Auguste Rodin
L'un des Bourgeois de Calais: Jean de Fiennes, vêtu, reduction
1899
Bronze Height 46.3 cm Signed 'A. Rodin' on the front right of the cast-with plinth (approx. 2.3 x 19.3 x 13.8 cm) as well as additionally inscribed 'A. Rodin' inside on rectangular bronze cartouche. Two-lined foundry mark "Georges Rudier./ Fondeur. Paris." (barely legible) on back of plinth to the right as well as edition annotation "© Musée Rodin 1960." to the left. Posthumous cast from an edition of the Musée Rodin, Paris; according to records documented this exemplar was cast in September 1960. One of a total of 8 casts of the edition Georges Rudier created between 1956 and 1963. - With slightly shiny, dark black-brown patina, partially lightened.
From the monumental group “Burghers of Calais” - the memorial commission (1885-1895) awarded by the town of Calais to Auguste Rodin - the artist had bronze reductions of five of the six individual figures produced after the work was completed; these included the figures of Jean d'Aire and Pierre de Wissant in 1895, Jean de Fiennes in 1900 and Andrieu d'Andres in 1900 as well as Eustache de Saint-Pierre in 1902-1903. In this way Rodin avoided a miniaturised version of the entire group in their original relationship, which he did not intend.
The reduced versions of the individual figures from the “Bourgois de Calais” have enjoyed enormous success since the release of the first early editions. The figure of “Jean d'Aire” from the collection of Johanny Peytel was exhibited in the Rodin pavilion at the 1900 world's fair. The expert report of the Comité Auguste Rodin indicates that as many as 50 casts of the present figure of “Jean de Fiennes” may actually have been created in the period from 1899 to 1963; the last edition was ordered by the Musée Rodin from Georges Rudier and cast between 1956 and 1963.
Bronze reductions of “Jean de Fiennes” can be found in many international museums, including an early cast at the Kunsthalle Bremen (since 1906).
Certificate
With an expertise by Francois Lorenceau and Jérome Le Blay, Comité Auguste Rodin, Paris, dated 27 February 2017; the bronze will be included in the 'Catalogue critique de l'oeuvre Sculpté d'Auguste Rodin' currently under preparation under the number "2017-5203B".
With a photo-certificate by Alex Vömel, Düsseldorf, dated 2 July 1962 (cliché no. 40)
Provenance
Galerie Vömel 1962 (year of acquisition); Collection Prof. Dr. Heinz Kirchhoff, Göttingen, since, estate
Literature
John L. Tancock, The Sculpture of Auguste Rodin. The Collection of The Rodin Museum Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art 1976, p. 390 with illus. 67-69-13 (exemplars of Slg. Spreckels, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco), p. 397 f.; Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, The Bronzes of Rodin Catalogue of Works in the Musée Rodin, vol. I, Paris 2007, Cat. No. S. 419, p. 227 under the annotation "Other casts", with illus.