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Iris, Messenger of the Gods
Theramin: new article
[[File:Auguste Rodin - Iris, Messenger of the Gods - Iris, gudenes sendebud - The National Gallery (Nasjonalgalleriet) (29252581774) (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Auguste Rodin]], ''Iris, Messenger of the Gods'', [[National Gallery of Norway]], Oslo]]
[[File:Iris rodin 050685.jpg|thumb|[[Auguste Rodin]], ''Iris, Messenger of the Gods'', [[Israel Museum]], Jerusalem]]
'''''Iris, Messenger of the Gods''''' (French: "Iris, messagère des Dieux") (sometimes known as '''''Flying Figure''''', or '''''Eternal Tunnel''''') is a bronze sculpture by [[Auguste Rodin]]. A plaster model was created from 1891 to 1894, and cast in bronze by [[Rudier Foundry|Fonderie Rudier]] at various times from c.1895. Iris is depicted with the right hand clasping the right foot, with her naked body controversially arranged with her legs spread wide, displaying her genitalia.
==Background==
The sculpture originated in 1891 as part of Rodin's second (and ultimately unrealised) proposal for a [[Monument to Victor Hugo]] for a site outside the [[Panthéon]] ion Paris. Rodin received the commission in 1889, and he initially conceived a sculpture of [[Victor Hugo]] accompanied by three female figures representing Youth, Maturity and Old Age. Over time, the project evolved, and the parts of the figures became separate sculptures, including ''[[Meditation (sculpture)|Meditation]]'', ''[[Tragic Muse]]'', and ''Iris''. The figure that became ''Iris'' was intended to [[personification|personify]] the "Spirit of the Nineteenth Century", or "Glory", hovering above the head of Victor Hugo.
A simplified version of the Monument to Victor Hugo was later installed at the [[Palais Royale]].
==Description==
The original sculpture depicted the [[Iris (mythology)|Greek goddess Iris]] as a woman, with sweeping wings, and leg spread wide. The pose recalls the uncompromising painting ''[[L'Origine du monde]]'' (1866) by [[Gustave Courbet]] (held in a private collection and still little unknown in 1890, but Rodin may have become acquainted with it through [[Edmond de Goncourt]]: Courbet's work gained wider exposure after being acquired by the [[Musée d'Orsay]] in 1981). It also reflects the athleticism of a gymnast or dancer stretching. The sculpture was probably from life, with a model lying on a bed, perhaps a [[can-can]] dancer. Indeed, it may be inspired by Rodin's clipping of the [[Chahut]] dancer "Grille d'Egout" from an 1891 issue of the ''[[Gil Blas (periodical)|Gil Blas]]'' magazine.
A small early study of ''Iris'' retains its head. The sculpture was altered in 1894, when it was enlarged by Rodin's assistant and reoriented into a vertical position, with the left arm and head removed leaving a fragmentary torso similar to a damaged statue from Classical antiquity. It was catalogued as ''Study of a woman with legs apart'' in November 1894, and then cast in bronze at the [[Rudier Foundry]]. A full-size cast held by the [[Musée Rodin]] measures .
A cast was exhibited at the Sixth [[Munich Secession]] exhibition in 1898, and then, under the title ''Another Voice'', at Rodin's retrospective in a temporary pavilion at the during the [[Exposition Universelle (1900)|Exposition Universelle]] in 1900. The work was initially very controversial due to its explicit sexual content, it was retained in Rodin's studio. A cast owned by [[Edward Perry Warren]] was donated to the [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]], in 1908, but the museum felt unable to exhibit the "unshowable" work, and sold it in 1953. (Warren collected other controversial artworks: he also owned the [[Warren Cup]]; and his donation of a stone version of Rodin's ''[[The Kiss]]'' to the local council in [[Lewes]] was returned as being unsuitable for public display.) The [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] accepted the artist's donation of an early cast in 1914, where it is known as "Crouching Woman".
''Iris'' has been described by the art historian Jane Mayo Roos as "open[ing] her thighs in a pose of candid, aggressive sexuality". The critic [[Arthur Symons]] wrote that "All the force of the muscle palpitates in this strenuous flesh, the whole splendour of her sex, unveiled, palpitates in the air, the messenger of the gods, bringing some divine message, pauses in flight, an embodied inspiration".
