Head of Sorrow

Auguste Rodin|Georges Rudier

modeled 1882, cast 1963 · Bronze, black marble base · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

This androgynous head expresses in equal parts yearning, disturbance, vulnerability, and pain. Its ambiguity allowed Rodin to merge the head with different bodies to produce male and female figures. In smaller scale and combined with other elements, Head of Sorrow appears four times in The Gates of Hell. Rodin may have felt that its repetition infused the doors with a sense of coherence or collective grief.

Artist

Auguste Rodin|Georges Rudier

Date

modeled 1882, cast 1963

Medium

Bronze, black marble base

Culture

French

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift from B. Gerald Cantor Collection, 1985