?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,000
VLADIMIR ZUPANSKY (1869-1928) SOUBORNA VYSTAVA DEL SOCHARE RODINA. 1902. 62 1/2x33 inches, 158 3/4x83 3/4 cm. Unie, Prague. Condition B+: Repaired tear in central image; tears, creases and abrasions in margins and image; vertical and horizontal folds; time-staining at edges; tape on verso. Paper. Advertising a retrospective of Rodin's work in Prague in 1902, sponsored by the Manes Artists Union. The choice of this statue of Balzac was a confrontational decision for this poster, as it had been at the center of major controversy. The design had been turned down by the Societé des Gens de Lettres, who had commissioned the statue from Rodin in the first place. The powerful statue of the famous writer does not show him in a traditional pose with a quill in his hand, but rather, depicts him in his bathrobe (which he customarily wore when writing), with his head thrown back and his hair tousled. Constantin Brancusi declared that "Balzac . . . remains the incontestable point of departure for modern sculpture." Since 1939, the statue has stood at the corner of Boulevard Raspail and Montparnasse. Printed in German, French and Czech, this is the Czech version. Mascha 153 (var), Ulice p. 34, Cesky Plakat 143, The Poster 59 (var), Life with Posters p. 108.
