Gary Arseneau: 20 FAKE RODINS at the Art Gallery of South Australia

Updated: December 15, 2016

NOTE: All footnotes are enclosed with [FN ].

Auguste Rodin, France, 1840 - 1917, Head of Jean de Fiennes, c.1886 (E. Godard Foundry, cast 1984), Paris, bronze, 32.0 x 33.0 x 30.0 cm,William Bowmore AO OBE Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government, assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 962S15
http://www.artgallery.sa.gov.au/agsa/home/Collection/detail.jsp?ecatKey=4133
NON-DISCLOSED FAKE

The Rodin: Genius of Form exhibition that opened September 1, 2006 at the Art Gallery of South Australia is a -fraud-.

All the so-called “Rodin sculptures,"[FN 1] promoted by the Art Gallery of South Australia as “Rodin’s work,"[FN 2] were actually posthumously cast between 1960 and 1989 with counterfeit “A. Rodin” signatures posthumously applied, some forty-three to seventy-two years after Auguste Rodin’s death in 1917.

The dead don't sculpt, much less sign.

An example of one of these non-disclosed fakes is the above Head of Jean de Fiennes, listed by the Art Gallery of South Australia in their “Rodin collection” checklist, as “cast 1984"[FN 3] and “Signed below l.ear, A Rodin."[FN 4]

Since, Auguste Rodin died in 1917, some sixty-seven years earlier, how’d he do that?

If we accept the common sense perspective that -the dead don't sculpt-, much less -sign-, wouldn’t the Art Gallery of South Australia’s deceptive promotion of posthumous casts as sculptures, with counterfeit signatures applied, make them “something that’s not what it purports to be"[FN 5] which is one legal definition of -fake-?

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF TWENTY FAKES
2. THE WORLD IS NOT A FRENCH PROVINCE
3. CORRUPT MUSEE RODIN
4. MUSEE RODIN GIVEN REPRODUCTION RIGHTS
5. NOT FROM RODIN’S ORIGINAL PLASTERS
6. COUNTERFEIT SIGNATURES
7. EDITIONS NOT LIMITED TO TWELVE
8. WEALTHY BENEFACTORS -PICK- THE COLOR
9. LIFE-CAST ATTRIBUTED TO RODIN
10. AVARICE
11. CONNOISSEURSHIP
12. CONCLUSION
FOOTNOTES
COLLECTION ADDENDUM
BIO

1. THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF TWENTY FAKES

As noted, in the introduction, the Rodin: Genius of Form exhibition contains twenty non-disclosed -fakes- posthumously reproduced between 1960 and 1989, some forty-three to seventy-two years after Auguste Rodin’s death in 1917.

These twenty posthumous fakes are listed separately below in numerical order (mine), chronologically (mine), title, date of conception, “cast” dates and the Art Gallery of South Australia’s numbering system (an example: “962S11”). (See COLLECTION ADDENDUM for additional documentation.)

AUGUSTE RODIN DIED IN 1917

1960 to 1969
1. Reclining man, back arched,1889, (cast 1960), 962S18
2. Head, no. 33 (Spirit of Eternal Rest), c. 1886, (cast 1966), 962S20
3. Flying figure, 1890-91, (cast 1968), 962S11
4. Iris, messenger of the gods or The eternal tunnel, 1890-91, (cast 1969), 962S13

1973 to 1979
5. The Three Shades, 1880, (cast 1973), 962S4
6. Study for the model of the monument to Claude Lorrain, 1889, (cast 1976), 962S17
7. Study for The walking man, 1877, (cast 1979), 962S12

1982 to 1988
8. Meditation (without arms), 1896-97, (cast 1982), 962S8
9. Head of a young boy, c. 1886, (cast 1982), 962S19
10. Head of Jean de Fiennes, 1895, (cast 1984), 962S15
11. Pierre de Wissant, nude, 1886, (cast 1985), 962S5
12. Head of Balzac, 1892-93, (cast 1985), 962S16
13. Small head of the man known as Giganti, c. 1886, (cast 1985), 962S21
14. Small head of Andrieu d'Andres, 1895, (cast 1985), 962S22
15. Small head of Jean de Fiennes with fragments of hands, 1895, (cast 1985), 962S23
16. Large torso (of The walking man), 1878, (cast 1986), Paris 962S9
17. Large head of St John the Baptist, 1878, (cast 1986), 962S10
18. Toilet of Venus and Andromeda, 1886, (cast 1987), 962S14
19. Andrieu d'Andres, draped, 1887-89, (cast 1989), 962S7
20. Jacques de Wissant, draped, 1886, (cast 1988), 962S6

