Latest news with #AymericRouillac
CTV News
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
A family thought the sculpture on their piano was a ‘fake' Rodin. Now it's sold for nearly US$1 million
A sculpture by French artist Auguste Rodin that had disappeared from public view for almost 120 years and was thought to be a copy has sold for 860,000 euros (US$984,000) at auction. 'Le Désespoir,' which shows a female figure sat on a rock holding one foot with her knee hugged to her chest, was rediscovered at the end of 2024 after last being sold in 1906, said auction house Rouillac in a statement on Sunday. Rodin, who lived from 1840-1917, made several versions of 'Le Désespoir.' This particular sculpture was modelled in 1890 and sculpted from marble in 1892-93. Measuring just 28.5 centimetres (11.2 inches) by 15 centimetres (5.9 inches) by 25 centimetres (9.8 inches), the sculpture was originally modelled to form part of Rodin's monumental work 'The Gates of Hell,' which features more than 200 figures and groups. The previous owners – a family from central France – had no idea of its value and had displayed the sculpture on top of a piano alongside family photos, auctioneer Aymeric Rouillac told CNN on Tuesday. 'They said 'it's a fake, it's a copy,'' Rouillac said, but he decided to investigate further. The details of this sculpture are striking, Rouillac told CNN. 'The back, the muscles, they are perfect,' he said. 'You can feel every vertebra in the spinal column.' Following his own initial investigation, Rouillac took the sculpture for assessment by the Comité Rodin, which maintains a catalogue of the artist's work. Rodin sculpture A photograph showing the detail on one of the feet in the sculpture. (Guillaume Souvant/AFP via Getty Images via CNN Newsource) On Tuesday, Jérôme Le Blay, co-founder of the Comité Rodin, told CNN that he was immediately struck by the 'exceptional' piece. 'I realized in a second that it was real,' he said. 'I had absolutely no doubt.' This particular example is 'extremely well made,' said Le Blay, adding that it dates back to a period when Rodin was dedicating a huge amount of time to making a small number of sculptures. Rodin would have worked with assistants who would have carried out the initial work on a piece of marble, before he performed the final stages, he explained. According to Le Blay, the sculpture dates to 'one of the best moments of Rodin's career,' before his growing fame meant that he started to produce more and more works after the turn of the century. Upon his death, Rodin left his works to the Musée Rodin in Paris, as well as granting it permission to continue producing his bronze sculptures. While many of these posthumous bronzes go under the hammer each year, marbles are much harder to find, said Le Blay. Most of Rodin's marbles are owned by the Musée Rodin or by other large museums around the world, he said. 'Marbles in private collections are rare,' he said, adding that this piece has a 'kind of magic' due to the fact that it has reappeared for sale after such a long time. Following a 'passionate' auction, the winning bid was made by a young banker from the US West Coast, according to the auction house.
CNN
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
A family thought the sculpture on their piano was a ‘fake' Rodin. Now it's sold for nearly $1 million
A sculpture by French artist Auguste Rodin that had disappeared from public view for almost 120 years and was thought to be a copy has sold for 860,000 euros ($984,000) at auction. 'Le Désespoir,' which shows a female figure sat on a rock holding one foot with her knee hugged to her chest, was rediscovered at the end of 2024 after last being sold in 1906, said auction house Rouillac in a statement on Sunday. Rodin, who lived from 1840-1917, made several versions of 'Le Désespoir.' This particular sculpture was modelled in 1890 and sculpted from marble in 1892-93. Measuring just 28.5 centimeters (11.2 inches) by 15 centimeters (5.9 inches) by 25 centimeters (9.8 inches), the sculpture was originally modelled to form part of Rodin's monumental work 'The Gates of Hell,' which features more than 200 figures and groups. The previous owners – a family from central France – had no idea of its value and had displayed the sculpture on top of a piano alongside family photos, auctioneer Aymeric Rouillac told CNN on Tuesday. 'They said 'it's a fake, it's a copy,'' Rouillac said, but he decided to investigate further. The details of this sculpture are striking, Rouillac told CNN. 'The back, the muscles, they are perfect,' he said. 'You can feel every vertebra in the spinal column.' Following his own initial investigation, Rouillac took the sculpture for assessment by the Comité Rodin, which maintains a catalogue of the artist's work. On Tuesday, Jérôme Le Blay, co-founder of the Comité Rodin, told CNN that he was immediately struck by the 'exceptional' piece. 'I realized in a second that it was real,' he said. 'I had absolutely no doubt.' This particular example is 'extremely well made,' said Le Blay, adding that it dates back to a period when Rodin was dedicating a huge amount of time to making a small number of sculptures. Rodin would have worked with assistants who would have carried out the initial work on a piece of marble, before he performed the final stages, he explained. According to Le Blay, the sculpture dates to 'one of the best moments of Rodin's career,' before his growing fame meant that he started to produce more and more works after the turn of the century. Upon his death, Rodin left his works to the Musée Rodin in Paris, as well as granting it permission to continue producing his bronze sculptures. While many of these posthumous bronzes go under the hammer each year, marbles are much harder to find, said Le Blay. Most of Rodin's marbles are owned by the Musée Rodin or by other large museums around the world, he said. 'Marbles in private collections are rare,' he said, adding that this piece has a 'kind of magic' due to the fact that it has reappeared for sale after such a long time. Following a 'passionate' auction, the winning bid was made by a young banker from the US West Coast, according to the auction house.
