Modeled 1898; cast 1925
Colossal Head of Balzac
Auguste RodinFrench, 1840 - 1917
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This work represents one of Rodin’s last studies for Balzac’s head. The deep hollow of the eyes is accentuated by a bulbous, beaklike nose. (Balzac reputedly told another sculptor, "Be careful of my nose; my nose is a world.") In Rodin’s hands, the head became not so much a physical portrait of the great writer as a rendering of the location from which his art and genius arose.
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