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AUGUSTE RODIN HÉLÈNE DE HINDENBURG JOUANT AU PIANO À ARDENZA, 1902
We would like to thank Mrs. Buley-Uribe who confirmed the authenticity of the work and for her analysis of this drawing.
“This drawing by Rodin is part of a small series of sketches he made of the young German aristocrat Hélène de Nostitz, born Hindenburg, at the age of 23. Rodin befriended her and her mother, Baroness Sophie de Hindenburg, when they both went to Paris and visited his retrospective exhibition at the Pavillon de l’Alma during the Universal Exhibition of 1900. The admiration was mutual and immediate, so much so that the following year they invited the artist to join them at their secondary home in Ardenza, near Livorno in Italy. The details of their activities and excursions along the Tuscan coast are fairly well known (visits to churches and museums), thanks to their correspondence, which is preserved in the archives of the Musée Rodin. After their walks, they would rest in the “salon blanc” (white living room) of Villa Margherita. Hélène would play the piano and her mother would sing old tunes.
In November 1902, the invitation was renewed. It was during this second stay that Rodin began to model a bust of Hélène, and the series of sketches can probably also be dated to this time. These are fluid drawings, made on the spot, with pen and brown ink, sometimes on the same sheet of paper, a little like the quick drawings Rodin had made a few decades earlier after Victor Hugo. For the artist, it is a question of retaining above all the movement. This view of Hélène in profile, playing the piano, was cut out and separated from its original sheet, now in a private collection. It shows head studies – preparatory studies for her bust – as well as another silhouette of her sitting to the left.”
“Ce dessin appartient à une petite série de croquis réalisés par Rodin d’après une jeune aristocrate allemande, Hélène de Nostitz, née Hindenburg, âgée de 23 ans. Rodin se lia d’amitié avec elle et avec sa mère, la baronne Sophie de Hindenburg, lorsqu’elles se rendirent à Paris toutes deux et visitèrent son exposition rétrospective au pavillon de l’Alma, pendant l’Exposition universelle de 1900. L’admiration fut mutuelle et immédiate, au point qu’elles invitèrent l’artiste l’année suivante à les rejoindre dans leur résidence secondaire à Ardenza, près de Livourne en Italie. On connaît assez bien le détail de leurs activités et de leurs excursions sur la côte toscane (visites d’églises, de musées), grâce à leur correspondance conservée aux archives du musée Rodin. Après les promenades, ils se reposaient dansle « salon blanc » de la villa Margherita. Hélène se mettait au piano et sa mère chantait des airs anciens. En novembre 1902, l’invitation fut renouvelée. C’est lors de ce deuxième séjour que Rodin commença à modeler un buste d’Hélène, et l’on peut sans doute dater la série de croquis également de ce moment-là. Il s’agit de dessins fluides, réalisés sur le vif, à la plume et à l’encre brune, parfois sur une même feuille, un peu à la manière des dessins rapides que Rodin avait réalisés quelques décennies plus tôt d’après Victor Hugo. Il s’agit pour l’artiste de retenir surtout le mouvement. Cette vue d’Hélène de profil, jouant au piano, fut découpée et séparée de sa feuille d’origine conservée aujourd’hui dans une collection privée. On y voit des études de tête – études préparatoires à son buste — ainsi qu’une autre silhouette d’elle assise vers la gauche.”
