Collection

Head of Sorrow (Tête de la Douleur)

Auguste Rodin

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Caption

Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917). Head of Sorrow (Tête de la Douleur), ca. 1882, enlarged ca. 1901–1902; cast before 1952. Bronze, 9 x 9 1/4 x 10 1/2 in. (22.9 x 23.5 x 26.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 86.87.3. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Head of Sorrow (Tête de la Douleur)

Date

ca. 1882, enlarged ca. 1901–1902; cast before 1952

Geography

Place made: France

Medium

Bronze

Classification

Sculpture

Dimensions

9 x 9 1/4 x 10 1/2 in. (22.9 x 23.5 x 26.7 cm)

Signatures

Proper left neck: "A. Rodin" Cachet on interior, same placement as exterior signature: "A. Rodin"

Markings

Lower back edge: ".ALEXIS.RUDIER./FONDEUR. PARIS."

Credit Line

Gift of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Accession Number

86.87.3

Frequent Art Questions

  • Tell me more.

    This is the Head of Sorrow, which appeared four times in Rodin's conception of The Gates of Hell, an ambitious commission that was never completed as the funding fell through.
    Rodin reused and recycled various fragments and figures from the commission for individual pieces after the project fell through and the Head of Sorrow was one of the most often recycled body fragments.
    Because the head is androgynous, Rodin could use it for both male and female figures. This method, derived from the industrial concept of interchangeability, also aligned with Rodin's conviction that art is transformable, always alive, and never finished.
    Thank you so much for this!

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Artists and makers

Auguste Rodin

75 works in the collection

Alexis Rudier Fondeur, Paris

6 works in the collection