2/23/2018 Bonhams : Auguste Rodin (French, 1840-1917) Eternel printemps, second état, 1ère réduction 66.

6.2 x 83 x 41cm (26 1/16 x 32 11/16 x 16 …

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Lot 14* W
AUGUSTE RODIN
(French, 1840-1917)
Eternel printemps, second état,
1ère réduction 66.2 x 83 x 41cm
(26 1/16 x 32 11/16 x 16 1/8in).

Sold for £ 938,500 inc. premium

IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART

4 Feb 2016, 17:00 GMT

LONDON, NEW BOND STREET

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Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) MODERN ART
Eternel printemps, second état, 1ère réduction
signed 'Rodin' (on the right side of the base) and inscribed with the foundry mark 'F.
BARBEDIENNE Fondeur' (on the back of the base), stamped three times 'VL' (on the AUCTION INFORMATION
inside of the base)
bronze with brown-black patina This auction is now finished. If you are

66.2 x 83 x 41cm (26 1/16 x 32 11/16 x 16 1/8in). interested in consigning in future

Conceived in 1884, this bronze version executed in this size in 1898, the present work auctions, please contact the specialist

cast between 1905 and 1907 department. If you have queries about
lots purchased in this auction, please
FOOTNOTES contact customer services.
This work will be included in the forthcoming Auguste Rodin catalogue critique de
l'oeuvre sculpté currently being prepared by the Comité Auguste Rodin at Galerie BUYERS' OBLIGATIONS
Brame & Lorenceau under the direction of Jérôme Le Blay, under archive number ALL BIDDERS MUST AGREE THAT

2009-2996B. THEY HAVE READ AND

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2/23/2018 Bonhams : Auguste Rodin (French, 1840-1917) Eternel printemps, second état, 1ère réduction 66.2 x 83 x 41cm (26 1/16 x 32 11/16 x 16 …

UNDERSTOOD BONHAMS'
Provenance CONDITIONS OF SALE AND AGREE
Georges Lang Collection, Lorraine (acquired circa 1910 - 1920). TO BE BOUND BY THEM, AND
Private collection (by descent from the above). AGREE TO PAY THE BUYER'S
Private collection, Switzerland (acquired from the above in the 1980s). PREMIUM AND ANY OTHER
CHARGES MENTIONED IN THE
Literature NOTICE TO BIDDERS. THIS AFFECTS
L. Maillard, Etudes sur quelques artistes originaux, Auguste Rodin statuaire, Paris, THE BIDDERS LEGAL RIGHTS.
1899 (marble version illustrated p. 121).
If you have any complaints or questions
G. Grappe, Catalogue du Musée Rodin, Paris, 1927, no. 69.
about the Conditions of Sale, please
G. Grappe, Le Musée Rodin, Paris, 1944, pl. 56 (another cast illustrated).
contact your nearest customer services
B. Champigneulle, Rodin, London, 1967, nos. 34 - 35 (plaster version illustrated pp.
team.
92, 93).
I. Jianou & C. Goldscheider, Rodin, Paris, 1967, pl. 56 - 57 (another cast illustrated pp. BUYERS' PREMIUM AND
98, 99). CHARGES
J. L. Tancock, The Sculpture of Auguste Rodin, Philadelphia, 1976, no. 32b (another For all Sales categories excluding
cast illustrated p. 243). Wine, Coins & Medals and Motor Cars
A. E. Elsen, Rodin's Art: The Rodin Collection of the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for and Motorcycles:
Visual Arts at Stanford University, New York, 2003, no. 148 (other casts illustrated pp.
494, 495). Buyer's Premium Rates

A. Le Normand-Romain, The Bronzes of Rodin, catalogue of works in the Musée 25% on the first £175,000 of the

Rodin, Vol. I, Paris, 2007, no. S.2808 (another cast illustrated p. 332). Hammer Price
20% from £175,001 to £3,000,000 the

Rodin's Eternel printemps: The Intensity of the Present Moment becomes Eternity Hammer Price
12.5% from £3,000,001 of the Hammer

One of Auguste Rodin's most acclaimed sculptures and one of the greatest commercial Price

successes of his career, Eternel printemps was conceived in 1884 while the sculptor
VAT at the current rate of 20% will be
was deeply in love with Camille Claudel (1864-1943), who had just joined his studio as
added to the Buyer's Premium and
an assistant. The group was originally intended for La porte de l'Enfer, the bronze
charges excluding Artists Resale Right.
doors inspired by Dante's Inferno that were commissioned in 1880 for a planned
museum of decorative arts. As the tone of the commission evolved into darker content, PAYMENT NOTICES
the amorous couple was not part of the final version. The allegorical theme of the Payment in advance: by cash, check
embracing lovers brings to mind the story of Paolo and Francesca, Dante's mythical with banker's card, credit card, bank
lovers who were condemned to spend eternity locked in a tumult of passion. draft or traveler's cheque.

