Head of a Woman, possibly 1880s

West Building, Ground Floor - Gallery 1

Medium

plaster

Dimensions

overall: 6.2 x 4.6 x 5.1 cm (2 7/16 x 1 13/16 x 2 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. John W. Simpson

Accession Number

1942.5.24

Artists / Makers

Auguste Rodin (sculptor) French, 1840 - 1917

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Provenance

Acquired possibly 1905 from the artist by Mr. and Mrs. John W. Simpson, New York;[1] gift 1942 to NGA.

[1] In a letter to Rodin written on 31 October 1905 (Musée Rodin Archives, Paris), just after the Simpson's return from Paris, Kate Simpson mentioned small, fragile works which she left with a craftsman to have repaired. Presumably these were recent gifts and perhaps the little head was among them.

Associated Names

Simpson, John W., Mrs.

Exhibition History

1946: Rodin: Sculpture, Drawings, Prints, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1946, no. 16, as Study of Woman's Head.

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. 81.

Bibliography

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 169.

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

1987: Ambrosini, Lynne, and Michelle Facos. Rodin: The Cantor Gift to the Brooklyn Museum. Brooklyn, 1987: 181.

1994: Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 203, 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: 335, color repro. 336.