The Age of Bronze
Artist
Auguste Rodin
(French, 1840-1917)
ManufacturerBronze cast by
Alexis Rudier Foundeur
(French)
CultureFrench
Date1876, cast after 1880
MediumBronze
Dimensions71 1/2 x 20 x 20 1/2 in. (181.6 x 50.8 x 52.1 cm)
Base: 3 1/2 x 20 x 20 1/2 in. (8.9 x 50.8 x 52.1 cm)
Base: 3 1/2 x 20 x 20 1/2 in. (8.9 x 50.8 x 52.1 cm)
InscribedSigned & inscribed: "Alexis Rudier / Fondeur Paris".
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.2045
Collections
On View
On viewLabel TextAuguste Rodin French, 1840–1917 The Age of Bronze, modeled 1876, cast after 1880 Bronze cast by Alexis Rudier Foundeur, Paris, France Auguste Rodin began this work with the memory of the Franco-Prussian War fresh in his mind. He intended to call it The Vanquished, and he used a Belgian soldier as his model. At one point the figure held a spear in his left hand. Later, however, Rodin changed his mind and renamed it The Age of Bronze, referring to a mythic age when men were consumed by violence and warfare. When he exhibited the sculpture in 1877, critics accused him of having made it from casts taken directly from a model’s body. Defending his reputation, Rodin supplied photographs of his model in the nude. The artist prevailed, and The Age of Bronze extended his international reputation. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2045 ProvenanceGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., to the Chrysler Museum of Art, 1971. Exhibition History"Large or Small, Bronze or Wood, Painted or Plain: Problems and Solutions in Sculpture", The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, July 9, 1981 - September 13, 1981. "Rodin Bronzes from the B. Gerald Cantor Collections," Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, FL, Oct. 13, 1990 - Jan. 6, 1991. "Upstairs/Downstairs: Masterpieces from the Chrylser Collection," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, October 10 - December 30, 2012. "Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum," North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, April 9, 2013 - February 2, 2014.Published ReferencesOrganized by the Arts Council of Great Britain and the Association Française d'Action Artistique. RODIN: SCULPTURE AND DRAWINGS. London: Arts Council of Great Britain. 1970: no. 4. Cynthia Katz. "Auguste Rodin," _Chrysler Museum Bulletin_. Vol. 1, no. 12. Norfolk: Chrysler Museum. 02/1973: inside cover. Jacques de Caso and Patricia B. Sanders. _Rodin's Sculpture: A Critical Study of the Spreckels Collection_. Rutland: Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc. 1977:. 39-47. David W. Steadman. _Large or Small, Bronze or Wood, Painted or Plain: Problems and Solutions in Sculpture_. The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA. 1981,no.6. Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. The Chrysler Museum. 1991, 132-133, plate 105. Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 52, fig. 51. Philip Kennicott, "Rodin," in "The Sunday Break," _The Virginian-Pilot_, December 6, 2015, page 5.