==Versions==
Examples of the sculpture exists in a number of smaller casts.
A high in version, cast by Rudier in 1902-5, so one of just seven known castings made during Rodin's lifetime, was sold for £11.57m at Sotheby's in 2016. It was sold from the collection of [[Sylvester Stallone]], who had nicknamed it the "flying beaver". Stallone had acquired it at auction in 2007 for £4.6m, then a record for Rodin.
Ten smaller high bronze casts were made by the Rudier Foundry for the Musée Rodin between 1945 and 1965. One was sold at [[Christie's]] in 2007 for US$880,000, and another at [[Bonham's]] in 2014 for US$509,000. A high version, cast in 1963, was sold for US$2.89m at [[Sotheby's]] in 2016.
A version is held by the [[Museum of Modern Art]] in New York, and the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] has a version, cast in 1965.
The Musée Rodin had a series of 13 casts of a high version with the head intact and the stump of a left arm, known as ''Iris, Study with Head'' made by the [[Susse Frères|Susse]] foundry between 1969 and 1972.
The work may have influenced [[Marcel Duchamp]]'s explicit [[peephole]] installation ''[[Étant donnés]]''. Some works of [[Francis Bacon (artist)|Francis Bacon]] show the influence of this sculpture, including his ''Lying Figure No. 1'' (1959) and ''Reclining Woman'' (1961).
<gallery>
File:Musée Rodin (37063887251).jpg|Rodin, ''Monument to Victor Hugo'', at the [[Palais Royale]], Paris, including Rodin's sculptures of Victor Hugo and his ''Tragic Muse''
File:Auguste rodin, la musa tragica (dal monumento a victor hugo), 1890, 01.JPG|Rodin, ''[[Tragic Muse]]'', [[Musée d'Art et d'Histoire (Geneva)|Musée d'Art et d'Histoire]], Geneva
File:Méditation, dite voix intérieure, avec bras (after 1900) by Rodin.jpg |Rodin, ''[[Meditation (sculpture)|Meditation]]'', [[Musée Rodin]], Paris
</gallery>
==References==
* [https://ift.tt/1OEGWBh ''Iris, Messenger of the Gods''], Musée Rodin
* [https://ift.tt/38QVTPd Monument to Victor Hugo] , Musée Rodin
* [https://ift.tt/2Ta4khA Monument to Victor Hugo] , Musée Rodin
* [https://ift.tt/3c1WTSz ''Head of Iris''], Victoria and Albert Musuem
* [https://ift.tt/2vSmJYt ''Crouching Woman''], Victoria and Albert Musuem
* [https://ift.tt/39XbDQA ''Iris''], Museum of Modern Art
* [https://ift.tt/2vbIfrd ''Iris, Study with Head''], Bowman Sculpture
* [https://ift.tt/2w1sqDl ''Iris, Messagère des Dieux (Messenger of the Gods), Study without Head, Small Model''], Bowman Sculpture
* [https://ift.tt/32h6xvS ''Iris, Messenger of the Gods''], Metropolitan Museum of Art
* [https://ift.tt/32nuwtp '' Iris, messagère des Dieux''], Christie's, 9 May 2007
* [https://ift.tt/2HNi3Wy Great Works: Iris, Messenger of the Gods (circa 1895), Auguste Rodin], The Independent, 26 November 2010
* [https://ift.tt/2VpI4Dx ''Iris, messagère des dieux, étude sans tête, petit modèle''], Bonham's, 4 November 2014
* [https://ift.tt/2VdnN3H "Rodin's explicit Iris and daring Freud nude go on sale for estimated £13m-plus"], The Guardian, 27 January 2016
* [https://ift.tt/1S3fct1 ''Iris, messagère des dieux''], Sotheby's, 3 February 2016
* [https://ift.tt/32jynrr ''Iris, messagère des dieux''], Sotheby's, 9 May 2016
* [https://ift.tt/2HOQLio Francis Bacon, ''Lying Figure No. 1'' (1959)], www.francis-bacon
* [https://ift.tt/2PgPa9n Francis Bacon, ''Reclining Woman'' (1961)], Tate
[[Category:Sculptures by Auguste Rodin]]
[[Category:Bronze sculptures]]
[[Category:1895 sculptures]]
[[File:Iris rodin 050685.jpg|thumb|[[Auguste Rodin]], ''Iris, Messenger of the Gods'', [[Israel Museum]], Jerusalem]]
'''''Iris, Messenger of the Gods''''' (French: "Iris, messagère des Dieux") (sometimes known as '''''Flying Figure''''', or '''''Eternal Tunnel''''') is a bronze sculpture by [[Auguste Rodin]]. A plaster model was created from 1891 to 1894, and cast in bronze by [[Rudier Foundry|Fonderie Rudier]] at various times from c.1895. Iris is depicted with the right hand clasping the right foot, with her naked body controversially arranged with her legs spread wide, displaying her genitalia.
