It was considered a simple copy, but turned out to be an extremely rare original by Auguste Rodin (Paris, 1840 - Meudon, 1917) small marble sculpture titled Le Désespoir (The Despair), made in 1892, was recently authenticated and sold at auction for 860,000 euros, or about one million dollars. The work, about 28 centimeters tall, depicts a seated female figure and was identified as an authentic work by the celebrated French sculptor after a lengthy investigation into its origins. The sculpture had disappeared from the art market’s radar in 1906, when it was last sold at auction, before falling into oblivion for more than a century. The rediscovery came about almost fortuitously, following contact between the work’s current owners and auctioneers Aymeric and Philippe Rouillac, who were initially involved in a separate matter. During the discussion between the parties, an interest in the sculpture emerged, which led to further investigation of the work’s provenance. The verification process lasted several months and ended with a positive opinion from the Comité Rodin, the world’s highest authority on the authentication of the artist’s works. The confirmation came in time to include the work among the lots in the 37th Garden Party auction, held June 8 at the Château de Villandry, a historic country residence located in west-central France. Lot 76, corresponding to the sculpture, was initially put up for auction with a base bid of 500,000 euros. After a series of raises, the work was finally awarded at 860,000 euros, generating great interest among collectors and the trade public. According to the Musée Rodin, Le Désespoir was conceived as part of the vast repertoire of figures intended for La Porte de l’Enfer, one of Rodin’s most ambitious and well-known projects. The monumental Dantean portal, commissioned in 1880 by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Paris and left unfinished, represents a condensation of the sculptor’s creative universe.
“Although most depictions of grief featured a figure hiding her visa in her hands or lying prostrate, Rodin’s sculpture depicts a woman sitting on a rock with one knee bent as she struggles to extend her other leg, her hands clasped around her foot,” the Musée Rodin said in its description of Le Désesespoir.
A small marble version is now on display at the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, U.S., while a larger limestone version, about 94 centimeters in height, can be seen at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University in California. The art market has also shown increasing interest in this work over time. In 2015, Sotheby’s sold a mixed bronze and marble version, about 33 centimeters tall, for 785,000 pounds, exceeding the maximum estimate of 600,000 pounds set before the auction. In the case in point, this is a sculpture that, although small in size, reflects Rodin’s interest in the expressive representation of the human body, fitting fully into his research on movement, suffering and inner tension. The finely worked white marble renders a seated figure in a recollected position, head reclining forward and arms embracing legs, evoking a sense of introspection and melancholy. The posture, though simple, recalls the influence of classical sculpture reinterpreted in a modern key, the artist’s distinctive stylistic signature.
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| Missing Rodin sculpture authenticated and auctioned for 860,000 euros in France |
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