arm was originally detachable from the main body, and the original joints remain visible. The front of the base exhibits two protruding nails. All these points are consistent with its original purpose. In addition to the above, there are repaired break lines to the figure's left wrist and upper arm, and an old restoration around the waist of the figure. There is a chip to her hair with associated retouching. There is also a tiny hairline crack to the upper side of the left ankle. This work is in good condition, consistent with its history as a rare surviving workshop model.
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Conceived as part of Rodin's creations for his Gates of Hell, Eve is a sensual portrayal of the mother of humanity sheltering herself in her own embrace. Depicted at the end of innocence, at the moment when she becomes aware of her nakedness, the psychological moment of Eve's revelation is rendered through the striking physicality of her pose. The fullness of her figure and the beautifully modelled curving of her body reflect her strength as well as the vulnerability of this intense moment. Rodin's working model for this sculpture was a life-size plaster that he never finished, allegedly because his model was pregnant and could not endure the long hours of posing. The artist also completed two 'half-size' versions of the sculpture, sometimes referred to as Petite Eve. The first version, also known as Eve jeune aux pieds plats, depicts the figure emerging from a roughly hewn base. In the second version, the present work, which was first executed in marble and cast in bronze in 1886, she becomes a free-standing figure.

A beautiful description of the work was written in 1903 by the poet Rainer Maria Rilke: 'It shrivels like burning paper, it becomes stronger, more concentrated, more animated. That Eve [which] was originally to be placed over The Gates of Hell, stands with her head sunk deeply into the shadow of the arms that draw together over the breast like those of a freezing woman. The back rounded, the nape of the neck almost horizontal. She bends forward as though listening to her own body as a new future begins to stir. And it is as though the gravity of this future weighed upon the sense of the woman and drew her down from the freedom of life, into the deep, humble service of motherhood.'