ZHONG CHENG

Zhong Cheng 2024 Autumn Auction「Modern And Contemporary Art」

  • Zhong Cheng 2020 Autumn Auction「Modern And Contemporary Art」
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    AUGUSTE RODIN （1840-1917）

    The Eternal Spring

    1998

    Bronze 11/25
    82.5 x 38 x 65 cm

    Signed Rodin in English Signed on the reverse: dated 1998, numbered 11/25 and the foundry "cire AIRANDOR Perdue"

    Estimate TWD 3,000,000-4,500,000
    USD 101,500-152,200
    HKD 0-0

    Hammer Price TWD 0
    USD 0
    HKD 0

Provenance：

Illustrated：

Exhibition：

Exposition：The following work is in the process of verification by Musée Rodin.

“To the artist, there is never anything ugly in nature”---Auguste Rodin

Renowned for The Thinker, The Gates of Hell and other iconic pieces, Auguste Rodin was born into a working-class family in Paris in 1840. Although he was largely self-taught, his drawing teacher Lecong de Boisbaudran at the Petite École, taught him to observe with his eyes and draw from his recollections. Another important teacher in Rodin’s life is sculptor Antoine-Louis Barye. The teacher’s attention to details and his finely rendered of animals in motion significantly influenced Rodin. In 1984, Rodin worked as Carrier-Belleuse’ chief assistant until 1870, designing roof decorations, staircase and doorway embellishments. Rodin visited Italy in 1875, where he was drawn to the work of Donatello and Michelangelo. Their work has a profound effect on his artistic direction. Rodin said, “It is Michelangelo who has freed me from academic sculpture.” Returning to Belgium, he began work on The Age of Bronze, a life-size male figure. When the statue first exhibited at the 1877 Salon in Paris, Rodin was falsely accused of having made the status by casting a living model due to the work’s profound naturalism, this charge was vigorously denied, yet the allegation brought him to fame, as everyone was so eager to see it for themselves. Later on, Rodin received a lot of public commissions, and was favored by the government and the artistic community. His sculptures celebrate individual character and physicality, and today he is considered the founder of modern sculpture. 

Rodin brought his sculpture to life, by completing them with complex human emotions such as affection, thrill, depression and disgust. His work clashed with the predominant figurative sculpture traditions, not only did he abandon the Greek’s ideal proportions, but he also mastered the interplay of light and shadow to make his work look even more naturalistic. As a naturalist, his sculpture emphasized the individual and concreteness of flesh, and suggested emotion through detailed, textured surfaces. He believed than an individual’s character was revealed by his physical features. Rodin also preferred to depict a body in motion rather than to work from a fixed, academic pose. His works are powerfully expressive, without reserving any emotions from his viewers. 

Rodin willed to the French state his studio and the right to make casts from his plasters, and the Musée Rodin is the sole trusted executors to cast bronzes from his original molds and models. In this sale, we will be showing Eternal Spring by Rodin, the piece was modelled in the same period as The Gates of Hell and the work also comes with a certificate from Musée Rodin.

Embodying the same elegant temperament as Rodin’s The Kiss, the young couple are intertwined gracefully, conveying both passion and sensuality. The young man leaned on the stone seat with his left hand grasping the rock to support his body, while his right hand wrapped around the girl’s shoulders, like a flying eagle with its wings spreading downwards. Vigorous and passionate, the girl kneels and raises her head diagonally, arching her body like a bright moon; unveiling her charm and feminine demeanor to welcome her lover’s kiss. The two figures embracing creates a striking yet harmonious dynamic. The smoothness of the lines and glossy surface further accentuates the curves of the bodies. Spring is the season when flowers bloom, and it is often associated with ‘youth,’ Rodin’s sculpture is parallel to a love poem with it’s naturalistic and flowing expressions. 

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