2. THE WORLD IS NOT A FRENCH PROVINCE

There are quite a few in the museum and academic industry who will defend and have defended the misrepresentation of reproductions, much less posthumous reproductions, as “works of visual art” i.e., “sculptures” by making blanket statements that these reproduced objects are originals in exhibits in museums because they adhere to current “French Law” or that nineteenth-century standards are applicable. Here is one of too many examples:

In a April 2, 2004 Buffalo News “Letter to Editor” posted on their website the Albright_Knox Art Gallery’s Curator of Modern Art Kenneth Wayne, in part, wrote “All works in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation Collection are unquestionably original Rodins, cast in bronze from the artist’s sculpted clay and plaster models. The bronze casts on view were created either during Rodin’s lifetime by his own hired craftsmen, or after his death.”[FN 6]

Unquestionably, someone who believes that the dead can come out with original works of visual art seems to be living in Alice in Wonderland.

Well, Australia just like America is not a French province and this is the twentieth-first century. Setting Australian Copyright Law aside to legal experts in Australia, let’s compare U.S. Copyright Law to these nonsensical perspectives.

U.S. COPYRIGHT LAW - WHAT IS A SCULPTURE?

Under U.S. Copyright Law 101. Definitions, a “work of visual art” i.e., -sculpture- is defined as: “multiple cast, carved, or fabricated sculptures of 200 or fewer that are consecutively numbered by the author and bear the signature or other identifying mark of the author.”[FN 7]

In otherwords, since the 20 non-disclosed fakes in the Art Gallery of South Australia’s Rodin: Genius of Form exhibit were reproduced between 1960 and 1989 some forty-three to seventy-two years after Auguste Rodin’s death in 1917, it should be overtly obvious Auguste Rodin could not have “consecutively numbered” anything, much less applied his “signature.”

U.S. COPYRIGHT LAW - WHAT IS A REPRODUCTION?

Additionally, under U.S. Copyright Law 101. Definitions, a -derivative work- is defined as: “a work based upon one or more preexisting works, such as art reproduction.” Furthermore, under U.S. Copyright 106A, it states the “Rights of Attribution - shall not apply to any reproduction.”[FN 8]

In other words, under U.S. Copyright Law, reproductions cannot be “attributed” to a living artist, much less a dead one.

FRENCH DECREE - FULL DISCLOSURE OF REPRODUCTIONS

The March 3, 1981 French decree no. 81.255, Article 9, in part, states: “All facsimiles, casts of casts, copies, or other reproductions of an original work of art as set out in Article 71 of Appendix III of the General Code of Taxes, executed after the date of effectiveness of the present decree, must carry in a visible and indelible manner the notation ‘Reproduction.’"[FN 9]

So, whether it is U.S. Copyright Law or a French decree, reproductions are reproductions.

3. CORRUPT MUSEE RODIN

The moment of Rodin’s death in 1917, like vultures waiting to pick his bones, his former collaborators and those administratively entrusted to protect his legacy, begin subverting it.

CORRUPT MUSEE RODIN DIRECTOR LEONCE BENEDITE

A prime example of this subversion can be found in Albert Elsen’s 1985 Gates of Hell by Auguste Rodin book. On page 148, the author wrote: “As events after Rodin’s death were to prove, Benedite did overstep his authority on certain occasions. In the matter of the final assembly of the doorway, Judith Cladel, who was dismissed by Benedite as a curator at the Musee Rodin, wrote during the years 1933-36 that workmen told her in 1917 that Benedite edited their efforts on at least one occasion in a way they felt Rodin would not have approved: “Some of Rodin’s scandalized assistants who cast his plasters made it known to me that, charged with the reassembly of The Gates of Hell, they received orders to place certain figures in different arrangement than that which the artist wanted, because “that would be better.”[FN 10]

