Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) and Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (1824-1887) French, before 1910

Private collection, Belgium;
with Neville Keating Tollemache, London, 2005

London, Neville Keating Tollemache, Auguste Rodin, Sculptures, Drawings and Photographs, 2005

Overall the condition of the bronze is good with minor dirt and wear to the silvered and gilt surface consistent with age. There is some oxidation to the silvered surface consistent with material, and quite a few traces of silver polish. There are a few small lacunae, including at the left putto's proper right inside elbow. The putti are cast separately and joints are visible, some of which are slightly open (but stable), including to the underside of the lower putto. There is an original bronze insert to the back at the bottom left.
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L'Innocence tourmentée par l'Amour is believed to have been modelled by the celebrated French sculptor Auguste Rodin, whilst he was working for Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse. Rodin worked in Carrier-Belleuse' studio in Paris from 1864, assisting in the modelling of the sculptor's sumptuous works, which recall the rococo terracotta groups of Clodion. With the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, the market for fine terracottas and bronzes collapsed, forcing Carrier-Belleuse to move to Brussels; Rodin followed, and it was in Brussels that he is understood to have modelled the L'Innocence. None of the sculptures created by Rodin during this period bear his signature, making attributions difficult. However, the present model was attributed to Rodin as early as 1902 by the Belgian writer S. Pierron (Pierron, op. cit. p. 154). More recently, it has been recognised by Jérôme Le Blay and François Lorenceau as having been executed by Rodin and signed by his employer, Carrier-Belleuse, and is to be included in their forthcoming monograph on Rodin's entitled: Catalogue de l'Oeuvre Sculpté d'Auguste Rodin (no. 2004V613B).

The present bronze is a particularly fine cast of the model. It is distinguished by it's beautiful silvered and gilt surface, which serves to enhance the group's rococo spirit. Another cast, though with a dark brown patina, was sold at Sotheby's New York on 23 October 2007, lot 82, for $65,000 (aggregate). The original terracotta group is now in the permanent collection of the Carnegie Museum of Art, acquired in 2001 through the Heinz Family Fund.

RELATED LITERATURE
S. Pierron, 'François Rude et Auguste Rodin à Bruxelles,' La Grand Revue, Paris, 1 October 1902, pp. 138-62; Vers l'Age d'Airain. Rodin en Belgique, exhib. cat. Musée Rodin, Paris, 1997, pp. 109-110