AUGUSTE RODIN (French, 1840-1917), 1900 Femme nue debout vers la droite inscribed and signed 'a mon cher ami Armand / Dayot. Auguste Rodin' (upper left); two labels inscribed 'Arthur Steinberg' and 'Pygmalion / Berlin W. 62 / Kurfürstenstr. 75' (affixed to the reverse of the mat) graphite, stump, and watercolor on paper 32.5 x 25.0 cm (12 13/16 x 9 13/16 in). framed 50.3 x 42.0 x 1.5 cm. (19 13/16 x 16 1/2 x 5/8 in). Footnotes: Provenance Offered by Rodin in July 1915 (possibly to Armand Dayot, Paris). Sometime after to the collection of Robert von Hirsch, Frankfurt. Arthur Steinberg. By descent to the current private collection. N.B. This drawing is a wonderful example of Rodin's mature style. The subtle use of wash mixed with watercolor over the woman's body and the network of dense hatching covering the right portion of the sheet are particularly impressive. As he often did, Rodin here worked from a preparatory sketch of a female model (held at the Rodin Museum, Paris, D. 622) drawn à l'aveugle. This method consisted of the artist keeping his eyes trained on the model while his hands independently worked to capture the 'flow of his impressions, passing from his eye to his hand'. Next, Rodin transposed the sketch onto quality paper. In the final watercolor iteration of the picture, Rodin hoped to convey the volume and density of the model while retaining the spontaneity of the initial sketch, as seen in the freeness of the woman's face. What was once a sketch from life is thereby transformed into a masterful drawing. It is possible that Rodin offered this drawing to Armand Dayot in 1915, as suggested by a letter of thanks dated July 20, 1915, written by his wife and preserved in the archives of the Rodin Museum, Paris. A long-time friend of Rodin, Dayot was still very close to the sculptor in his last years (Rodin died in 1917). A 1914 special issue of the journal Art and Artists, which Dayot managed, was dedicated to Rodin, and in 1915 Dayot commissioned Rodin to make a series of drawings for the San Francisco Universal Exhibition. This episode is also attested to in correspondence between the two men. The drawing came to its current owner with a typewritten note in German that reads, translated: 'RODIN, Auguste, born Paris 4.11.1840, died Paris 17.11.1917. / Female Nude. Watercolor drawing. Movement study: The naked female body, cut off at the top and bottom by the edge of the picture, in a striding position to the right, the upper body presented at an angle, the head jerked in front view. The right arm reaches across the body, the left arm continues the body movement by being raised horizontally and reaching back to the head with the hand. The back is framed by the falling, full head of hair, while the front of the body is placed against a cloth that flutters down past the shoulder. Strong flesh colors, hair and cloth in brownish-burgundy tons. The drawing is in fine pencil lines and charcoal, partly shaded with a wash. Lighting comes from the left. / Inscribed top right: A mon cher ami Armand Dayot Auguste Rodin. (The dedication was subsequently made unclear.) / Collection Dayot, Paris. Photo 496.' We would like to thank Christina Buley-Uribe for her kind assistance in cataloguing and authenticating this work. This work is accompanied by a signed certificate of authentication and will be included as no. 240201 in Christina Buley-Uribe's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the drawings of Auguste Rodin. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing