Anonymous photographer, possibly Pierre CHOUMOFF (1872-1936) - Lot 635

Anonymous photographer, possibly Pierre CHOUMOFF (1872-1936) Portrait of Auguste RODIN with beret, taken at Jeanne Bardey's home in Lyon, April 1916 Very rare and moving silver print pasted on brown card, with a note from Auguste Rodin on the mounting card: "Hommage à la chère Henriette Bardey, Auguste Rodin" ("Tribute to dear Henriette Bardey, Auguste Rodin"). Henriette BARDEY (1894-1960) was the daughter of the sculptor Jeanne BARDEY (1872-1954), the artist's last muse and pupil. Proof: H. 25.5 cm - L. 22 cm Mounting : H. 33,3 cm - L. 27,5 cm Reference: The Musée des Arts décoratifs de Lyon (Jeanne Bardey collection) and the Musée Rodin each hold a print, most probably taken on the same day in April 1916, showing Rodin surrounded on his left by Jeanne and Henriette Bardey and on his right by Rose Beuret, taken at Jeanne Bardey's home at 14 rue Robert, in Lyon's sixth arrondissement. The sculptor wears the same huge beret and is also standing in front of a piano. The Rodin Museum print is reproduced in Ruth Butler, Rodin, La solitude du génie, Paris, Gallimard, 1998 (illustration no. 224). Recent research by the Michel Descours gallery in Paris, informs us that Jeanne Bardey created a portrait of Rodin (black stone, graphite and charcoal), based on this photograph. Henriette's presence in the image preserved in the museum lends an extra emotional dimension, transcending a simple dedication to a happy day. This extraordinary portrait, a priori unpublished, where the master's sculptural silhouette is illuminated by the subtle finesse of a mischievous gaze, bears witness to the artist's prodigious, facetious vivacity barely a year before his death. Two tiny pinholes in the upper part of the print