H. de Roos - Towards a catalog of the Maclaren collection |
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Were Lifetime Plasters Ever Signed? Even Arseneau´s referral to Monique Laurent , quoted by him to prove Rodin did not sign his bronzes himself, rather supports Schaff´s point of view: In referring to Auguste Rodin’s lifetime practice of signing his bronzes, on page 22 of the former Musee Rodin curator Monique Laurent’s 1988 RODIN book, she states: “Most of the bronzes are stamped with the artist’s signature (copied from an example supplied by him and also with the stamp of the foundry). Some, although perfectly authentic, are unsigned. But there is no question of any of them being numbered or dated; these are modern methods, linked with notion of rarity and speculation in art.” This documentation directly confirms that during Auguste
Rodin’s lifetime he authorized his "signature" to be stamped
on his bronzes. So once Auguste Rodin died in 1917, the State of France
would have the "right of reproduction" to his art but would
anyone other than Auguste Rodin have the right to posthumously apply his
signature? Arseneau values the fact Rodin did not personally incise his name in lifetime bronze casts as evidence that any "A. Rodin" signature appearing on the MacLaren plasters must be deceptive and counterfeit: Aside for a confession from anyone who would directly
know, how can you "date" these plasters?
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The answer to Arseneau´s question is simple: Dr. Schaff failed to document evidence that these plasters were actually signed by hand of Auguste Rodin, because Dr Schaff never meant to say these plasters were actually signed this way. On the contrary, Dr Schaff´s thesis is that already during Rodin´s lifetime, such signatures as a rule were applied to the plasters with a stamp or cachet, or were traced into the bronze by the foundry men, imitating a given example of Rodin´s signature: Similarly, the study of the handwriting of his
signatures hardly allows the assignment of a (bronze) cast to one or
another period since the signatures were traced by the founders and not by
the artist himself." The question that should occupy us more is, why only two of the MacLaren plasters are mentioned by Schaff as having "dedications and signatures inscribed in the plaster with a stylus by Rodin". Does that mean all the other studio or presentation casts mentioned (the large Eve plaster, The Study for the Danaid, The Shade (first version), The Walking Man Torso, and Eternal Spring, for example) would show signatures resulting from stamps? For settling such remaining signature questions,
the issue should be examined more closely than I am |
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