NEWS
Head of Hanako by Rodin
It was in July 1906, during a visit to the Colonial Exhibition in Marseille, that Rodin noticed the actress Hanako during a performance of a play entitled La revanche d'une Geisha (A Geisha's Revenge), at the end of which the actress was confronted with her death: “With small gestures, like a frightened child, sighs, cries of a wounded bird, she curled up on herself, reducing her slender body to nothing, lost in the folds of the large, heavily embroidered Japanese dress. Her face froze as if petrified, and only her eyes retained an intense life.”
This scene made a strong impression on Rodin, who wanted to capture it in clay. In September, he asked Loïe Fuller to bring Hanako to his studio in Meudon to pose for him. The first sessions were unsuccessful, and the following year, Rodin asked the actress to return to pose again. The sculptor worked on Hanako for two years, capturing different types and expressions.
Our Gallery is pleased to exhibit for FAB Paris (stand C23) the example plaster of the Hanako's Head by Rodin dedicated to the Japanese artist, coming from her collection; and a remarkable bronze example of the Mask of Hanako with an all'antica patina.
This scene made a strong impression on Rodin, who wanted to capture it in clay. In September, he asked Loïe Fuller to bring Hanako to his studio in Meudon to pose for him. The first sessions were unsuccessful, and the following year, Rodin asked the actress to return to pose again. The sculptor worked on Hanako for two years, capturing different types and expressions.
Our Gallery is pleased to exhibit for FAB Paris (stand C23) the example plaster of the Hanako's Head by Rodin dedicated to the Japanese artist, coming from her collection; and a remarkable bronze example of the Mask of Hanako with an all'antica patina.