Despair

Auguste Rodin French
 Cast by Georges Rudier French

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 800

Despair is one of the sculptor’s various meditations on human despondency. Body coiled inward, the figure fruitlessly strains against the force of her foot pushing into her hands. Her pose recalls Rodin’s studies of dancers, but here bodily movement, confined by a foursquare block, is doomed to remain self-contained and endlessly repetitive. Despair derives from the upper left door of The Gates of Hell.

Despair, Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon), Bronze, French

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Despair, Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon), Bronze, French
Despair, Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon), Bronze, French
Despair, Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon), Bronze, French

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