==Background==
The sculpture originated in 1891 as part of Rodin's second (and ultimately unrealised) proposal for a [[Monument to Victor Hugo]] for a site outside the [[Panthéon]] ion Paris. Rodin received the commission in 1889, and he initially conceived a sculpture of [[Victor Hugo]] accompanied by three female figures representing Youth, Maturity and Old Age. Over time, the project evolved, and the parts of the figures became separate sculptures, including ''[[Meditation (sculpture)|Meditation]]'', ''[[Tragic Muse]]'', and ''Iris''. The figure that became ''Iris'' was intended to [[personification|personify]] the "Spirit of the Nineteenth Century", or "Glory", hovering above the head of Victor Hugo.
A simplified version of the Monument to Victor Hugo was later installed at the [[Palais Royale]].
==Description==
The original sculpture depicted the [[Iris (mythology)|Greek goddess Iris]] as a woman, with sweeping wings, and leg spread wide. The pose recalls the uncompromising painting ''[[L'Origine du monde]]'' (1866) by [[Gustave Courbet]] (held in a private collection and still little unknown in 1890, but Rodin may have become acquainted with it through [[Edmond de Goncourt]]: Courbet's work gained wider exposure after being acquired by the [[Musée d'Orsay]] in 1981). It also reflects the athleticism of a gymnast or dancer stretching. The sculpture was probably from life, with a model lying on a bed, perhaps a [[can-can]] dancer. Indeed, it may be inspired by Rodin's clipping of the [[Chahut]] dancer "Grille d'Egout" from an 1891 issue of the ''[[Gil Blas (periodical)|Gil Blas]]'' magazine.
A small early study of ''Iris'' retains its head. The sculpture was altered in 1894, when it was enlarged by Rodin's assistant and reoriented into a vertical position, with the left arm and head removed leaving a fragmentary torso similar to a damaged statue from Classical antiquity. It was catalogued as ''Study of a woman with legs apart'' in November 1894, and then cast in bronze at the [[Rudier Foundry]]. A full-size cast held by the [[Musée Rodin]] measures .
A cast was exhibited at the Sixth [[Munich Secession]] exhibition in 1898, and then, under the title ''Another Voice'', at Rodin's retrospective in a temporary pavilion at the during the [[Exposition Universelle (1900)|Exposition Universelle]] in 1900. The work was initially very controversial due to its explicit sexual content, it was retained in Rodin's studio. A cast owned by [[Edward Perry Warren]] was donated to the [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]], in 1908, but the museum felt unable to exhibit the "unshowable" work, and sold it in 1953. (Warren collected other controversial artworks: he also owned the [[Warren Cup]]; and his donation of a stone version of Rodin's ''[[The Kiss]]'' to the local council in [[Lewes]] was returned as being unsuitable for public display.) The [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] accepted the artist's donation of an early cast in 1914, where it is known as "Crouching Woman".
''Iris'' has been described by the art historian Jane Mayo Roos as "open[ing] her thighs in a pose of candid, aggressive sexuality". The critic [[Arthur Symons]] wrote that "All the force of the muscle palpitates in this strenuous flesh, the whole splendour of her sex, unveiled, palpitates in the air, the messenger of the gods, bringing some divine message, pauses in flight, an embodied inspiration".
==Versions==
Examples of the sculpture exists in a number of smaller casts.
