id: 166693 accession number: 2008.404 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2008.404 updated: 2019-06-05 09:45:40.573000 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: --- culture: France, 19th century technique: pen and brown ink department: Drawings collection: Drawings type: Drawing find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Auguste Rodin (French, 1840-1917) - artist --- 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: --- 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). --- 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. --- 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: --- fun fact: digital description: 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. --- RELATED WORKS --- 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: --- 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