13312
L'Eternelle Idole
The Eternal Idol
1889, cast between 1960 and 1963
bronze, 7/12
group
Dimensions (HxWxD): 11 5⁄8 x 9 1⁄4 x 5 5⁄8 in.
Acc. No.: 2016.164
Credit Line: Don de la famille Yvan Laramée / Gift of the Yvan Laramée Family
Photo credit: photo MBAM/MMFA
© Artist : public domain
© Artist : public domainProvenance
- Between 1960 and 1963, Montreal dealer Max Stern (1904-1987) of the Dominion Gallery would order four posthumous casts of The Eternal Idol from the Musée Rodin in Paris. In accordance with the sculptor's moral right, authorized casts are limited to twelve in number. This one bears the number 7.
- 2016, Gift of the Yvan Laramée Family
Bibliography
- Museum's website (accessed March 6, 2019)
- 2007 Le Normand-Romain (français)
Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, avec la collaboration d'Hélène Marraud et Diane Tytgat, introductions par Dr. Ruth Butler et Mr. Régis Cusinberche, Les Bronzes de Rodin. Catalogue des œuvres au Musée Rodin, 2 volumes, Paris, Musée Rodin / Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 2007, vol. 1, pp. 328-330, L'Éternelle Idole, 1889, [cet exemplaire non mentionné] - 2007 Le Normand-Romain (English)
Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, with the collaboration of Hélène Marraud and Diane Tytgat, introductions by Dr. Ruth Butler and Mr. Régis Cusinberche, The Bronzes of Rodin. Catalogue of works in the Musée Rodin, 2 volumes, English version, Paris, Musée Rodin / Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 2007, vol. 1, pp. 328-330, The Eternal Idol, 1889, p. 328: "Medium-size model, Bronzes, [...] Eight further casts by Georges Rudier, between 1959 and 1970" [this specific copy not mentioned]
Comment
- Museum's website (accessed March 6, 2019):
This daring composition is sometimes also known as Sacrificial Victim. The writer Jules Renard confided: “That little thing, no bigger than my hand, that is called The Eternal Idol; a man, vanquished, his arms behind his back, kisses a woman under the breasts, his lips against her skin, and the woman seems overcome with sadness. I cannot easily detach myself from that.”
Standing proudly, curiously indifferent, the woman looks down on the man bent in front of her. Are the arms held behind his back a sign of subservience, or of deep respect? The artist’s contemporaries saw in this work a skilfully formed image of the divine frailty of man faced with the object of his desire. The woman seems to feel both benevolence and disdain. It is possible that the subject reflects Rodin’s feelings for Camille Claudel, as their love affair was then at its height.
Fascinated by the piece, between 1960 and 1963 Montreal dealer Max Stern of the Dominion Gallery would order four posthumous casts of it from the Musée Rodin in Paris. In accordance with the sculptor’s moral right, authorized casts are limited to twelve in number. This one bears the number 7.