A high in version, cast by Rudier in 1902-5, so one of just seven known castings made during Rodin's lifetime, was sold for £11.57m at Sotheby's in 2016. It was sold from the collection of [[Sylvester Stallone]], who had nicknamed it the "flying beaver". Stallone had acquired it at auction in 2007 for £4.6m, then a record for Rodin.
Ten smaller high bronze casts were made by the Rudier Foundry for the Musée Rodin between 1945 and 1965. One was sold at [[Christie's]] in 2007 for US$880,000, and another at [[Bonham's]] in 2014 for US$509,000. A high version, cast in 1963, was sold for US$2.89m at [[Sotheby's]] in 2016.
A version is held by the [[Museum of Modern Art]] in New York, and the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] has a version, cast in 1965.
The Musée Rodin had a series of 13 casts of a high version with the head intact and the stump of a left arm, known as ''Iris, Study with Head'' made by the [[Susse Frères|Susse]] foundry between 1969 and 1972.
The work may have influenced [[Marcel Duchamp]]'s explicit [[peephole]] installation ''[[Étant donnés]]''. Some works of [[Francis Bacon (artist)|Francis Bacon]] show the influence of this sculpture, including his ''Lying Figure No. 1'' (1959) and ''Reclining Woman'' (1961).
<gallery>
File:Musée Rodin (37063887251).jpg|Rodin, ''Monument to Victor Hugo'', at the [[Palais Royale]], Paris, including Rodin's sculptures of Victor Hugo and his ''Tragic Muse''
File:Auguste rodin, la musa tragica (dal monumento a victor hugo), 1890, 01.JPG|Rodin, ''[[Tragic Muse]]'', [[Musée d'Art et d'Histoire (Geneva)|Musée d'Art et d'Histoire]], Geneva
File:Méditation, dite voix intérieure, avec bras (after 1900) by Rodin.jpg |Rodin, ''[[Meditation (sculpture)|Meditation]]'', [[Musée Rodin]], Paris
</gallery>
==References==
* [https://ift.tt/1OEGWBh ''Iris, Messenger of the Gods''], Musée Rodin
* [https://ift.tt/38QVTPd Monument to Victor Hugo] , Musée Rodin
* [https://ift.tt/2Ta4khA Monument to Victor Hugo] , Musée Rodin
* [https://ift.tt/3c1WTSz ''Head of Iris''], Victoria and Albert Musuem
* [https://ift.tt/2vSmJYt ''Crouching Woman''], Victoria and Albert Musuem
* [https://ift.tt/39XbDQA ''Iris''], Museum of Modern Art
* [https://ift.tt/2vbIfrd ''Iris, Study with Head''], Bowman Sculpture
* [https://ift.tt/2w1sqDl ''Iris, Messagère des Dieux (Messenger of the Gods), Study without Head, Small Model''], Bowman Sculpture
* [https://ift.tt/32h6xvS ''Iris, Messenger of the Gods''], Metropolitan Museum of Art
* [https://ift.tt/32nuwtp '' Iris, messagère des Dieux''], Christie's, 9 May 2007
* [https://ift.tt/2HNi3Wy Great Works: Iris, Messenger of the Gods (circa 1895), Auguste Rodin], The Independent, 26 November 2010
* [https://ift.tt/2VpI4Dx ''Iris, messagère des dieux, étude sans tête, petit modèle''], Bonham's, 4 November 2014
* [https://ift.tt/2VdnN3H "Rodin's explicit Iris and daring Freud nude go on sale for estimated £13m-plus"], The Guardian, 27 January 2016
* [https://ift.tt/1S3fct1 ''Iris, messagère des dieux''], Sotheby's, 3 February 2016
* [https://ift.tt/32jynrr ''Iris, messagère des dieux''], Sotheby's, 9 May 2016
* [https://ift.tt/2HOQLio Francis Bacon, ''Lying Figure No. 1'' (1959)], www.francis-bacon
* [https://ift.tt/2PgPa9n Francis Bacon, ''Reclining Woman'' (1961)], Tate
[[Category:Sculptures by Auguste Rodin]]
[[Category:Bronze sculptures]]
[[Category:1895 sculptures]]
February 23, 2020 at 09:30AM