Additionally, one of those “occasions,” is noted in Albert Elsen’s Footnote 17 on page 253 of his book. The author wrote: “In 1921, during the course of a trial on charges brought by the State against a founder who was casting Rodin’s work without authorization, it was shown that Benedite had authorized the enlargement of Rodin’s La Defense after the artist’s death.”[FN 11]

HENRI LEBOSSE, SCULPTEUR REPRODUCTEUR HABITUEL & BETRAYER

On page 253, in Albert Elsen’s “Rodin’s ‘Perfect Collaborator,’ Henri Lebosse” essay in the National Gallery of Art’s 1981 Rodin Rediscovered exhibition catalogue, the author wrote: “From the mid-1890’s until his death, Rodin entrusted most if not all of his important enlargements and reductions to this dedicated and today unknown technician who referred to himself as Rodin’s ‘sculpteur reproducteur habituel.’”[FN 12]

Unfortunately, Henri Lebosse became one of Auguste Rodin’s biggest betrayers. Albert Elsen documents, on page 256 of his essay that after August Rodin’s death in 1917, the Musee Rodin Director Benedite directed Henri Lebosse to increase the original scale of the sculpture “The Defense” four times. Albert Elsen wrote: “Tragically for Rodin’s “perfect collaborator,” the Verdun enlargement became part of a 1920 scandal involving fake works, marble carvers who continued to turn out sculpture signed with Rodin’s name, and unauthorized bronze casts by the Barbedienne foundry.”[FN 13]

The Musee Rodin’s inauspicious beginnings after Auguste Rodin’s death in 1917 has not changed much in eighty-nine years as will be documented by the current Musee Rodin’s deceptive application of counterfeit “A Rodin” signatures on second-generation removed bronze fakes in editions not always limited to twelve.

4. MUSEE RODIN GIVEN REPRODUCTION RIGHTS

In Auguste Rodin’s 1916 Will, the State of France was given “the reproduction rights of those objects given by him.”

This 1916 Will is documented in the former Musee Rodin curator Monique Laurent’s “Observations on Rodin and His Founders” essay, published in the National Gallery of Art’s published 1981 Rodin Rediscovered catalogue. On page 285, the former Musee Rodin curator Monique Laurent wrote: “notwithstanding the transfer of artistic ownership authorized to the State of M. Rodin, the latter expressly reserves for himself the enjoyment during his life, of the reproduction rights of those objects given by him.”[FN 14]

In other words, the State of France was given the right to reproduce “objects given by him,” such as Auguste Rodin’s original plasters, upon his death.

FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE MUSEUMS OF FRANCE JEAN CHATELAIN

This perspective is clearly confirmed in the National Gallery of Art’s published 1981 Rodin Rediscovered catalogue in the “An Original in Sculpture” essay by the professor at the University of Paris and former director of the Museums of France Jean Chatelain. On page 279, the professor wrote: “When the twelfth copy of ‘The Burghers of Calais’ is cast, the same plaster model will be used as was used the first time in 1894, but of course different craftsmen will carry out the casting.”[FN 15]

Unfortunately, as will be documented next, the Musee Rodin does not adhere to Auguste Rodin’s 1916 Will.

5. NOT FROM RODIN’S ORIGINAL PLASTERS

In violation of Auguste Rodin’s 1916 Will, the Musee Rodin admits on their website that they do not send Auguste Rodin’s original plasters to the foundry for casting in bronze but instead they send posthumously reproduced plaster reproductions. Musee Rodin curator Antoinette Le Normaid-Romain wrote: “Consequently, whenever it is decided to release a new ‘subject,’ a copy is first made from the old mould which can be sent without risk to the foundry where it undergoes the necessary preparations for casting. It is coated with an unmoulding agent, usually in a dark colour, and cut, before being cast again. This practice not only ensures absolute fidelity to the original but also preserves the old plasters which are obviously more valuable since they were made during the lifetime of Rodin.”[FN 16]

By definition, a reproduction is a copy of an original work of art done by someone other than the artist. Therefore, any bronzes reproduced from these plaster reproductions would not be reproductions of an original work of art as required by the definition of reproduction but copies of copies. As a result these second-generation removed three-dimensional forgeries in bronze would be “something that is not what it purports to be”[FN 17] which is one legal definition of -fake- found on page 617 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary.

In other words, by the Musee Rodin avoiding sending the hypothetical original plasters to the foundry, they have willingly given up the authentic original surface details made by the working fingers of Auguste Rodin himself or that Auguste Rodin approved through his collaboration with his “sculpteur reproducteur habituel” Henri Lebosse. Each time the surface of one of these subjects is approximated by the necessary crude handling of the materials used in the reproduction processes, there is visible change. The resulting pieces may be interesting to look at, but it is an absurdity to pretend they are just the way Rodin would have wanted and intended for them to appear.

[Detail] "Petite Martye sur Terrasse before 1885" bronze "Fonte E. Godard © 1995," p 29 & 45 respectively in the RODIN catalogue published by Tasende Gallery in 1999 in collaboration with the Musee Rodin.

6. COUNTERFEIT SIGNATURES

The Musee Rodin counterfeits either an “A Rodin” or “Rodin” signature to their second-generation removed fakes they posthumously forged in bronze. This fraud is confirmed in Tasende Gallery’s published 1999 Sculptures from the Musee Rodin, Paris catalogue. On page 47, it states: “All work cast under commission by the Musee Rodin includes the following mandatory inscriptions” - Rodin’s signature.”[FN 18]

[Detail] "Figure 19 [catalogue no. 20], Auguste Rodin, France, 1840-1917, Jules Dalou, 1883, cast in 1925, Bronze, 20 3/4 x 16 x 7 in., (52.7 x 40.6 x 17.7 cm), Inscribed on proper left shoulder fron and on stamp inside: A Rodin, Foundry mark on rear proper right shoulder: ALEXIS RUDIER Fondeur. Paris, Bequest of Jules E. Mastbaum; Rodin Museum, Philadelphia”

p. 54-55, Ruth Butler, Jeanine Parisier Plottel & Jane Mayo Roos' 1998 Rodin’s Monument to Victor Hugo
COUNTERFEIT A RODIN INSCRIPTION

[Detail], Damned Woman, 1885-1911, cast 1979, (Femmes damnees), Bronze, 7 7/8 x 11 1/4 x 5 5/8, (2.0 x 28.6 x 14.3), Signature: Rodin No. 7, Inscription: © by Musee Rodin 1979, Fonderie de Coubertin, Number of cast edition 7/12, 86.87, Gift of the B. Gerald Cantor Art Foundation, “Lynne Ambersini and Michelle Facos'[ 1987 Rodin, The Cantor Gift to The Brooklyn Museum

COUNTERFEIT -A RODIN- INSCRIPTION

The above “A Rodin” and “Rodin” inscriptions respectfully to the Jules Dalou[FN 19] in 1925 and the Damned Woman[FN 20] in 1979 clearly exposes the Musee Rodin’s capacity for fraud, not to mention the counterfeit "A Rodin" inscribed on the Tasende Gallery's above 1995 "Petite Martye Sur Terasse before 1885."

STAMPED WITH THE ARTIST’S SIGNATURE

The former Musee Rodin curator Monique Laurent documents on page 22 of her 1991 RODIN catalogue that during Auguste Rodin’s lifetime, Auguste Rodin "supplied a sample of his signature"[FN 21] to the foundries for them to copy and stamp onto the bronzes they cast for him. Upon Auguste Rodin’s death in 1917, the right to stamp his signature died with him.

WHAT IS A SIGNATURE?

This is confirmed on page 1386 in the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, where -signature- is defined as: “A person’s name or mark written by that person or at the person’s direction.”[FN 22]

WHAT IS COUNTERFEIT?

On page 354 in the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -counterfeit- is defined as: “to forge, copy, or imitate (something) without a right to do so and with the purpose of deceiving or defrauding.”[FN 23]

Would the posthumous application of a so-called “Rodin’s signature” to posthumously reproduced objects be done with “the purpose of deceiving or defrauding?”

7. EDITIONS NOT LIMITED TO TWELVE

On page 121 in Philadelphia Museum of Art’s published 1976 Sculpture of Auguste Rodin catalogue, there are -EIGHTEEN- 79 inch high “The Thinkers” listed and one of them is listed as: “Cast no. 10/12.”[FN 24]

In their Rodin: Genius of Form Press Release, the Art Gallery of Australia states: “The majority of the sculptures are from a limited edition of twelve bronzes that were cast in the 1980’s under the jurisdiction of the Musee Rodin, Paris.”[FN 24]

If the facts contradict the Art Gallery of South Australia, that Musee Rodin does -limited editions- to "twelve bronze,” can we truly count on anything they state?

8. WEALTHY BENEFACTORS -PICK- THE COLOR
In 1996, the Musee Rodin allowed the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation to pick the color of a so-called Auguste Rodin’s Monument to Victor Hugo being reproduced in bronze.

This is confirmed in the Fall 1998 Sculpture Review trade magazine published “Casting of the Monument” article by the Coubertin founders Frederic Colombier and Jean Dubo. On page 34 of this article, the founders wrote: “After presentation of samples, the Musee Rodin and the Cantor Foundation approved the color to be achieved.”[FN 25]

This is additionally confirmed in Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s published 1998 Rodin’s Monument to Victor Hugo catalogue. On page 10 of the “Forward,” the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation Executive Director Rachael Blackburn wrote: “Ruth Butler, professor emerita at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, who wrote the introduction to this catalogue, offered her insightful guidance and worked closely with Mrs. Cantor, the Musee Rodin, and the foundry to determine the delicate nuances of the monument’s patina.”[FN 26]

In a September 21, 1999 telephone conversation with the Musee Rodin Board of Directors member Ruth Butler, she informed me that Iris Cantor had asked her to observe the casting and patina of Auguste Rodin’s Monument to Victor Hugo bronze that the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation was purchasing from the Musee Rodin. When asked whether there was any historical research that would document what Auguste Rodin might had selected as the patina for this bronze, Ruth Butler answered: “it would be up to the foundry.”[FN 27]

Finally, when asked whether the Coubertin foundry had asked for her approval of the patina, she answered: “Well.”

9. LIFE-CAST ATTRIBUTED TO RODIN

The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s so-called Hand of Rodin Holding Torso is a life-cast combined with a plaster cast and posthumously reproduced in bronze by the Georges Rudier foundry in 1968 with a counterfeit “A Rodin” signature applied.

This life-cast is confirmed, on page 210 of the Musee Rodin’s published 2004 RODIN catalogue by the Musee Rodin curator Ralphael Masson and archivist Veronique Mattiussi, the authors wrote: “Shortly before Rodin’s death, {Musee du Luxembourg curator & future Musee Rodin director} Benedite asked that a studio assistant make a cast of the sculptor’s hand.”[FN 28]

Additionally, the counterfeiting of his signature, is backhandedly confirmed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s published 1976 Sculpture of Auguste Rodin catalogue by John Tancock. On page 637, the author wrote: “This composite work, made from a life cast and an original work - not signed or inscribed.”[FN 29]

So, the moment Auguste Rodin dies, the very thing he denied his whole life doing, casting from life, is now credited to him by the Musee Rodin and others like the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, as if it makes no difference.

Unfortunately, like the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in America, the Art Gallery of South Australia has no inhibition about misrepresenting -fakes- as “Rodin sculptures.”

Auguste Rodin, Gates of Hell, 3rd Maquette, 1880, Musee Rodin cast 1/8 in 1991, Bronze, Cast: 1/8 Foundry: Godard,Patina: X, Dimensions: 43 5/8 x 29 1/16 x 11 3/4 in., CC ID# 1511,Iris and B. Gerald Collection, Insurance $250,000 www.cantorfoundation.org

Auguste Rodin, The Kiss, c. 1881-82, Bronze, Cast: X Foundry: Barbedienne, Patina: brown with gold highlights,Dimensions: 10 x 6 1/4 x 5 7/8 in., CC ID# 1711, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, gift of Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Insurance $50,000 www.stanford.edu(Source: Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s exhibition and insurance checklists.)

10. AVARICE

In the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's "RODIN 101: Docent Manual," it states. “casts that were made before Rodin’s death in 1917 are often appraised for higher amounts and fetch larger sums at auction.”[FN 30]

Yet, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation have an insured value of $250,000 for Gates of Hell, 3rd Maquette reproduced in 1991, $200,000 more than a potential lifetime cast of The Kiss insured for $50,000?

Should an extra large -fake- done in the last 15 years be valued five times more than a potential lifetime cast done with the consent of the artist himself? Isn’t that backwards?

In other words, just like the William Bowmore’s donation of so-called “Rodins"[FN 31] to the Art Gallery of South Australia, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation generates revenue by renting their so-called “Rodins” to museums, giving them the rubber-stamped air of authenticity that a museum inherently bestows which perception-wise leads to increased values which leads to future windfalls such as: 1) large tax-write offs for donations and/or 2) outright sales.

11. CONNOISSEURSHIP

Independently documenting the definitions of key terms is an effective way to truly document the facts behind the misrepresentation of -reproductions- as “visual works of art” i.e., -sculptures-.[FN 32]

WHAT IS MEANT BY REPRESENTATION?

On page 1303 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -representation- is defined as: “A presentation of fact - either by words or by conduct - made to induce someone to act, esp to enter into a contract.”[FN 33]

WHAT IS A CONTRACT?

On page 381 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -contract- is defined as: “An agreement between two or more parties creating obligations that are enforceable or otherwise recognizable at law.”[FN 34]

WHAT IS A SCULPTURE?

On page 372 in Ralph Mayer’s HarperCollins Dictionary of Art Terms & Techniques, -sculpture- is defined as: “The creation of three dimensional forms by carving, modeling or assembly. In carving, the sculptor removes unwanted material.... In modeling on the other hand, the sculptor creates a form by building it up...”[FN 35]

WHAT IS A SCULPTOR?

This is answered in the J. Paul Getty Trust’s website. Under their Getty Vocabulary Program, sculptor- is defined as: “Artists who specialize in creating images and forms that are carried out primarily in three dimensions, generally in the media of stone, wood, or metal.”[FN 36]

U.S. COPYRIGHT LAW - WORK OF VISUAL ART

As noted earlier, under U.S. Copyright Law 101. Definitions, a “work of visual art” i.e., -sculpture- is defined as: “multiple cast, carved, or fabricated sculptures of 200 or fewer that are consecutively numbered by the author and bear the signature or other identifying mark of the author.”[FN 37]

U.S. COPYRIGHT LAW - RIGHTS OF ATTRIBUTION

Additionally, as noted earlier, under U.S. Copyright Law 106A. Rights of Attribution - “shall not apply to any reproduction.”[FN 38]

WHAT IS A REPRODUCTION?

On page 350 in Ralph Mayer’s HarperCollins Dictionary of Art Terms & Techniques, -reproduction- is defined as: “A general term for any copy, likeness, or counterpart of an original work of art or of a photograph, done in the same medium as the original or in another, and done by someone other than the creator of the original.”[FN 39]

Since Auguste Rodin died in 1917, obviously anything posthumously reproduced would be, at best by definition and under U.S. Copyright Law, a -reproduction-.

WHAT IS MEANT BY DISCLOSURE?

On page 476 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -disclosure- is defined as: “The act or process of making known something that was previously unknown.”[FN 40]

WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF CAST?

On page 70 of Ralph Mayer’s 1999 The HarperCollins Dictionary of Art Terms & Techniques, -cast- is defined as: “to reproduce an object, such as a piece of sculpture, by means of a MOLD.”[FN 41]

For anyone to make a -representation-, that anything in their collection or exhibition, are -sculptures- then at the end make the -disclosure- that they were -cast- i.e., reproduced, as if these concepts were interchangeable, would be a “non-sequitur.”

WHAT IS A NON-SEQUITUR?

On page 1080 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -non-sequitur- is defined as: “An inference or conclusion that does not logically follow from the premises.”[FN 42]

In other words, by definition and under U.S. Copyright Law, you cannot call a reproduction a “visual work of art” i.e. sculpture, much less attribute that reproduction to that artist whether they are alive or dead. Without full and honest disclosure to reproductions as reproductions by all museums, how can the consumer give informed consent before they chose to attend an exhibit whether they pay admission or not?

WHAT IS (INFORMED) CONSENT?

On page 300 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -consent- is defined as: “Agreement, approval or permission as to some act or purpose, esp. given voluntarily by a competent person.”[FN 43]

WHAT IS FRAUD?

On page 670 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -fraud- is defined as: “a knowing misrepresentation of the truth or concealment of a material fact to induce another to act to his or her detriment.”[FN 44]

So, would a museum’s misrepresentation of posthumous second-generation removed fakes as -sculptures-, for monetary considerations, be committing “a knowing misrepresentation of the truth or concealment of a material fact to induce another to act to his or her detriment?”

12. CONCLUSION

What needs to be accomplished is the full and honest disclosure of reproductions as -reproductions- by all museums, auction houses and art dealers. If the Art Gallery of South Australia, in their Rodin: Genius of Form exhibition, will give full and honest disclosure for all reproductions as: “Reproductions posthumously reproduced with reproduced signatures applied,” it would allow museum patrons to give informed consent if they chose to pay admission to see these reproductions in this exhibition.

But if these objects are not reproductions i.e., copies of the artist’s original artwork but second generation or more removed -fakes- i.e., “something that is not what it purports to be” then serious consequences of law may come into play for those who chose to misrepresent these -fakes- for profit.

The reputations and legacy of living and past artists, present and future museum art patrons and the art-buying public deserve the re-establishment of the obvious; that the living presence and participation of the artist to once again be required, as it always should have been, to create the piece of art attributable to the artist if indeed it is attributed to them, much less purported to have been signed by them.

FOOTNOTES: [Updated December 14, 2016]

1. www.artgallery.sa.gov.au/exhibitions.html

2. www.artgallery.sa.gov.au/exhibitions.html

3. Art Gallery of South Australia’s checklist acquired April 27, 2001 from the museum.

4. Ibid

6. www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20040402/ 1020607.asp

7. www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#101

8. Ibid

9. On page 281, Jean Chatelain’s “Original in Sculpture,” 1981 Rodin Rediscovered, ISBN 0-89468-001-3 (pbk)

11. Ibid

12. Rodin Rediscovered ISBN 0-89468-001-3 (pbk)

13. Ibid

14. Ibid

15. Ibid

16. HOW TO FIND THIS MUSEE RODIN QUOTE:

First, go to the www.musee-rodin.fr/welcome.htm website,

then under “Contents on the left column click on “Collections,”

once on new screen click on the “Meudon” button,

then scoll down new screen till you reach the photograph of

“Assemblage of two figures of Even and crouching women”

and then count fourteen lines down for the quote.

18. Sculptures from the Musee Rodin Paris, Tasende Gallery, Library of Congress Catalog No: 99-072906, ISBN: 9655319-5-3

19. page 54, Rodin’s Monument to Victor Hugo by Ruth Butler, Jeanine Parisier Plottel and Jane Mayo Roos, ISBN 1 85894 070 2

20. page 90-91, Rodin, The Cantor Gift to The Brooklyn Museum by Lynne Ambrosini and Michelle Facos, ISBN 0-87372-111-1

23. Ibid

24. 1976 Sculpture of Auguste Rodin by John Tancock, ISBN 0-87923-157-2

25. www.artgallery.sa.gov.au/exhibitions.html

26. ISBN 1 85894 143 1 hardback

27. Hard copy of this telephone conversation was OVERNIGHTED by U.S. Postal Service (Tracking No. EE43307188US) on September 23, 1999 to Ruth Butler 41 Holden Street Cambridge, MA 02138-2038

29. ISBN 0-87923-157-2

30. www.cantorfoundation.org/PDFfiles/Rodin101.pdf

31. Large head of St John the Baptist

1878 (cast 1986), Paris

bronze, 54.8 x 52.7 x 38.5 cm

William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,

assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996

962S10

Signed on l. shoulder "A. Rodin". Not dated.

Provenance: Cast on 11 November 1986, E. Godard Fondeur, for Musée Rodin,

Paris, inv. commercial 3983, bt Bruton Gallery Ltd, London, 1987; William

Bowmore Collection.

Exhibited: AGSA 1993, no. 3; AGSA 1996; AGSA 1999-2000, no. 28.

Literature: AGSA cat. 1993, p. 4; Thomas & Trumble 1998, no. 169, p. 98;

Radford 1999, no. 28, p. 74. (information acquired from the Art Gallery of South Australia)

32. rubens.anu.edu.au/htdocs/teach/eah/ImageServe

34. Ibid

36. www.getty.edu

37. www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#101

38. http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#106a

43. Ibid

44. Ibid

COLLECTION ADDENDUM SUMMARY
Art Gallery of South Australia
1. Study for The walking man
1877 (cast 1979), Paris
bronze, 53.0 x 27.0 x 15.0 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S12
Signed on front of l. thigh, "A. Rodin". Not dated.

2. Large torso (of The walking man)
1878 (cast 1986), Paris
bronze, 110.0 x 68.0 x 38.0 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S9
Signed at top of r. thigh "A. Rodin". Not dated.

3. Large head of St John the Baptist
1878 (cast 1986), Paris
bronze, 54.8 x 52.7 x 38.5 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S10
Signed on l. shoulder "A. Rodin". Not dated.

4. The Three Shades
1880 (cast 1973), Paris
bronze, 96.0 x 93.0 x 55.0 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S4
Signed on base near l. foot of figure to r. "A. Rodin". Not dated.

5. Toilet of Venus and Andromeda
c. 1886 (cast 1987), Paris
bronze, 50.5 x 36.7 x 60.0 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S14
Signed on base, r. "A. Rodin". Not dated.

6. Reclining man, back arched
1889 (cast 1960), Paris
bronze, 10.0 x 33.0 x 13.0 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S18
Signed on accretion on r. arm "A. Rodin". Not dated.

7. Flying figure
1890-91 (cast 1968), Paris
bronze, 53.0 x 83.0 x 30.0 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S11
Signed on l. thigh "A. Rodin". Not dated.

8. Meditation (without arms)
1896-97 (cast 1982), Paris
bronze, 146.0 x 59.0 x 45.0 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S8
Signed on base, front l. "A. Rodin". Not dated.

9. Small head of Andrieu d'Andres
1895 (cast 1985), Paris
bronze, 7.4 x 5.9 x 6.9 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S22
Signed on neck, r. "A. Rodin". Not dated.

10. Small head of Jean de Fiennes with fragments of hands
1895 (cast 1985), Paris
bronze, 7.7 x 7.2 x 7.5 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S23
Signed behind left ear "A. Rodin". Not dated.

11. Head of Jean de Fiennes
1895 (cast 1984), Paris
bronze, 32.0 x 33.0 x 30.0 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S15
Signed below l. ear, "A. Rodin". Not dated.

12. Andrieu d'Andres, draped
1887-89 (cast 1989), Paris
bronze, 202.0 x 84.0 x 112.0 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S7
Signed on base near r. foot "A. Rodin". Not dated.

13. Jacques de Wissant, draped
1886 (cast 1988), Paris
bronze, 213.5 x 67.0 x 126.0 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S6
Signed on base between feet "A. Rodin". Not dated.

14. Pierre de Wissant, nude
1886 (cast 1985), Paris
bronze, 215.0 x 100.0 x 60.0 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S5
Signed on base near l. foot "A. Rodin". Not dated.

15. Small head of the man known as Giganti
c. 1886 (cast 1985), Paris
bronze, 8.5 x 10.0 x 8.0 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S21
Signed "A. Rodin". Not dated.

16. Head, no. 33 (Spirit of Eternal Rest)
c. 1886 (cast 1966), Paris
bronze, 15.0 x 10.0 x 8.0 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S20
Signed below l. ear "Rodin". Not dated.

17. Head of a young boy
c. 1886 (cast 1982), Paris
bronze, 18.0 x 15.5 x 17.0 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S19
Signed near base of neck, l. "A. Rodin". Not dated.

18. Study for the model of the monument to Claude Lorrain
1889 (cast 1976), Paris
bronze, 35.0 cm high
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S17
Signed on base, r. "A. Rodin". Not dated.

19. Iris, messenger of the gods or The eternal tunnel
1890-91 (cast 1969), Paris
bronze, 50.0 x 60.0 x 25.0 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S13
Signed on instep of l. foot "A. Rodin". Not dated.

20. Head of Balzac
1892-93 (cast 1985), Paris
bronze, 50.0 x 60.0 x 25.0 cm
William Bowmore Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government,
assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
962S16
Signed below l. ear "A. Rodin". Not dated.

Gary Arseneau

Monday, September 18, 2006

20 FAKE RODINS at the Art Gallery of South Australia

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