Danaid (Danaïde)
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
This sculpture depicts one of the Danaids of Greek mythology. After murdering their husbands on their wedding night, the Danaids were condemned to the endless task of filling leaking vessels with water. Auguste Rodin’s Danaid has collapsed in exhaustion and despair, having realized the futility of her actions. Although the overturned jug links the composition to its mythological source, Rodin was primarily interested in the expressive potential of the nude female form, here presented in a pose that is both sensual and frank.
Rodin supervised and authorized the production of marble sculptures, such as this one, that were made by a skilled stone carver working from the artist’s clay or plaster model.
Caption
Auguste Rodin French, 1840–1917. Danaid (Danaïde), probably 1903. Marble, 12 3/4 × 27 1/2 × 20 1/2 in., 285 lb. (32.4 × 69.9 × 52.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund, 12.873. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 12.873_SL3.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Danaid (Danaïde)
Date
probably 1903
Geography
Place made: France
Medium
Marble
Classification
Dimensions
12 3/4 × 27 1/2 × 20 1/2 in., 285 lb. (32.4 × 69.9 × 52.1 cm)
Signatures
Back: "A. Rodin"
Credit Line
Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund
Accession Number
12.873
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
I am curious about this and whether anyone attributes it to Camille Claudel instead of Rodin? It really looks like one of hers at the Orsay, a woman's head emerging from a block of marble.
This one is attributed entirely to Rodin although Rodin himself never touched marble. He would work with carvers who translated his plaster models into marble using a pointing machine. (And in fact, the work at the Orsay that you mentioned, La Pensée or Thought c. 1895, is actually also by Rodin, though Claudel did pose for it.) But you're absolutely right that the two artists did work very closely and in a very similar style between about 1882 and 1898 (when they were also involved in a passionate love affair). However, it's impossible to know to what degree they collaborated on any individual artwork.Thank you!You're welcome!What is this person doing?
That's one of my favorite works by Rodin in the lobby. I love the contrast between the smoothness of the woman's body and the rough texture of the ground she lies on.It has an ancient Greek myth as its subject. The Danaids ("daughters of Danaos") were punished for killing their husbands on their wedding night. They were forced to fill up a bottomless barrel with water, an endless task. This Danaid is exhausted from her labors, with her hair streaming across the ground.
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