Head of Sorrow

Founder Cast by Georges Rudier French

modeled 1882, cast 1963

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 800

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.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: Head of Sorrow
Artist: Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon)
Founder: Cast by Georges Rudier (French)
Date: modeled 1882, cast 1963
Culture: French
Medium: Bronze, black marble base
Dimensions: Overall (without base, wt. confirmed): 9 × 9 × 10 1/2 in., 11.8 lb. (22.9 × 22.9 × 26.7 cm, 5.4 kg);
Weight on marble base, confirmed: 33.2 lb. (15.1 kg)
Classification: Sculpture-Bronze
Credit Line: Gift from B. Gerald Cantor Collection, 1985
Object Number: 1985.386
Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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