Updated 17 April 2025
On Display Forecourt
Eve
| Date | 1907 (model), 1945 (cast) |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | bronze |
| Size（cm） | 174 x 67 x 77 |
| Inscriptions | Signed right side of base: A. Rodin; Foundry mark lower right back of base: Alexis Rudier / Fondeur Paris. |
| Credit Line | Matsukata Collection |
| Standard ref. | M1266 |
| Category | Sculptures |
| Collection Number | S.1959-0018 |
This large-scale figure was created to be paired with Adam on the sides of The Gates of Hell around 1881, but for economic reasons this plan was never realized. Rodin based the work on a model whose beautiful body had "the sinuous beauty of a panther" but when the model became pregnant, he abandoned the project in an unfinished state. The marble sculpture of Eve in reduced scale was created after he abandoned, but this lifesized figure was not displayed until its entrance in the 1899 Salon. From 1901 through 1907 Bourdelle sculpted Eve in marble based on Rodin's plaster model as a praticien for Rodin. This museum's statue of Eve is thought to have been cast from the marble sculpture. (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 132)
Provenance
Bought from Musée Rodin by Kojiro Matsukata, Kobe through Léonce Bénédite, ca. January 1920 (Fr. 25,000) [see several letters between Bénédite and Suzuki & Co., January 1920]; sequestered by French government, 1944; vested in French government under San Francisco Peace Treaty, 1952; transferred from French to Japanese government, 23 January 1959; entered into NMWA, April 1959.
Exhibition History
- 1966
- Rodin, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 23 July 1966 - 11 September 1966, cat. no. 16
Bibliography
- 1990
- The Old Matsukata Collection. Kobe City Museum, ed. Kobe, "Matsukata Korekushon Ten" Jikkoiinkai, 1990, cat. no. S-32.
- 2000
- Rodin's Sculptures from the Matsukata Collection: Sculptures transferred from the Musée Rodin between 1937 and 1948, and the cast of Eve in the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Journal of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. no. 4, 2000, pp. 27-42, repr. [with English Abstract]
- 2006
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 132, repr.
- 2009
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, no. 132, repr.
- 2013
- Masterpieces: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2013 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 131, col. repr.
- 2019
- The Matsukata Collection: Complete Catalogue of the European Art. Kawaguchi, Masako; Jingaoka, Megumi, eds. vol. 2: Sculpture, Drawings, Prints and Decorative Arts and Other Works, Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2019, cat. no. 1266, col. repr.