Payment at collection: by credit or

As with many of his great sculptural groupings, Rodin reused, developed and adapted
debit card.
figures from earlier works: he was in a relentless research of the right sculptural words,
while constantly changing the grammar and the syntax of his sentences. The female SHIPPING NOTICES
figure of the group is based on Rodin's sensuous Torse d'Adèle (named after Adèle For information and estimates on
Abbruzzesi, one of Rodin's favorite Italian models), which appears on the top left domestic and international shipping as
corner of the tympanum of La porte de l'Enfer. well as export licenses please contact
Bonhams Shipping Department.
In 1886, Rodin gave a plaster cast of Eternel printemps to Robert Louis Stevenson
(1850-1894), to thank him for his letter defending him against the accusation of being
the 'Zola of sculpture' in the London Times of September 6, 1886. The group, LOT SYMBOLS
dedicated 'à R. L. Stevenson, au sympathique Artiste, au grand et cher poète. Rodin'
(to R. L. Stevenson, the sympathetic artist, the important and beloved poet. Rodin), * IMPORT LOW RATE
was one of the possessions that Stevenson took with him when he left Europe in 1888. VAT on imported items at a
preferential rate of 5% on Hammer
Rodin later claimed that the idea for the present bronze came to him while listening to Price and the prevailing rate on
Buyer's Premium.
Beethoven's Second Symphony. He confided to Jeanne Russell, the daughter of the
SHIPPING & HANDLING
Australian painter John Russell: 'God, how [Beethoven] must have suffered to write W
RESTRICTIONS APPLY
that! And yet, it was while listening to it for the first time that I pictured Eternal
Objects displayed with a "W" will be
Springtime, just as I have modeled it since' (quoted in The Bronzes of Rodin, Musée located in the Bonhams Warehouse
Rodin, Paris, 2007, p. 336). Also titled Zéphyr et la Terre and Cupidon et Psyché (both
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mythological titles intended to justify the eroticism of the subject), the group was and will only be available for
exhibited at the Salon of 1897. Due to its popularity, Rodin executed a second version collection from this location.

of Eternel printemps, with an extended base and a rocky outcrop to support the left arm
and outstretched leg of the male figure. This version became the model for the
CONTACTS
Barbedienne series which was produced in four sizes over a period of twenty years
from 1898 to 1918.

On 6 July 1898 and due to the high demand of such romantic sculptures, Rodin signed
an exclusive ten-year contract (renewable on expiration for another decade) with INDIA PHILLIPS
Gustave Leblanc-Barbedienne (1849-1945), nephew of the foundry's founder Specialist - Impressionist and Modern

Ferdinand Barbedienne (1810-1892), for the edition in bronze of Le baiser and Eternel Art
printemps in different sizes. A plaster made from a cast of a marble was initially given London, United Kingdom
to the foundry Leblanc-Barbedienne who produced reductions using Achille Collas's Tel: +44 20 7468 8328
machine of mechanical reduction, for which Barbedienne had the patent. The plaster Fax: +44 20 7447 7434
was returned to the Musée Rodin in 1918 at the sculptor's death and the expiration of india.phillips@bonhams.com
the second contract. Each sale gave rise to a commission of 20% given to Rodin as
copyright. Eternel printemps was cast in bronze and sold in four different sizes known HANNAH FOSTER
as No. 1 (66 cm, fifty-eight casts sold between 1898 and 1918), No. 2 (50 cm, thirty- Specialist - Impressionist and Modern
three casts sold between 1900 and 1918), No. 3 (40 cm, eighty-three casts sold Art
between 1898 and 1918) and No. 4 (25 cm, sixty-three casts sold between 1898 and London, United Kingdom
1918). The foundry mark of Barbedienne is an important indication that the bronze Tel: +44 20 7468 5814
sculpture was a lifetime cast, produced before Rodin's death in November 1917. The Fax: +44 20 7447 7434
letters VL stamped on the present work indicate a date of circa 1905-1907, during hannah.foster@bonhams.com
Rodin's lifetime.
BENEDETTA ALPINI
In Eternel printemps the two bodies intertwine in a passionate embrace, which is also a Specialist - Impressionist and Modern
remarkable act of precarious balance and a combination of concave and convex Art
curves. The two figures are placed on a rough base that does not seem large enough Milan, Italy
to contain them. The female figure is kneeling and her lower legs take up most of the Tel: +39 02 4953 9020
foundation. The male figure seems to be flying and there are indeed small Cupid's Fax: +39 02 4953 9021
wings on his back. He is trying to occupy the mere millimeters of space available for Benedetta.Alpini@bonhams.com
him to stand. His feet are not actually supported by the ground, one hanging off the
base, the other still in mid-air. His right arm is completely wrapped around the female
figure, grasping her tightly under her arm on the other side. His left arm is outstretched
and curved as though he is just about to bring that arm around her: her kneeling body
PRESS RELEASES
is his only support. In this remarkable sculpture the two precariously balanced lovers
are caught in the intensity of the emotional moment that becomes Eternity. Collectors
have always been attracted to the powerful combination of passionate lyricism and
tender romanticism, essential to this work.

