Auguste Rodin

Anna Rodenbach, Belgium
Roland, Browse & Delbanco, London (acquired by 1972)
Kirk Varnedoe, New York (acquired from the above by 1976)
Private Collection (by descent from the above)
Private Collection, USA
Acquired from the above

Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art & New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Drawings of Rodin, 1972, no. 71, illustrated in the catalogue (titled Octave Mirbeau and dated 1900)
New York, Hirschl & Adler Galleries & Williamstown, Williams College of Art, Second Williams Alumni Loan Exhibition, 1976, no. 74

Executed on cream colored laid paper. Sheet is affixed to a mat at several places around the perimeter on the verso. Top, right and bottom edges are deckled. Some minor staining and a few scattered small creases to extreme perimeter. Artist's pinholes at upper corners. 1 inch repaired tears at center of top edge and center of bottom edge. Sheet is time darkened overall with a few small scattered stains throughout. Overall work is in very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Auguste Rodin and Octave Mirbeau were natural compatriots. Through their respective tools of chisel and pen, they sought to express fundamental truths about society and mankind and had little patience for the delicate sensibilities of the academies that dictated norms in sculpture and literature. They aspired to open our eyes to the world as it is rather than as we have been conditioned to see it.

While Rodin eventually rebelled against artistic convention and revolutionized the art of sculpture, his training was traditional, and the majority of his early charcoal drawings were anatomical studies based on nude models, antique casts or reproductions of Michelangelo's sculptures. Around 1893 Rodin used the same medium for portraits of the journalist Caroline Rémy, known as Séverine. The present work is the only other known large format charcoal portrait by Rodin, likely executed around the same time as those of Séverine in this rare Classical style. Even on paper, Rodin’s mastery of volume and shape becomes apparent as Mirbeau’s head projects forcefully into three dimensions, the carefully modeled anatomy of his features creating an extraordinary sense of presence and immediacy.

The subject of the present work, Octave Mirbeau, achieved the rare feat in late nineteenth century literary France of earning the respect of both the general public and the critical avant-garde. A fervent anti-establishment polemicist, his journalism, novels, plays and essays found fault with any and all political parties. He saw it as his duty in his writing to compel those who remained willfully blind to confront reality head on. Understandably, in his art criticism he championed the “great gods nearest to his heart,” Rodin and Monet who had undertaken a similar crusade to reveal the world unfiltered by academic convention.

The work is dedicated to Anna Rodenbach, wife of the Belgian Symbolist poet and novelist Georges Rodenbach. It was later owned by Kirk Varnedoe, renowned Rodin scholar and former Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.