Mask of Hanako (Type E)
Maker
(artist)
1840-1917
1840-1917
Title
Mask of Hanako (Type E)
Date of Production
1907-10
Dimensions
Height: 16 cm
Width: 12 cm
Width: 12 cm
Accession Number
LS.2021.XX.1
Mode of Acquisition
Private collection, loan, 2021
Credit
Private Collection. On long-term loan to The Courtauld Gallery, London
Location
On display
Label Text
Between 1907 and 1911, Auguste Rodin made a series of over 50 heads, busts and masks of the Japanese actress and performer Hisa Ohta (1868-1945), known as Hanako. The two met through Rodin's friend, the American avant-garde dancer Loïe Fuller, Hanako's agent. Rodin was moved by the extreme expressions she showed on stage, especially when she enacted scenes of hara-kiri, Japanese ritual suicide. Hanako would later recall how while posing in his studio she held attitudes of pain and terror for up to 15 minutes. This mask was modelled during moments of rest between poses.
Notes
Conceived 1908 and cast at a later date (1910 or later).
Provenance
Owned by sculptor Clare Sheridan (1885-1970); Purchased by Samuel Courtauld from the Leicester Galleries, London, February 1928; bequeathed to a private collection, 1947, by descent to the present owner.
Exhibition History
Masterpieces of Impressionism from The Courtauld Gallery, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan, 10/09/2019-15/12/2019; Aichi Prefectural Museum, Nagoya, Japan, 03/01/2020-15/03/2020; Kobe City Museum, Kobe, Japan, 28/03/2020-21/06/2020
The Courtauld Collection. A Vision for Impressionism, Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris, 20/02/2019-17/06/2019
The Courtauld Collection. A Vision for Impressionism, Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris, 20/02/2019-17/06/2019
Inscriptions
Signature: A. Rodin
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