id: 166693
accession number: 2008.404
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2008.404
updated: 2019-11-19 09:00:54.416000
The Genius of the Sculptor, c. 1880-1883. Auguste Rodin (French, 1840-1917). Pen and brown ink; sheet: 26.3 x 18.9 cm (10 3/8 x 7 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2008.404
title: The Genius of the Sculptor
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: c. 1880-1883
creation date earliest: 1880
creation date latest: 1883
current location:
creditline: Bequest of Muriel Butkin
copyright:
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culture: France, 19th century
technique: pen and brown ink
department: Drawings
collection: Drawings
type: Drawing
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* Auguste Rodin (French, 1840-1917) - artist
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measurements: Sheet: 26.3 x 18.9 cm (10 3/8 x 7 7/16 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
description: lightweight, translucent beige wove paper discolored to yellow-brown
watermarks:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin
opening date: 2001-08-26T00:00:00
French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 26-October 28, 2001); Dahesh Museum of Art (February 19-May 18, 2002).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* Non-Dissenters: Fifth Exhibition Marking Our Tenth Anniversary, Shepherd Gallery, New York (1976), no. 146, repr.;
Peter Fusco and H. W. Janson, eds., The Romantics to Rodin: French Nineteenth-Century Sculpture from North American Collections, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and tour (Los Angeles/New York: Los Angeles County Museum of Art/Braziller, 1980), 336-37, no. 197, repr.;
Ruth Butler et al., Rodin's Monument to Victor Hugo, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and tour (London/Los Angeles: Merrrell Holberton/Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 1998), 71-72, 118, no. 22, fig. 37.
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PROVENANCE
Marcel Louis Guérin, Paris (Lugt Suppl. 1872b, not stamped); [his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris (9 December 1932), no. 70, repr.]. [Shepherd Gallery, New York]; purchased in 1976.
date:
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
digital description:
Rodin repeatedly explored the theme of creative male genius in major works, such as the famous Thinker, a cast of which sits outside the Cleveland Museum of Art on the south terrace. In this drawing, Rodin depicted the artist in active thought with his hand on his head, accompanied by a wingless “genius” floating above him. He derived this symbol of inner creative energy from the traditional subject of the winged muse, examples of which also appear on Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling as companions to God the Father.
wall description:
The Genius of the Sculptor treats an essential, self-referential theme in the art and life of Auguste Rodin. During his lifetime and afterward, he was viewed as the modern equivalent to the Renaissance genius of sculpture, Michelangelo (1475-1564). Moreover, Rodin repeatedly explored the theme of male creative genius in major works, such as the famous Thinker, a cast of which is owned by the museum. In this drawing, Rodin depicted the artist in active thought with his hand on his head, accompanied by a wingless "genius" floating up from him. He derived this symbol of inner creative energy from the traditional subject of the winged muse descending to inspire.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Shepherd Gallery. Non-Dissenters Fifth Exhibition : Marking Our Tenth Anniversary. One Hundred and Seventy French Nineteenth Century Drawings, Pastels and Watercolors. November 1, through December 31, 1976. N.Y.: Shepherd Gallery, 1976.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 146
url:
Fusco, Peter, and H. W. Janson. The Romantics to Rodin: French Nineteenth-Century Sculpture from North American Collections. 1980.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 197, p. 336-337,
url:
Butler, Ruth, Auguste Rodin, Jeanine Parisier Plottel, and Jane Mayo Roos. Rodin's Monument to Victor Hugo. London: Merrell Holberton, 1998.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 22, p 71-72, 118, fig. 37
url:
Foster, Carter E., Sylvain Bellenger, and Patrick Shaw Cable. French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 8, p. 116-117
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2008.404/2008.404_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2008.404/2008.404_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2008.404/2008.404_full.tif