CNN
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
A family thought the sculpture on their piano was a ‘fake' Rodin. Now it's sold for nearly $1 million
A sculpture by French artist Auguste Rodin that had disappeared from public view for almost 120 years and was thought to be a copy has sold for 860,000 euros ($984,000) at auction. 'Le Désespoir,' which shows a female figure sat on a rock holding one foot with her knee hugged to her chest, was rediscovered at the end of 2024 after last being sold in 1906, said auction house Rouillac in a statement on Sunday. Rodin, who lived from 1840-1917, made several versions of 'Le Désespoir.' This particular sculpture was modelled in 1890 and sculpted from marble in 1892-93. Measuring just 28.5 centimeters (11.2 inches) by 15 centimeters (5.9 inches) by 25 centimeters (9.8 inches), the sculpture was originally modelled to form part of Rodin's monumental work 'The Gates of Hell,' which features more than 200 figures and groups. The previous owners – a family from central France – had no idea of its value and had displayed the sculpture on top of a piano alongside family photos, auctioneer Aymeric Rouillac told CNN on Tuesday. 'They said 'it's a fake, it's a copy,'' Rouillac said, but he decided to investigate further. The details of this sculpture are striking, Rouillac told CNN. 'The back, the muscles, they are perfect,' he said. 'You can feel every vertebra in the spinal column.' Following his own initial investigation, Rouillac took the sculpture for assessment by the Comité Rodin, which maintains a catalogue of the artist's work. On Tuesday, Jérôme Le Blay, co-founder of the Comité Rodin, told CNN that he was immediately struck by the 'exceptional' piece. 'I realized in a second that it was real,' he said. 'I had absolutely no doubt.' This particular example is 'extremely well made,' said Le Blay, adding that it dates back to a period when Rodin was dedicating a huge amount of time to making a small number of sculptures. Rodin would have worked with assistants who would have carried out the initial work on a piece of marble, before he performed the final stages, he explained. According to Le Blay, the sculpture dates to 'one of the best moments of Rodin's career,' before his growing fame meant that he started to produce more and more works after the turn of the century. Upon his death, Rodin left his works to the Musée Rodin in Paris, as well as granting it permission to continue producing his bronze sculptures. While many of these posthumous bronzes go under the hammer each year, marbles are much harder to find, said Le Blay. Most of Rodin's marbles are owned by the Musée Rodin or by other large museums around the world, he said. 'Marbles in private collections are rare,' he said, adding that this piece has a 'kind of magic' due to the fact that it has reappeared for sale after such a long time. Following a 'passionate' auction, the winning bid was made by a young banker from the US West Coast, according to the auction house.
News.com.au
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Rodin 'copy' sells for $1 million in France
The owners thought the sculpture perched for years on the corner of a piano was a Rodin copy, but after being declared as the real thing the small marble figure has now sold for one million dollars at auction, organisers said Monday. Described as an "extremely rare" find by auction organiser Aymeric Rouillac, the figure was in fact an 1892 work, "Despair" by Auguste Rodin, that had gone missing after being sold at auction in 1906. The work was put on sale at the weekend at an opening price of 500,000 euros, but eventually sold for 860,000 euros (one million dollars), according to Rouillac. The family had long believed the 28.5 centimetre (11 inch) figure of a sitting woman holding one foot was a copy of the legendary sculptor's work, said Rouillac. After the owners approached Rouillac about another matter, he and his team spent months investigating the origin of the sculpture, including even looking into the family's origins. He went to the Comite Rodin in March and the body that is considered the leading authority on the French artist confirmed its authenticity six weeks later. Rouillac said the committee found that "Despair" was sold at auction in 1906 and then disappeared from view. "So we have rediscovered it," he told AFP.
BBC News
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Depair to delight: lost Rodin 'copy' sells for $1m
A small marble sculpture thought to be a copy of the French artist Auguste Rodin's work has turned out to be the real thing, selling for almost $1m at an auction in France on sculpture, called "Despair", a figure of a woman hugging her knees and holding one foot, is a work by the famed sculptor from 1892 that had disappeared after being sold at an auction in the owners, "Despair" turned to delight when the piece they believed to be a Rodin copy was confirmed as authentic by the Comite Rodin after a six-week auctioneer Aymeric Rouillac described it as an "extremely rare" find and the work was put up for auction and eventually sold for €860,000 (£725,000; $982,000). "Despair" was originally modelled by Rodin as part of his series of figures for The Gates of to the Musée Rodin, the figure is a depiction of sorrow and the French sculptor created other versions after it was positively the family who owned the 28.5cm (11 inches) marble figure – which had sat on their piano for years – approached Mr Rouillac, he and his team spent months investigating the origins of the March, Mr Rouillac brought the piece to the Comité Rodin, a research group dedicated to studying the works of Rodin, who confirmed its authenticity six weeks committee found that "Despair" had disappeared after being sold at an auction in 1906."We have rediscovered it," Mr Rouillac told the AFP news agency.
