Figure Facing Forward

Auguste Rodin

Associated Names
Auguste Rodin

Artist, French, 1840 - 1917

This painting is a sketch of a human figure in motion. The person stands, facing us, with one foot in front of the other and their arms outstretched. Their hand on the left curves downward, while their hand on the right curves up in an impossible position. Their head is turned down and to the left, and they look downward with a neutral expression. They appear to have some kind of cloth around their head, or some sort of hat with a long feather. On their left side are several curving gray lines, perhaps indicating movement or shadow. Their body has been painted in light brown, and the background is plain paper.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    graphite and watercolor on wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Mrs. John W. Simpson

  • Dimensions

    overall: 32.5 x 25.3 cm (12 13/16 x 9 15/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1942.5.34

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Mrs. John W. Simpson [1869-1943]; gift 1942 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1946

  • Rodin: Sculpture, Drawings, Prints, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1946, no. 21, as Standing Figure.

1963

  • Auguste Rodin: an exhibition of sculptures and drawings, Charles E. Slatkin Galleries, New York, 1963, no. 57, repro.

1965

  • Sculpture and Drawings by Rodin, NGA, 1965-1966, 1967-1968, and 1968-1970.

2016

  • Fleeting Moments -- Drawings by Auguste Rodin, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, 2016.

2022

  • Rodin the United States: Confronting the Modern, Clark Art Institute, Williamstown; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 2022-2023 (shown only in Williamstown), cat. 18, repro.

Bibliography

2022

  • Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette, editor.Rodin in the United States: Confronting the Modern. Exh. cat. Clark Institute of Art, Williamstown; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 2022-2023: 91, cat. 18.

2023

  • De Margerie, Laure. French Sculpture: An American Passion. Ghent, 2023: 384-385, fig. 24.

Inscriptions

lower right: A Rodin; in later hand, center right verso: Mrs. Nelson Robinson / 23 E. 55; lower right verso: 38538

Wikidata ID

Q64536957

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