Balzac, Monumental Head (Balzac, tête monumentale)
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Object Label
This is an enlargement of one of the final life-size head studies for the Balzac monument. Its exaggerated physiognomy departs from the more realistic portrait studies of the project’s early stages, with an agitated sculptural surface meant to communicate a restless, creative psyche. The head was to be viewed from below and at a distance, and the effect of light on the deeply modeled sculpture played an important role in Rodin’s conception. From different perspectives and under various lighting conditions, Balzac’s face yields a multiplicity of expressions, suggesting the complexity of the author’s personality.
Caption
Auguste Rodin French, 1840–1917. Balzac, Monumental Head (Balzac, tête monumentale), 1898; cast 1979. Bronze, 20 x 17 1/2 x 16 in. (50.8 x 44.5 x 40.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 84.75.23. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 84.75.23_view2_bw.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Balzac, Monumental Head (Balzac, tête monumentale)
Date
1898; cast 1979
Geography
Place made: France
Medium
Bronze
Classification
Dimensions
20 x 17 1/2 x 16 in. (50.8 x 44.5 x 40.6 cm)
Signatures
Base, proper left: "A. Rodin" Interior, front of neck, plate in relief: "A. Rodin"
Inscriptions
Base, proper left, below signature: "No 6"
Markings
Back, lower edge of base: ".Georges Rudier./.Fondeur. Paris." Lower edge of base, proper left: "© by Musée Rodin 1978"
Credit Line
Gift of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation
Accession Number
84.75.23
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
Why is that some of his sculptures without eyes? Did he intentionally leave it out?
I believe the lack of eyes is a reference to antiquity. Many of the ancient sculptures Rodin would have seen would have been missing their eyes either because the inlays had been lost or the paint has come off.Rodin was known to make such direct references to the sculptures he saw, including removing limbs. Also, he was more concerned with expression than detail.Why are the eyes hollow?
We're not sure, but one theory is that it is meant as a reference to ancient sculptures which often have hollow eyes where the inlays were removed. Rodin often took inspiration from ancient sculpture including the ways that damage would change the overall effect.
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