Bust of Victor Hugo

Artist: Auguste Rodin, French, 1840–1917
Date: 1884
Material: Bronze and stone
cast in: France, Europe
Classification: Sculpture
Collection: Modern and Contemporary Art
Current Location: On View, Gallery 217
Dimensions: 16 7/8 x 10 3/4 x 9 1/4 in. (42.9 x 27.3 x 23.5 cm)
bust with base, height: 22 in. (55.9 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Edward Mallinckrodt
Rights: Public Domain
Object Number: 50:1967

NOTES

Auguste Rodin modelled the powerful features of the aged Victor Hugo, the great French poet and novelist, perhaps best known for the books Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Rodin’s bust was based on close observation and the sculptor noted: “I would go look at him, and then with my head filled with the expression of an image that combined the properties of Pan, Hercules, and Jupiter, I would go back again and memorize each fold of skin.”

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