There is 13 bronze of that statue in the world and not only 12. 1 in Caracas (Venezuela), 5 in the United States of America, 5 in Europe, 1 in Japan, 1 in Australia.
The thirteenth bronze is in Praha…
The bronze number 2 was erected in first in Anvers (Belgium). Rodin wanted that the first erection take place in Paris.
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The tribulations of a virtual statue in search of a place in the sun
The statues, once given birth by their sculptor, as they strive to find their rightful place in this world! What anguish to seek the site that will showcase.Asked lighting day, a matter of lighting at night, when lit lamps and lights.Question of space, any statue, like a beautiful woman, wanting to receive the homage of his admirers-voyeurs from near and far. Security issue, how to be free of graffiti and catchy umbrella raging in the public space? And then, of course, the site must be worthy of the work.
From this point of view, Paris can boast a great success. The proud equestrian statue of Marshal Foch (by Wlérick and Martin) on the Place du Trocadero has eyes pointed to the other side, where he meets the Marshal Joffre (Real del Sarte) on a Military School. What beautiful sight-strategic sculptural! And worthy of a city that traditionally favors the urban.
But Balzac, our great Balzac, including the Comedie Humaine rivals Divine Comedy by Dante, to place people at the center of the drama of life, where in Paris to find a place worthy of him? His statue is the work of that other genius, Rodin. Where do I put this unique monument?
The first site chosen by the City Council of Paris at the request of the Society of People of Letters was the place du Palais-Royal, between the main facade of the Louvre and the solemn portico of the Palais-Royal.Pantheon open, s ‘exclama Adviser to applause.(Session of Council of 17 June 1891). Balzac could not imagine better: stand in the witness of history and society between the old royal palace and garden, where that other popular protest was amplified to the storming of the Bastille.
At that time, the Society of People of Letters had not yet chosen Rodin to pay tribute to the writer, but once that was done, the relationship between the sculptor and the Company did not cease to deteriorate to the point that ‘work completed seven years later was denied. An affront, as we had never seen!
The statue (the original plaster) remained in Rodin in his studio in Meudon and the sculptor refused to sell to anyone with a copy in bronze. He waited Paris. In 1916, he bequeathed all his work to the French state for the creation of the Rodin Museum, which became the guardian of his memory.
Rodin Museum, increasingly sought by museums and collectors, decided in 1930 ordered two of Balzac in bronze, one for Antwerp, the other for Paris. Belgian side, it was roundly shipped, but the French red tape dragged in length, until the creation of a Committee of the ‘Balzac’ of Rodin, who in 1936 launched a public subscription, and began to negotiate with the City Council Paris, who himself sent the matter to a Commission of Experts.
Where to place the statue? The initial proposal, between the Louvre and the Palais Royal, was no longer valid because of the traffic increasingly dense as the city began to worry about. Devant l’Institut de France? Sweet revenge for Balzac and Rodin that had been rejected by the academies!
In front of the mansion of the Society of People of Letters, in expiation of scandalous refusal of it, forty years ago? Before the stock market, where high stature of Balzac had dominated the tumult of the wretched of the money, according to the authors of this proposal?Boulevard Saint-Michel, at the height of Luxembourg, in place of the monument and Caventou Pelelletier, inventors of quinine (two statues were melted under occupation)? This proposal was screaming doctors and pharmacists. Negotiations between the Committee of the ‘Balzac’ Rodin and the City Council were all the more difficult as the first had the reputation of being left, while the other was quite right.
After three years of talks, two proposals are specified:
- The garden of the Observatory, where the statue took place in the beautiful wooded perspective that goes to the Senate Observatory, already enriched by the four parts of the world supporting the celestial sphere of Carpeaux.
- On the central boulevard Raspail, between rows of trees, at the crossroads Vavin.
Between the two locations, the city chooses the worst.War weary the Committee agreed, not without one of its members said: the location is hateful, this work of genius is not meant to be seen in a narrow framework on a gray building.
The bureaucratic delays remain a French tradition, theBalzac was opened at its current location on July 1,1939. Alas! Three months later it was dismantled and stored away for the duration of the war.
This story is mentioned in the movie unlikely encounter. His achievement gives us the opportunity to propose for the masterpiece of Rodin a place worthy of him, and worthy of Paris. We will come back.
Michel Ellenberger
(All information is drawn from the 1898 catalog: The Rodin’s Balzac, published by the Rodin Museum, 1998, under the direction of Antoinette Lenormand-Romain)Michel Ellenberger
(Toutes les informations sont tirées du catalogue 1898 : le Balzac de Rodin, publié par le Musée Rodin, 1998, sous la direction d’Antoinette Lenormand-Romain)
