Collection

Mignon

Auguste Rodin

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

Mignon is the first of Rodin’s portraits of Rose Beuret, a seamstress he met in 1864 who became his studio helper, the mother of his son Auguste-Eugène, and his lifelong companion—despite the artist’s inability to remain faithful to her. They married only in 1917, the year they both died, she of pneumonia, and he several months later from complications of a stroke.

The title of this lively and informal portrait may refer to an 1866 opéra comique of the same name by Ambroise Thomas, based on a character in Goethe’s 1796 novel Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship.

Caption

Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917). Mignon, 1870; cast 1966. Bronze, 16 1/4 x 11 7/8 x 10 1/8in. (41.3 x 30.2 x 25.7cm) mount (dimensions as installed): 22 1/2 × 12 × 11 3/4 in. (57.2 × 30.5 × 29.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 85.173.2. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Mignon

Date

1870; cast 1966

Geography

Place made: France

Medium

Bronze

Classification

Sculpture

Dimensions

16 1/4 x 11 7/8 x 10 1/8in. (41.3 x 30.2 x 25.7cm) mount (dimensions as installed): 22 1/2 × 12 × 11 3/4 in. (57.2 × 30.5 × 29.8 cm)

Signatures

Proper left shoulder: "A. Rodin" Interior, lower front edge, raised plate: "A. Rodin"

Markings

Back, proper right shoulder: ".Georges Rudier./Fondeur. Paris." Back, proper left shoulder, lower edge: "© by Musée Rodin 1966"

Credit Line

Gift of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Accession Number

85.173.2

Frequent Art Questions

  • Who is she?

    Mignon is the first portrait that Rodin created of his long-time partner and eventual wife, Rose Beuret. He met her in 1864, six years before this work was created, when she was still a seamstress. Beuret posed for Rodin many times. You can see the likeness of Rodin and Beuret's son, Auguste Beuret, very likely used on the burgher Andrieu d'Andres.

  • Where can other busts or statues by Rodin of his companion, Rose Beuret, be found? This is such a striking depiction of the woman he loved.

    There is a plaster bust of Rose Beuret at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

  • Did Rodin ever sculpt his son, Auguste-Eugene?

    I cannot find any evidence that he sculpted his son, but I wouldn't be surprised to know he did.
    Thank you!

Have information?

Have information about an artwork? Contact us at

bkmcollections@brooklynmuseum.org.

Artists and makers

Auguste Rodin

75 works in the collection

Georges Rudier Fondeur, Paris

25 works in the collection