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A sculpture believed to be a fake copy of French artist Auguste Rodin’s work has sold for almost $1 million
Auction house Rouillac revealed the sculpture named Le Désespoir had not been on public display for nearly 120 years
The sculpture showcases a woman sitting on a rock and placing her knee to her chest while holding her foot
A sculpture which had long been believed to be a copy of French artist Auguste Rodin’s work has sold for $984,000.
On Tuesday, June 10, auction house Rouillac confirmed to CNN that the artifact, which has not been on public display for nearly 120 years, had been put up for auction and sold to a banker on the U.S. West Coast for $984,000.
Auctioneer Aymeric Rouillac told CNN that the family who previously owned the sculpture in France were unaware of Le Désespoir’s value and kept the item on their piano alongside family photos.
“They said ‘it’s a fake, it’s a copy,’ ” Rouillac recalled in a statement to CNN.
However, the auctioneer decided to investigate further before taking the sculpture for Comité Rodin’s assessment.
GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP via Getty
Le Désespoir
“I realized in a second that it was real,” Jérôme Le Blay, co-founder of the Comité Rodin, told CNN. “I had absolutely no doubt.”
He added that the sculpture was “extremely well made” and was from a period of time when Rodin was focusing on making a small amount of models.
The sculpture showcases a woman sitting on a rock and placing her knee to her chest while holding her foot.
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GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP via Getty
Le Désespoir
“The back, the muscles, they are perfect,” Rouillac said. “You can feel every vertebra in the spinal column.”
Le Désespoir was first sold in 1906 before being rediscovered in 2024. Rodin reportedly created multiple versions of the sculpture, with the model being formed in 1890 and then sculpted between 1892 and 1893.
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It was initially designed for Rodin’s “The Gates of Hell,” a haunting piece of art that includes over 200 sculptures.
Rodin lived from 1840 to 1917 and left his pieces with Paris’ Musée Rodin, who he granted permission to continue creating his bronze models.
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