GALERIE NICOLAS BOURRIAUD

As a Parisian gallery owner specializing in 19th and 20th century sculpture, Nicolas Bourriaud has two galleries located on the Right and Left Banks. These exceptional locations give him the opportunity to develop his sculpture collection from different angles, constantly renewed.

To date, no fewer than 15 exhibitions, including “Antoine-Louis Barye”, “Rodin’s influence on sculpture”, “Groupe des Douze”, “Guyot”, “Les sculpteurs du Jardin des Plantes”… have been held here. 

An expert member of the CNES and SNA, Nicolas Bourriaud has been taking part for several years in French and international fairs such as the Biennale, Brafa, Antica Namur, Masterpiece London and Tefaf Maastricht.

Provenance

• Private collection, France

Bibliography

• A. Le Normand-Romain, Rodin et le bronze, catalogue des œuvres conservées au musée Rodin, 2007, tome 2, pages 662 to 665, model reproduced on page 662.

A notice of insertion in the Catalogue critique de l’œuvre sculpté d’Auguste Rodin, currently being prepared by Galerie Brame & Lorenceau, under the direction of Jérôme Le Blay, dated May 7, 2025 under no. 2025-7385B will be given to the purchaser.

Suzon is the work of a still completely unknown Rodin, marked by the years he had just spent in the studio of Carrier-Belleuse, one of the most popular sculptors of the Second Empire for the amiable grace he knew how to give to his female busts in particular. During this period, Rodin produced mainly decorative works, especially busts such as Les Roses, Les Lilas, La Bacchante, Le Printemps or Diane, strongly inspired by an eighteenth-century fantasy.

Two busts, Suzon and Dosia, were acquired by the Compagnie des Bronzes de Bruxelles – the marble Suzon and the plaster model, on November 9, 1875, for 750 francs. It was produced in various materials – bisque, marble, bronze, terracotta – and in several formats, bringing the number of sizes available to five: original size or n°5 (31-32 cm off base); reduction n°4 (H. 28 cm off base); reduction n°3 (21 cm off base); reduction n°2 (18 cm off base) and reduction n°1 (12 cm off base). A whole range of patinas were offered – “old silver”, “gold and silver”, “dark brown” bronze or “Barbedienne bronze”. While retaining its circular ormolu pedestal, it could be presented differently, sometimes enclosing a clock, or as a mantelpiece adorned with two “Louis XVI-style” candelabras.

From 1880 to 1885, the Compagnie des Bronzes sold around twenty Suzon a year, with a peak in 1881 (forty-one busts counted). After 1885, sales halved and, in the last years of the century, the fashion for bisque tended to supplant bronze. The edition continued after Rodin’s death, however, and was sold in 1939 to a French publisher, Bernard Lyon.

Due to its mounting and signature, the proof we present here is typical of the techniques and practices of the Compagnie des Bronzes de Bruxelles workshops, and can be dated to the beginning of the edition, i.e. between 1880 and 1900.

This “commercial” production enabled Rodin to envisage more personal works, such as the marble translation of the bust of L’Homme au nez cassé (1875), then L’Âge d’airain (1877). It also enabled him to finance a study trip to Rome in 1875 to confront the Ancients, which was to prove decisive for the future of his career.

Photo : Galerie Nicolas Bourriaud