Eternal Spring

Accession Number
1976/1.235

Title
Eternal Spring

Artist(s)
Auguste Rodin

Artist Nationality
French (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1884; cast 1898 - 1918

Medium & Support
bronze

Dimensions
19 3/10 in x 14 9/16 in x 9 7/16 in (49.05 cm x 36.99 cm x 23.97 cm);19 3/10 in x 14 9/16 in x 9 7/16 in (49.05 cm x 36.99 cm x 23.97 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas F. Roby

Label copy
Eternal Spring cast by foundry F. Barbedienne:
"For The Eternal Spring they made 50 casts of the 64 cm.-high version, 32 of the 52.5 cm version, 80 of the 40 cm. version , and 69 of the 23 cm. version. " from Patricia Sanders, "Auguste Rodin," Metamorphoses in Nineteenth-Century Sculpture, Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1975, fn. 34, p. 174.

Subject matter
Rodin felt that his works revealed the inner soul of the figure; and it is the emotion of the ardent embrace that informs the poses of these two lovers. Rodin was also an admirer of the sculpture of Michelangelo, and shares with the Italian master this quality of forcefully articulated nudes. Closely related to figures in his masterpiece "The Gates of Hell"--particularly in the female figure--this image of yearning and passion became one of the artist's most popular works and was carved in marble as well as cast in bronze.

Physical Description
Two nude figures embrace and kiss. The man is seated with his legs crossed as he bends to the side to embrace the woman, his arm under her shoulders. The woman, kneeling beside the man, arches upward and backwards to meet the bending figure of the man. The smooth modeling of the figures is contrasted by the more agitated modeling of the base and the support on which the man sits.

Primary Object Classification
Sculpture

Primary Object Type
casting

Additional Object Classification(s)
Metalwork

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
lovers
man
nudes
woman

& Author Notes

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