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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 3/8 x 11 7/8 in. (41.59 x 30.16 cm);8 3/8 x 6 ½ in. (21.27 x 16.51 cm);19 x 14 in. (48.26 x 35.56 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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