THE DEAD DON’T SCULPT, 29 non-disclosed Rodin -forgeries- from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation at the Honolulu Museum of Art

NOTE: Footnotes enclosed as: [FN]

[Updated March 18, 2016]

Auguste Rodin. 'Study for Torso of the Walking Man,' 1878-79. Bronze. Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation (1516)

https://www.honolulumuseum.org/art/exhibitions/15038-auguste_rodin_human_experience_selections_iris_b_gerald_cantor_collections/

NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS [1979] FORGERY

The Honolulu Museum of Art's July 23, 2015 - January 10, 2016 Auguste Rodin: The Human Experience, Selections from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collections exhibition contains at least 29 non-disclosed posthumous [1925-1995] second-generation removed forgeries with counterfeit “A Rodin” signatures in bogus editions falsely attributed to a dead Auguste Rodin [d 1917] as original works of visual art i.e., sculptures.

Auguste Rodin died in 1917.

The dead don’t sculpt.

Table of Contents

Introduction 

Four Potential Lifetime Reproductions 

Twenty-Nine Posthumous Forgeries 

Musee Rodin February 1, 2000 FAX

Bronzes Not Cast From the Original Plasters 

Posthumous Counterfeit “A Rodin” Signatures

Variations in the Numbering System

22 The Thinkers in an Edition of 12

U.S. Copyright Law

Association of Art Museum Directors

U.S. Customs May 2006 

Pick the Color of a Purchased Bronze

Public Relations Campaign & The Coverup 

The Curious Fixation of the ‘Rodin Chaser’

Law, Ethics and the Visual Arts

Conclusion 

Footnotes

Photographs

INTRODUCTION

The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation promotes in their published 2001 Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession catalogue, as well as in their Auguste Rodin: The Human Experience, Selections from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collections exhibition checklist[FN 1], all but one of these twenty-nine non-disclosed posthumous [1925-1995] second-generation-removed forgeries as: ”Signed and/or numbered and/or Marked A. Rodin.”

Once again, Auguste Rodin died in 1917.

The dead don’t sign, much less number.

This factual perspective is confirmed 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 2]

Yet, the Honolulu Museum of Art would have the public believe and act on the belief for the $10 price of adult admission and other monetary considerations that “This summer brings with it the rare opportunity to experience a comprehensive selection of the work of Auguste Rodin (1840‒1917). Auguste Rodin: The Human Experience, Selections from the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Collections examines the eminent French sculptor’s fascination with the human figure and his lifelong effort to breathe life into bronze. The 33 works in the show—including the iconic Meditation (with Arms), Mask of the Man with the Broken Nose, The Hand of God, Torso of the Walking Man, and The Thinker—reveal Rodin to be an artist deeply interested in sensuality, fascinated by human psychology, and obsessed with the body in motion.”[FN 3]

By definition, under the Getty Vocabulary Program, the term -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 4]

To belabor the obvious by now, Auguste Rodin died in 1917.

Aside from the dead don’t specialize, a dead Auguste Rodin didn’t even get the “rare opportunity to experience a comprehensive selection of the work” that the Honolulu Museum of Art and the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation are so eager to give him credit for.

On July 23, 2015 at 4:30 p.m. in the Doris Duke Theater, Executive Director and Exhibition Curator, of the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Judith Sobol, “will tell the story of the creation of Iris and B. Gerald Cantor's remarkable collection of work by Auguste Rodin, which at one time numbered 750 pieces. She will also explore Rodin’s singular achievement in transforming traditional sculpture into modern sculpture, using works in the Honolulu exhibition as examples and describing Rodin’s influence on sculptors working today.”[FN 5]

On page 661 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -forgery- is defined as: "the act of fraudulently making a false document or altering a real one to be used as if genuine."[FN 6] 

Rhetorically, would misrepresenting 29 non-disclosed posthumous [1925-1995] forgeries as original works of visual art i.e., sculptures "by Auguste Rodin," for the $10 price of adult admission and other monetary considerations, be considered "a knowing misrepresentation of the truth or concealment of a material fact to induce another to act to his or her detriment"[FN 7] which is one legal definition of fraud?

