Auguste rodin, after (1840-1917) la toilette de venus aka faunesse agenouillée aka le réveil year of ideation: 1890 ca. year of casting: 1987 material: bronze (brown patina) size: 39 cm high edition: 205/750 foundry: royal art collection, düsseldorf, germany signed: a. Rodin marked: rac (royal art collection), 205/750, 87 (for 1987) great condition: minor signs of age catalogue raisonné: antoinette le normand-romain, "rodin et le bronze - catalogue des œuvres conservées au musée rodin", éditions de la réunion des musées nationaux, paris, 2007, tome ii, p. 680 (illustrated) ___ this elegant, hollow-cast bronze captures auguste rodin’s celebrated "la toilette de vénus" (the toilette of venus). Cast in 1987 by the edition royal art collection (rac) in germany, this piece is a high-quality tribute to one of the most attractive subjects in the history of european sculpture. the artwork is a timeless study of the female form, showing a kneeling figure in a graceful, serpentine pose as she washes her hair. It is a subject that remains universally popular for its balance of classical beauty and expressive movement. - collector’s note - while rodin created the original stone model, all bronze casts of this subject are posthumous (with the earliest dating to 1918, after the artist's death). For the modern collector, the preciousness of a bronze often depends on the specific era of the cast and the reputation of the foundry. this piece is particularly notable for several reasons. it is cast by rac, a respected german company that closed at the end of the xxth century; thus, these specific editions are no longer in production; moreover, casts produced before 2000 are increasingly prized for their superior craftsmanship. This 1987 edition features a rich, hand-applied dark patina and the fine detail work characteristic of high-end late-20th-century german casting. This piece has an attribution mark, i am sure that it is completely authentic and take full responsibility for any authenticity issues arising from misattribution