Katherine Seney Simpson (Mrs. John W. Simpson)

1902-1903

Auguste Rodin

Sculptor, French, 1840 - 1917

Carved from white marble, the head and chest of a woman emerge from a base of rougher stone in this free-standing sculpture. In this photograph, the woman leans slightly to our left and her head tips down that way, as she looks off to our right. Her hair is loosely pulled up into a bun on top of her head. She has a straight nose, thin lips, and a square jaw. A bumpy area at the front of her low-cut bodice suggests a floral corsage. Her neck, the top of her shoulders, and her chest are polished smooth, but below the scooped neckline, the stone turns rough and parallel chisel marks are visible. Two dark veins in the marble run through the sculpture near each shoulder.

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On View

West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G2

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    marble

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Mrs. John W. Simpson

  • Dimensions

    overall: 55.4 x 69 x 41.5 cm (21 13/16 x 27 3/16 x 16 5/16 in.)

  • Accession

    1942.5.16

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Commissioned 1902 and purchased 1903 from the artist by Mr. and Mrs. John W. Simpson, New York; gift 1942 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1904

  • Salon, Société nationale des beaux-arts, Paris, 1904, no. 2080.

1946

  • Rodin: Sculpture, Drawings, Prints, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1946, no. 3, as Portrait of Mrs. Simpson.

1965

  • Wax Sculptures by Degas, Sculptures and Drawings by Rodin, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965-1966, no cat.

1981

  • Rodin Rediscovered, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1981-1982, no. 157.

Bibliography

1927

  • Grappe, Georges. Catalogue du Musée Rodin. Paris, 1927: 91-92.

1944

  • Grappe, Georges. Catalogue du Musée Rodin. 5th ed. Paris, 1944: 110.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 168.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 149, repro.

1981

  • Vincent, Clare. "Rodin at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: A History of the Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Spring 1981): 24.

1985

  • Hare, Marion. "The Portraiture of Auguste Rodin. Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, 1985: 412-417.

1986

  • Rilke, Rainer Maria. Auguste Rodin. Translated in G. Craig Houston. Rodin and Other Prose Pieces. London, 1986: 31.

1987

  • Butler, Ruth. "Rodin and His American Collectors." In Weisberg, Gabriel P., and Laurinda S. Dixon, eds. The Documented Image: Visions in Art History. Festschrift in Honor of Elizabeth Gilmore Holt. New York, 1987: 87-110.

  • Grunfeld, Frederic V. Rodin: A Biography. New York, 1987: 442-443.

1988

  • Beausire, Alain. Quand Rodin Exposait. Paris, 1988: 249.

1993

  • Butler, Ruth. Rodin. The Shape of Genius. New Haven and London, 1993: 411-414.

1994

  • Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 207, repro.

2000

  • Butler, Ruth, and Suzanne Glover Lindsay, with Alison Luchs, Douglas Lewis, Cynthia J. Mills, and Jeffrey Weidman. European Sculpture of the Nineteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2000: 373-376, color repro.

2017

  • Dickerson III, C.D. "The Sculpture Collection: Shaping a Vision, Expanding a Legacy." _ National Gallery of Art Bulletin_ 56 (Spring 2017): 8, repro.

Inscriptions

on left side of self-base, on a flat leaf carved below the shoulder: A. Rodin / 1903

Wikidata ID

Q63809263

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