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Kissing babes
(1883); cast (1884)
Medium
bronze
Measurements
40.3 × 48.5 × 25.3 cm (overall)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1921
Gallery location
19th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
In 1881 the Anglo-Greek collector Constantine Alexander Ionides visited Rodin’s studio in Paris, where a friendship between artist and patron developed. Upon his return to England, Ionides subsequently commissioned Rodin to cast into bronze a number of sculptures that had caught his eye in Paris. The first of these was Kissing babes, the original plaster of which is held by the Musée Rodin, Paris. This is the only bronze cast of this subject, making it as unique as the NGV’s The thinker, displayed nearby, which was also commissioned from Rodin by Ionides and is the very first bronze ever made of this subject.
Artwork Details
Inscription
cast (diagonally) in front of metal base l.r.: A RODIn
Accession Number
1197-3
Department
International Sculpture
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited