Auguste Rodin

François-Auguste-René Rodin;  known as Auguste Rodin (November 12, 1840 – November 17, 1917), French sculptor, original vintage 9 x 11.5 inch silver print photograph of 'Les Bourgeois de Calais' one of his most famous works.  

'Les Bourgeois de Calais' was completed in 1889. It serves as a monument to an occurrence in 1347 during the Hundred Years' War, when Calais, an important French port on the English Channel, was under siege by the English for over a year. Calais commissioned Rodin to create the sculpture in 1884.

Rodin's design was controversial. The public had a lack of appreciation for it because it didn't have "overtly heroic antique references" which were considered integral to public sculpture. It was not a pyramidal arrangement and contained no allegorical figures. It was intended to be placed at ground level, rather than on a pedestal. The burghers were not presented in a positive image of glory; instead, they display "pain, anguish and fatalism." To Rodin, this was nevertheless heroic, the heroism of self-sacrifice. 

In 1895 the monument was installed in Calais on a large pedestal in front of a Parc Richelieu, a public park, contrary to the sculptor's wishes, who wanted contemporary townsfolk to "almost bump into" the figures and feel solidarity with them. Only later was his vision realized, when the sculpture was moved in front of the newly completed town hall of Calais, where it now rests on a much lower base.

Verso bears original pencil ID notations, else blank and clean. In fine condition showing pin holes in its four corners.