About this lot

Description

bronze, conceived 1898, cast in 2003, signed and numbered G3/25 in the bronze with Airaindor Valsuani foundry mark and 'Reproduction 1998', 64 x 60cm

Footnote: Literature: Le Normand Romain, Antoinette, The Bronzes of Rodin, Paris, 2007, p.332 The present lot, a lost wax casting from an original plaster cast, is one of 25 authorised reproductions produced by the foundry in 2003 and is accompanied by a copy of the certificate of authenticity and a copy of the bill of sale for €80,000 from 'Violon D'Ingres' in the Marché Brion, France, dated 2013. Originally conceived to form part of his monumental bronze, The Gates of Hell, Rodin’s L'Eternel Printemps, or Eternal Springtime, is striking in both the technical brilliance of its dynamic and finely counterbalanced composition, and its ardent sensuality. Appealing to the sensibilities of the 19th century viewer, as with many of his works, the eroticism of L’Eternel Printemps is couched within the context of classical myth and was originally titled Zephyr and Earth and later exhibited at the 1897 Paris Salon as Cupid and Psyche. Indeed, consistent with classical depictions of Zephyr and Cupid, Rodin’s rendering is complete with a pair of small wings. Although tempered by classical allusions, the unbridled carnality of Rodin’s bronze, with its dizzying composition and figures so entwined they appear to melt into one another, must surely be informed by mortal emotion and experience. Indeed, during the time of production Rodin was engaged in an intense love affair with the sculptor, Camille Claudel.

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