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Despair, Known as Despair from the Gates (Le Désespoir dit de la Porte)

European Art

This small female figure pulling one foot up to meet her bowed head appears three times in the right panel of The Gates of Hell. Her acrobatic pose reflects Rodin’s interest in dance, as well as his desire to capture expressive postures not typically seen in academic sculpture.
MEDIUM Bronze
  • Place Made: France
  • DATES 1880-1889, cast 1959
    DIMENSIONS 7 1/4 × 3 1/2 × 3 3/4 in., 2 lb. (18.4 × 8.9 × 9.5 cm, 0.91kg)  (show scale)
    MARKINGS Back, proper right, bottom: "Georges Rudier/Fondeur. Paris" Back, bottom: "© by Musée Rodin 1959"
    SIGNATURE Proper left, bottom: "A. Rodin" Interior, stamped in raised letters: "A. Rodin"
    COLLECTIONS European Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 84.75.2
    CREDIT LINE Gift of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Auguste Rodin (French, 1840-1917). Despair, Known as Despair from the Gates (Le Désespoir dit de la Porte), 1880-1889, cast 1959. Bronze, 7 1/4 × 3 1/2 × 3 3/4 in., 2 lb. (18.4 × 8.9 × 9.5 cm, 0.91kg). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 84.75.2. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 84.75.2_PS2.jpg)
    EDITION Edition: 11/12
    IMAGE overall, 84.75.2_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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