Collection

Hand of Rodin With Torso

Auguste Rodin

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

Several weeks before Rodin’s death, in 1917, one of his assistants made a life cast of his right hand at the request of the man who would become the first curator of the Musée Rodin in Paris. It is not known whose idea it was to create the present composite work by placing within this hand one of Rodin’s tiny modeled female torsos, which probably dates from the 1880s (when he created many similar figures for The Gates of Hell). The composition is consistent with other works by Rodin in which a hand cradles a human form, and it resonates as well with the sculptor’s documented belief in an artist’s godlike ability to create life and beauty in human form.

Caption

Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917). Hand of Rodin With Torso, 1917, cast 1971. Bronze, 6 3/4 × 9 1/4 × 5 in. (17.1 × 23.5 × 12.7 cm) mount (dimensions as installed): 7 × 4 × 9 1/2 in. (17.8 × 10.2 × 24.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 84.210.7. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Hand of Rodin With Torso

Date

1917, cast 1971

Geography

Place made: France

Medium

Bronze

Classification

Sculpture

Dimensions

6 3/4 × 9 1/4 × 5 in. (17.1 × 23.5 × 12.7 cm) mount (dimensions as installed): 7 × 4 × 9 1/2 in. (17.8 × 10.2 × 24.1 cm)

Signatures

Inside of wrist: "A. Rodin'

Markings

Top edge of wrist: ".Georges Rudier./.Fondeur. Paris." Copyright mark--Top edge of wrist: "© by Musée Rodin 1971"

Credit Line

Gift of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Accession Number

84.210.7

Frequent Art Questions

  • What exactly is "Hand of Rodin With Torso" with torso about?

    The mold for this bronze sculpture was created from Auguste Rodin's own hand by one of his assistants. It commemorates the hand of the artist and his role in the creation of his art, like the small torso shown.
    A parallel can also be drawn between the hand of Rodin and the hand of God as creator.
    Thank you.
    You're welcome! The cast of Rodin's hand was actually requested by the man who would later become the first curator of the Rodin Museum in France.
    Cool!

  • Tell me more.

    The mold for this bronze sculpture was created from Auguste Rodin's own hand by one of his assistants. It commemorates the hand of the artist and his role in the creation of his art, like the small torso shown.
    Although the hand itself was cast by his assistant, the torso it holds was one of Rodin's own pieces. A parallel can also be drawn between the hand of Rodin and the hand of God as creator.

  • I don't know much about sculpture. In the Rodin exhibit, what does it mean for the cast to be attributed to someone?

    When it says Cast by "Insert name here" that refers to the foundry, or metal working factory, that actually produced the bronze. Rodin made the clay sculptures and oversaw the production of the plaster molds but he worked with foundries to do the actually bronze casting. Casting is the process of pouring the molten bronze into the mold and then extracting it once it has hardened.
    Ohh okay. That makes more sense now! Thanks!

Have information?

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Artists and makers

Auguste Rodin

75 works in the collection

Georges Rudier Fondeur, Paris

25 works in the collection