Anna Tahinci, Ph. D.

Professor and Head of Art History

RODIN'S LOVE AFFAIR IN
SCULPTURE CAPTURES HEARTS
The Glassell School of Art
AND WORLD RECORD AT BONHAMS
5 Feb 2016

Auguste Rodin and Camille Claudel Show more

View all press releases

Second only to Michelangelo (to whom Auguste Rodin always professed to be an

apprentice) is the influence of Camille Claudel on Rodin's life and art. We cannot
underestimate the seismic effect that the arrival of his most brilliant of pupils had on the VIDEOS
master upon their meeting in 1882.

Joining his studio in the company on three young English sculptors Amy Singer, Emily
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Fawcett and Jessie Lipscomb, Claudel had been an apprentice of Alfred Boucher and
had shown a startling talent for moulding and sculpting in clay from a young age. She
was indulged by a wealthy and devoted father, who moved the Claudel family to Paris
specifically to encourage Camille's training as a sculptor. She was happily working with
Boucher and attending classes at the Académie Colarossi when the sculptor was
awarded the Grand Prix at the Paris Salon and had to leave for Italy. In need of a
mentor to whom he could entrust the young women's apprenticeships, Boucher
AUGUSTE RODIN'S L'ETERNEL
enlisted his great friend Rodin to take them into his studio in Meudon.
PRINTEMPS

Claudel's arrival in Rodin's studio came just after he had received two career-changing View all videos
commissions: La porte de l'Enfer (1880) and Les Bourgeois de Calais (1884). Rodin's
atelier was by this point a bustling workplace with many assistants and apprentices.
Rodin had created a vast number of single figures and groups during the conception of SIMILAR ITEMS
the La porte de l'Enfer, many of which would go on to be cast as independent works
and would prove to be some of his most enduring motifs. Among these was the Eternel
printemps – originally executed as a study for La porte, but it was clear that this
sensual work was far too hopeful in tone to be accommodated amongst the damned
souls of his furious final composition.

The impetus behind this new romanticism was undoubtedly the awakening of an affair
between Claudel and Rodin, which began almost as soon as she arrived at his studio.
While Rodin had had many liaisons with assistants and models, Camille Claudel had a
much deeper effect on his work and his personal life than those that had come before.
Rodin promised the young apprentice that he would leave his life-long partner Rose
Beuret (another assistant that Rodin would only come to marry in 1916, shortly before
she died) and even drafted a makeshift contract declaring his loyalty to Claudel. Sadly
this promise was never fulfilled.

The influence they had on each other was enormous: the twisted forms and oversized
hands and feet of the figures in Eternel printemps bear the hallmark of Rodin's high
style, aspects that Claudel and he would develop almost in tandem. The complex 'X'
structure that Rodin adopted for this work is visible also in Sakuntala (1886) – a
similarly passionate work by Claudel where the genders are swapped, the woman
seated, bending down in an embrace while her male companion kneels on the floor.
Furthermore, the Eternel printemps can be seen to have its true companion piece in La
Valse of 1889, one of Claudel's most celebrated pieces where the two lovers are
entwined in abandonment, unaware of the gaze of the beholder.

In a letter to Claudel dating to 1886, during the very period in which the Eternel
printemps was created, Rodin speaks of his 'furious love' and 'violent passion' for her
(Musée Rodin, L.1451). This exuberance of emotion is clear not only in his words but in
the sculptures he made at this time. The very title of the Eternel printemps suggests a
moment of enduring love, a moment in which an affair seems to be forever assured,
when the flames of passion are never to be extinguished. The dynamism of the pose,
with arms flung wide, communicates this abandon with simple poetry.

Indeed, this was a fervent love affair, conducted beyond the boundaries of polite
society. Claudel's mother and brother did not approve of her liaison with the great artist
and soon after her father's death she was cut off financially with no familial support. As
it became clear that Rodin would never leave Rose Beuret or fulfil his promises to
Claudel their tumultuous relationship came to an end, and she left his studio to pursue
her own career. This painful separation and heartbreak, felt no doubt by both parties, is
famously represented in Claudel's masterpiece, L'Âge mûr.

As Rodin's position as France's leading sculptor became ever more solidified in the
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years following their separation, Claudel's mental deterioration began in earnest and
the paranoia surrounding Rodin that she felt took hold. Convinced that Rodin was
poisoning collectors and public figures against her, the sculptor continued to work in a
more intimate style, influenced by the burgeoning Japonisme of the time. Works such
as La Vague show a real departure from the 'heroic' style she so perfected under the
tutelage of Rodin but her genius remained in the ground-breaking use of polychrome
marbles and plays on scale.

Despite her fears, Rodin continued to help Claudel anonymously in supporting her
career and occasionally covering her studio rent. This simply was not enough to delay
her descent in to mental and financial ruin, and in 1913 her family committed her to an
asylum where she spent the final 30 years of her life. She did not sculpt again.

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