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Victor Hugo, de face

Auguste Rodin

Artwork Details

Victor Hugo, de face
1885
Auguste Rodin
etching and drypoint on thin, slightly textured beige Japan paper
16 5/8 in. x 12 in. ( 42.2 cm x 30.5 cm )
Museum Purchase made possible by the Friends of the Museum of Art
1992/2.5

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Description

Rodin attempted to sculpt a bust of Victor Hugo, the famous French poet and author. Hugo declined to sit for Rodin, and Rodin obtained permission to work in Hugo's house from February-April 1883 hoping to capture a likeness.
Following the creation of the bronze bust, Rodin produced two drypoint portraits of Hugo (one full-face, the other three-quarter view). [An impression in the collection of the Musée d'Orsay carries a dedication comparing the portrait to Michaelangelo's "Day" in the Medici Chapel in Florence. See Claudie Judrin, "Une gravure unique du Victor Hugo de Rodin," in "Revue du Louvre/La Revue des Musées de France," vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 76-81.]

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