Now, compare that devastating question to the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s -Mission- which states that it: “strives to fulfill the commitment of its founders to provide philanthropic leadership in two principal arenas, medicine and the arts.  It does so by awarding grants for programs, facilities and endowments at distinguished medical, educational and cultural institutions in the United States and internationally. In the medical arena, the Foundation supports institutions at the forefront of biomedical research and clinical care, with an emphasis on healthcare for women. In the arts, the Foundation supports exhibitions and other programs that encourage recognition and appreciation of the visual and performing arts, promote scholarship, and otherwise enhance cultural life. Furthering the Cantor legacy in the visual arts, the Foundation’s activities in this arena continue to focus on the work of the sculptor Auguste Rodin and his contemporaries.”[FN 8]

So, it is ironic with all the good deeds the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation does with grants to medicine or the arts, that someone, who have received these grants in the medical field much less the arts, seems not to had the courtesy to inform them that the dead don’t sculpt.

This monograph will document these contentious issues of authenticity and more with the Honolulu Museum of Art’s July 23, 2015 - January 10, 2016 Auguste Rodin: The Human Experience, Selections from the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Collections exhibition. 

FOUR POTENTIAL LIFETIME REPRODUCTIONS

FIRST, there are only four potential lifetime reproductions in this exhibition. Yes, reproductions, not sculptures. They are listed [in grayish-blue] as follows in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s Rodin Figures exhibition checklist. [Subtitles embolden mine]

1 OF 4 LIFETIME REPRODUCTIONS 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]  

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title FUGITIVE LOVE, Date cast, Medium bronze, Dimensions   10 1/2 x 22 x 11 1/2 in., Foundry unknown, Cast unknown, Weight 90 lbs., Dims w base/frame 13 x 22 x 11.5 in.,  Base is wood w/ rounded corners,  Base alone: 2.5 x 19 x 8.5 in., Patina dark brown to black, Inscriptions Signed “Rodin,” Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation,    Crate #78, CC ID#1106, Executed Before 1887”

On page 380 of the Musee Rodin's published 2007 The Bronzes of Rodin, the former Musee Rodin curator Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, in reference to Fugit Amor a.k.a. Fugitive Love, wrote: "A bronze, which seems to have been cast from a marble, only the surbase of which has survived [26.7 x 56 x 29.2 cm; signed]: Los Angeles, Cantor Foundation, acq. Sotheby's New York, 23 October 1980, no. 208."[FN 9]

Later on page 383 of The Bronzes of Rodin, in reference to another bronze cast from a Fugit Amor marble, the former Musee Rodin curator wrote: "the bronze that Rodin gave Jean Aicard in early 1895 has been made from a cast of this marble, which was, moreover, often reproduced."[FN 10]

With or without intent, the former Musee Rodin curator Antoinette Le Normand-Romain acknowledges Auguste Rodin’s Fugit Amor a.k.a. Fugitive Love was “reproduced” which obviously results in -reproductions-.

 2 OF 4 LIFETIME REPRODUCTIONS

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title METAMORPHOSES OF OVID, Date cast Unknown, Medium bronze, Dimensions 13 1/8 x 15 3/4 x 10 1/4 in., Foundry Perzinka, Cast date unknown, No. 10., Weight 150 lbs., 68 kg., Dims w base/frame no base, Patina dark brown w/ undertones of yellow-green, Inscriptions Signed on base "A. Rodin no.10." Stamped inside, "A. Rodin,” Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 50, CC ID# 1192, Executed About 1885-89”

On page 177 of the 2001 Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession catalogue, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation lists in their collection an Ovid's Metamorphoses [with the following dimensions: 33.3 x 40 x 26 cm and date "c. 1885-89, date of cast unknown"], is listed as "Signed on base with raised signature A Rodin inside" and Perzinka foundry.[FN 11]

3 OF 4 LIFETIME REPRODUCTIONS 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist] 

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title HAND OF GOD, Date cast Unknown, Medium bronze, Dimensions 12 3/4 x 11 1/4 x 11 3/4 in., Foundry Alexis Rudier, Cast date and number unknown, Weight 22 pounds, Dims w base/frame no base (contrary to photo), Patina medium brown, Inscriptions Signed, "A. Rodin" and inscribed, "Alexis RUDIER Fondeur Paris,” Owner Iris Cantor as Trustee of the Iris Cantor Trust, Crate # 37, CC ID# 15500, Executed 1898”