AUGUSTE RODIN (1840-1917), FRENCH
HÉLÈNE DE HINDENBURG JOUANT AU
PIANO À ARDENZA, 1902 ink on wove paper; from a cut sheet of the sketch “Six esquisses de Hélène de Hindenburg”
4.9 x 3.1 in — 12.5 x 8 cm
PROVENANCE:
Collection of Hélène de Nostitz, Europe; Private Collection, Europe; Private Collection, Vancouver, BC, acquired by descent
$4,000 — 6,000
16
MAURICE CANNING WILKS (1911-1984), IRISH
LOW TIDE, ROCKPORT, CUSHENDUN, CO. ANTRIM oil on canvas; signed lower left; titled on stretcher
16.1 ins x 20.1 ins; 40.8 cms x 51 cms
PROVENANCE:
William Rodman and Co. Ltd., Belfast, Northern Ireland; Private Collection, Ontario
$1,800 — 2,200
17
GEORGE GOODWIN KILBURNE (1839-1924), BRITISH
THE DOCTOR’S VISIT watercolour on board; signed; titled to label verso
14.6 x 21.3 in — 37 x 54.2 cm
PROVENANCE:
Private Collection, London, UK; Private Collection, Montreal, QC; Private Collection, Toronto, ON
$3,000 — 4,000
FÉLIX ZIEM (1821-1911), FRENCH
CAMPANILE DE SAN MARCO oil on panel; signed 22.4 x 30.3 in — 56.8 x 77 cm
PROVENANCE: Private Collection, Ontario
$35,000 — 45,000
EDWARD SEAGO (1910-1974), BRITISH WINTER FLOODING, LUDHAM MARSHES oil on hardboard; signed lower left 26.1 x 36.1 in — 66.2 x 91.7 cm
PROVENANCE:
P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London, UK; Private Collection, Ottawa, ON $36,000 — 40,000
EDWARD SEAGO (1910-1974), BRITISH FLOODED MARSH oil on hardboard; titled verso
26.1 x 36.2 in — 66.3 x 91.9 cm
PROVENANCE:
P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London, UK; Private Collection, Ottawa, ON
$36,000 — 40,000
21
EDWARD SEAGO (1910-1974), BRITISH COTTAGES NEAR NEATISTEAD, NORFOLK oil on hardboard; signed lower left; titled to gallery label verso 20 x 26 in — 50.8 x 66 cm
PROVENANCE:
Frost and Reed, London, UK, gallery label verso; W. Russell Button Gallery, Chicago, IL; Doyle, New York, NY, 15 November 1990, lot 106; Paul Harris Art Selections Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland; Private Collection, Ontario; Private Collection, Toronto, ON
$12 000 — 18,000
FEDERICO CASTELLÓN (1914-1971), AMERICAN
PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN, CIRCA 1935 mixed media on paper; signed in black pencil lower right
9.3 x 6.9 in — 23.6 x 17.5 cm
PROVENANCE: Private Collection, Toronto, ON $900 — 1,200
23
Federico
CASTELLÓN (1914-1971), AMERICAN
MOTHER AND CHILD, CIRCA 1935 mixed media on paper; signed top left corner
14.3 x 9.1 in — 36.2 x 23.1 cm
PROVENANCE:
Private Collection, Ontario
$900 — 1,200
24
CECIL KENNEDY (1905-1997), BRITISH MORNING GLORIES, ROSES AND DAFFODILS oil on panel; signed lower left 20 x 16 in — 50.8 x 40.6 cm
PROVENANCE:
Private Collection, London, UK
$2,500 — 3,500
ACHILLE-ÉMILE OTHON FRIESZ (1879-1949), FRENCH
STUDY OF A FISHERMAN crayon on paper; signed sheet 10.4 x 7.6 in — 27.2 x 20.3 cm
PROVENANCE:
Estate of the artist, Honfleur, France; Kaspar Gallery, Toronto, ON; Private Collection, Toronto, ON
$300 — 400
ADOLPHE GIRALDON (1855-1935) & JOSÉ-MARIA DE HEREDIA (1842-1905), FRENCH
HORTORUM DEUS mixed media on paper; signed by both artists sheet 12.6 x 9.4 in — 32 x 23.8 cm
PROVENANCE:
Private Collection, Ontario
$1,300 — 1,500
27
SEATED NUDE; STANDING NUDE ink and gouache on handmade paper; the first, relief stamp top right corner, a sketch verso; the second, signed and dated 1925 sheet 15.4 x 11.3 in — 39 x 28.8 cm; sheet 15.7 x 11.4 in — 39.8 x 29 cm
PROVENANCE:
Private Collection, Ontario
$500 — 700
28
SEAN KEATING (1889-1977), IRISH
PORTRAIT OF TWO MEN charcoal on paper; signed sheet 10.6 x 12.5 in — 27 x 31.7 cm
PROVENANCE:
Private Collection, Nova Scotia
$2,000 — $3,000
