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A partially damaged mans body in a split.

In a polished black material, a roughly sculpted mans body balances on the right foot, on a pole which is set into the toes. Both legs are bent, while the right one is bent down as if kneeling, the left leg is held up and outward by the left arm. This opens up the torso, exposing the genitalia, stomach and chest. There is no head or right arm.

Gallery Text

This bronze is derived from Rodin’s unrealized second project for a monument to the writer Victor Hugo. Rodin originally conceived the figure as a winged personification of glory that would float above the author’s head. In his earliest study for it, the artist retained the head and left arm, though he eliminated them after an initial exhibition. By removing them and repositioning the legs into their current confrontational pose, he erases any sense of individualism in favor of anonymous carnality. The metaphoric title adds another layer of provocation to the composition, suggesting that the figure’s sexual organ is now her means of verbal communication. A cast of this work once owned by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, was considered too bold for exhibition during the early twentieth century.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1998.307
People
Auguste Rodin, French (Paris, France 1840 - 1917 Meudon, France)
Title
Iris, Messenger of the Gods (Another Voice, Called Iris)
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
c. 1890-1891
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/232261

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze, with black patina
Dimensions
83 x 85 x 39.8 cm (32 11/16 x 33 7/16 x 15 11/16 in.)
with base: 105.4 x 85 x 39.8 cm (41 1/2 x 33 7/16 x 15 11/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: stamped in relief under left foot: A. Rodin

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Fine Arts Associates, New York NY, sold; to Lois Orswell, Pomfret Center, CT, 1956, bequest; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 1998.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, The Lois Orswell Collection
Accession Year
1998
Object Number
1998.307
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Rodin to Lipchitz, part 2, exh. cat., Fine Arts Associates (New York, NY, 1956), no. 50, repr.
  • Marjorie B. Cohn and Sarah Kianovsky, Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2002), pp. 97-100, 103-105, 107, 128, 175, 340; figs. 45, 46,
  • Anna Tahinci, "Private Patronage: Rodin and his Early British Collectors", Rodin, the Zola of Sculpture, ed. Claudine Mitchell, Ashgate Publishing (Burlington, VT, 2004), pp. 95-117, p. 113, repr. as fig. 5.4
  • Stephan Wolohojian and Alvin L. Clark, Jr., Harvard Art Museum/ Handbook, ed. Stephan Wolohojian, Harvard Art Museum (Cambridge, 2008), p. 177, ill.

Exhibition History

  • Rodin to Lipchitz, part 2, Fine Arts Associates, 10/09/1956 - 11/03/1956
  • Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/21/2002 - 02/16/2003
  • 32Q: 2700 Impressionism, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 09/18/2023

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu