Bust of a Woman

1875

Auguste Rodin

Sculptor, French, 1840 - 1917

The head and shoulders of a young woman with an elaborate updo is shown in this free-standing terracotta bust. Her shoulders face us and her head tips to our left in this photograph. She looks at us from the corners of her eyes under low brows. She has a snub nose, her bow-shaped lips are parted, and she has smooth, full cheeks in her round face. Curls are piled atop her head and some rest low on her forehead. Her hair along with a flower to one side and a suggestion of a hat are indistinct because of the loose sculpting here. More hair falls down the right side of her face, to our left, and down the nape of her neck. A bow is tied like a choker and ruffles suggest a bodice and perhaps a coat. The bust ends in an upward curve and rests on a polished, white stone pedestal.

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On View

West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G3

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    terracotta with plaster and paint

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Mrs. John W. Simpson

  • Dimensions

    overall: 48.9 x 35.6 x 26.9 cm (19 1/4 x 14 x 10 9/16 in.)

  • Accession

    1942.5.3

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Purchased 1908 from the artist by Mr. and Mrs. John W. Simpson, New York; gift 1942 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1946

  • Rodin: Sculpture, Drawings, Prints, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1946, no. 1, as A Young Woman.

1965

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

1974

  • Nineteenth-Century Sculpture, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1974, unnumbered checklist.

Bibliography

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 167.

1966

  • Butler Mirolli, Ruth. "The Early Work of Rodin and Its Background." Ph.D. dissertation, New York University. Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1966: 120.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 147, repro.

1976

  • Tancock, John. The Sculpture of Auguste Rodin. Philadelphia, 1976: 579.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 646, no. 1025, repro.

1989

  • Goldscheider, Cécile. Auguste Rodin: catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre sculpté. Lausanne, 1989: 52.

1994

  • Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 200, repro.

1997

  • Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette. Vers l'Age d'airain: Rodin en Belgique. Paris, 1997: 124-152.

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: 308-310, color repro.

2023

  • De Margerie, Laure. French Sculpture: An American Passion. Ghent, 2023: 378-379, figs. 19-20.

Inscriptions

on lower back: offert à madame & / monsieur J.W. Simpson / A. Rodin / 1908 / terre-cuite originale faite / en 1875

Wikidata ID

Q63809237

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