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Auguste RODIN (1840-1917) Small head of a man with a broken …
See original version (French)
44
-
Auguste RODIN (1840-1917) Small head of a man with a broken …
See original version (French)
Estimate €5,000 - €7,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Auguste RODIN (1840-1917)
Small head of a man with a broken nose
Patinated bronze proof signed, Alexis Rudier fondeur, Paris.
On a green marble base.
(Small hole).
Height without base: 12.5 cm
This third version, designed before 1889, was cast after the artist's death and before 1940.
Provenance :
- André Marie Dormeuil (1896-1940)
- By descent to the current owners
Bibliography:
- Léonce Bénédite, Catalogue sommaire des œuvres d'Auguste Rodin et autres œuvres d'art de la donation Rodin: exposés à l'Hôtel Biron, 1919, Musée Rodin - 1919, the larger copy is described on page 24 under no. 84
- Georges Grappe, Catalogue du Musée Rodin, essai de classement chronologique des œuvres d'Auguste Rodin, Paris, 1927, the plaster cast is described and reproduced under no. 45
-Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, Rodin et le bronze, catalogue des œuvres conservées au Musée Rodin, volume I, Éditions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris, 2007, chapter devoted to L'Homme au nez cassé, pages 416 to 419, a similar copy reproduced on page 416, fig. 1
The 1919 and 1927 catalogues mention the following about Man with a Broken Nose: This is the portrait of a poor devil nicknamed "Bibi", who did all sorts of jobs in the Saint-Marcel district, where Rodin lived at the time. This bust was made in 1864. It is the third known work of sculpture by the master. - This figure is inserted in this reduced format at the top of the "Porte de l'Enfer", among the decorative rosary that lines up its beads below the "Trois Ombres". It is slightly different in character from the final work, but in its brutality and sincerity, it has an unmistakable realistic accent, and the hunchbacked face is very close to that of the model used for Rodin's famous bust. - Expert : Agnès SEVESTRE-BARBE
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Ref. : 15103 - 161
Pictures modified on 05/21/2026 at 5:27 PM
Lot description modified on 05/22/2026 at 3:28 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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