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Eternal Spring

modeled ca. 1881, carved 1907
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 800
The woman arches her torso in willful surrender to her partner, who bends at his ease to kiss her. Rodin　temepered the work’s overt eroticism by giving it a variety of classicizing titles. First called Zephyr and Earth and later exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1897 as Cupid and Psyche, the composition’s true subject is sensuality and impassioned lovemaking. This marble version, commissioned in 1906 by the railroad investor and banker Isaac D. Fletcher, displays the soft, veiled quality of carving associated with Rodin’s late marbles.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Eternal Spring
  • Artist: Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon)
  • Date: modeled ca. 1881, carved 1907
  • Culture: French
  • Medium: Marble
  • Dimensions: Overall (wt. confirmed): 28 × 29 × 18 in., 433 lb. (71.1 × 73.7 × 45.7 cm, 196.4 kg)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Isaac D. Fletcher, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.120.184
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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