Beside the Sea

Auguste Rodin

ca. 1907 · Marble · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Devoid of the psychic tensions that energize Rodin’s early compositions, this restful bather embodies the serenity typical of his late marbles. With its self-content aura of quiet, the figure recalls the voluptuous nudes painted by Rodin’s contemporary Auguste Renoir. Rodin hung one of Renoir’s paintings, Nude in the Sunlight (ca. 1880; Musée Rodin, Paris), above his desk, stating: "The torso of this young woman is pure sculpture." Beside the Sea was selected for The Met by John Marshall, a founder of the Rodin collection, during a 1907 visit to the sculptor’s studio. It is the only marble version of the subject.

Artist

Auguste Rodin

Date

ca. 1907

Medium

Marble

Culture

French

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Thomas F. Ryan, 1910