Despair

Auguste Rodin|Georges Rudier

modeled ca. 1890, cast ca. 1967 · Bronze · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Despair is one of the sculptor’s various meditations on human despondency. Body coiled inward, the figure fruitlessly strains against the force of her foot pushing into her hands. Her pose recalls Rodin’s studies of dancers, but here bodily movement, confined by a foursquare block, is doomed to remain self-contained and endlessly repetitive. Despair derives from the upper left door of The Gates of Hell.

Artist

Auguste Rodin|Georges Rudier

Date

modeled ca. 1890, cast ca. 1967

Medium

Bronze

Culture

French

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 1986