On page 188 of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s published 2001 Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession catalogue, is listed The Hand of God, 1898, date of cast unknown  by the Alexis Rudier foundry that went into business four years later in 1902 and listed as  “Signed and numbered A. Rodin.”[FN 12]

4 OF 4 LIFETIME REPRODUCTIONS

[North Carolina Museum of Art Loan] 

• “Auguste Rodin (French, 1840-1917), The Thinker, Modeled 1880, reduced in 1903, this example cast at a later date, Bronze, 14 ¾ x 7 7/8 x 11 3/8 in., On loan from the North Carolina Museum of Art, Gift of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in honor of Governor Michael F. Easley and Mary P. Easley”

On page 175 of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s published 2001 Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession catalogue, there are two listed The Thinker, 1880, date of cast unknown and cast about 1931 both  by the Alexis Rudier  foundry [1902-1952] and  “Signed and numbered A. Rodin/2” and “Signed A. Rodin.”[FN 13]

TWENTY-NINE POSTHUMOUS FORGERIES

SECOND, the following Rodin: Figures checklist information [in red] for the Honolulu Museum of Art’s July 23, 2015 - January 10, 2016 Auguste Rodin: The Human Experience, Selections from the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Collections exhibition, is from a Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation checklist for a prior venue. [Cast Year with Subtitle embolden mine]

1925 
1 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist] 

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST PREACHING, Date cast 1925 (MR cast for Mastbaum), Medium bronze, Dimensions 31 1/2 x 19 x 9 1/2 in., Foundry Alexis Rudier, Cast Musée Rodin cast, unknown number and edition, 1925, Weight 100 lbs., Dims w base/frame no base, Patina black and brown, Inscriptions Marked: "A. Rodin," "Alexis RUDIER..Fondeur PARIS," and stamped "A. Rodin,” Owner Iris Cantor as Trustee of the Iris Cantor Trust,   Crate # 44, CC ID# 1726, Executed about 1880”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

On page 184 of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s published 2001 Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession catalogue, is listed St. John the Baptist Preaching, cast in 1926  by the Alexis Rudier foundry and listed as  “Signed  A. Rodin.”[FN 14]

Auguste Rodin died in 1917. The dead don't sign, much less 9 years after their death in 1926.

1952 
2 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist] 

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title IRIS, MESSENGER OF THE GODS, Date cast Unknown, Medium bronze, Dimensions 18 x 18 1/4 x 7 1/2 in., Foundry Georges Rudier, Cast after 1952,, cast number unknown, Weight 70 pounds, Dims w base/frame 20.25 x 18 1/4 x 98.75 in. Base alone is 2.25 x 11.75 x 8.75”, Patina green with some brown, Inscriptions Signed, "A. Rodin" and inscribed, “GeorgeRudier. Fondeur. Paris" on soles of feet., Owner Iris Cantor as Trustee of the Iris Cantor Trust, Crate # 61, CC ID# 1607, Executed 1891”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

On page 454 of the Bronzes of Rodin, for the Iris, Messenger of the Gods, it states: “40.3 x 41 x 19.1 cm - ten casts between 1945 and 1965, the first few by Alexis Rudier - then by Georges Rudier [New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of B. Gerald Cantor Art Foundation, 1981; Los Angeles, Cantor Coll.].”[FN 15] The Georges Rudier foundry went into business in 1952.

Auguste Rodin died in 1917. The dead don't sign, much less 35 or more years after their death.

1955 
3 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist] 

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title THE BENEDICTIONS, Date cast 1955, Medium bronze, Dimensions 35.5 x 24 x 19 in., Foundry Georges Rudier, Cast Musée Rodin cast, number and edition unknown, 1955, Weight 220 lbs., 84.7 kg., Dims w base/frame no base, Patina dark brown. Inscriptions Marked: "A. Rodin," "Georges Rudier Fondeur Paris," "©by Musée Rodin 1955,” Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 41, CC ID# 1386, Executed 1894”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

On page 183 of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s published Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession catalogue, The Benedictions is listed as: “1894, Musee Rodin cast in 1955, Bronze, Georges Rudier, 35 1/2 x 24 x 19 in. (90.2 x 61 x 48.3 cm),  Signed A. Rodin and inscribed Georges Rudier Fondeur Paris and ©  by Musee Rodin 1955,  Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation 1386.”[FN 16]

Auguste Rodin died in 1917.

Aside from the fact Auguste Rodin was some 38 years dead in 1955 when this non-disclosed posthumous forgery The Benedictions was "Signed A. Rodin," the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's "Checklist," for their 1998 Rodin: Sculpture from the Iris and B. Gerald Collection exhibition at the Nevada Museum of Art, lists this same The Benedictions as having an "Insurance value: $150,000.”[FN 17]

It seems the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

AFTER 1952 
4 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title DANCE MOVEMENT D, Date cast Unknown, Medium bronze, Dimensions 12 3/4 x 4 1/4 x 3 5/8 in., Foundry Alexis Rudier?, Cast marked No. 1, edition size and date unknown., Weight 25 lbs., 11.3 kg., Dims w base/frame 16.25 x 4.25 x 3.7" Base alone is 3.5 x 3/25 x 3.25”, Patina olive green and brown, Inscriptions Marked: "Rodin / No. 1" on sole of her right foot., Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 45, CC ID# 1469, Executed about 1910-11”

On page 185 of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s published Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession catalogue, Dance Movement ‘D’ is listed as: “c 1910-11 date of cast unknown, Bronze, No foundry mark, 12 3/4 x 4 1/4 x 3 5/8 in. (32.4 x 10.8 x 9.2 cm), Signed and numbered Rodin/No. 1, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 1469.”[FN 18]

On page 536 of the Musee Rodin's published 2007 Bronzes of Auguste Rodin by its former curator Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, it states a "foundry model" was used between 1952 and 1956 by the Alexis Rudier and Georges Rudier foundries for casting 13 (No. 0-12) Dance Movement 'D' in bronze. The Musee Rodin has "No. 0" in their collection and the “No. 1" is listed as "probably" in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's collection.[FN 19]

Rhetorically, since the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation help fund the Musee Rodin's published 2007 Bronzes of Auguste Rodin catalogue that discloses their so-called Dance Movement 'D' was cast between 1952 and 1956, what are we to think of their continued misrepresentation in 2016 of it as: "Date cast Unknown"?

1959 
5 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]  

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title THREE FAUNESSES, Date cast, Medium Bronze, Dimensions 9 1/4 x 11 1/2 x 6 1/2 in., Foundry Georges Rudier, Cast Musée Rodin cast, number and edition unknown, 1959, Weight 50 lbs., Dims w base/frame 10.25 x 12.25 x 7.75 inches., Base alone is 1 x 11.7 x 7.5”, Patina reddish brown, Inscriptions Marked: "A. Rodin," "G. Rudier Fondeur Paris," “© by musée Rodin 1959”, Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 79, CC ID# 1596, Executed before 1896”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

In an attempt to wrap mythology around this non-disclosed forgery to mask its inauthenticity, the Iris and B. Cantor Foundation, on their website, wrote: 

“Now on view at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Rodin’s Three Faunesses is a titillating and revealing example of the delight the sculptor took in his work and of the way in which he created his finished pieces.

“The bronze, just over 9 inches tall, is an assemblage – in this case the repetition of a single figure, making an entirely new piece.  The fauness began her life about 1882 as a small but provocative detail of The Gates of Hell.  Sometime before 1896 Rodin replicated the plaster figure three times, then combined the three figures in a circle to make a new bronze independent of The Gates.  The Foundation’s authorized posthumous cast was made by the Georges Rudier Foundry in 1959.

“A fauness is a creature from Roman mythology (like a satyress), a minor and sensual rural goddess who usually has the body of a woman and the tail and ears of a goat. Rodin’s figures are entirely woman.  Despite each figure’s small size, in combination their allusions to sensual pagan dances and to women who delightfully use their bodies to provoke, point to Rodin’s interest in erotic themes and forms.  Eroticism not only pleased the sculptor, but also pleased his patrons and critics.

“Rodin scholar Antoinette Romain says of the 1882 source figure, “this seems to have been one of Rodin’s favorite figures.”  Of the Three Faunesses,  she notes he always kept a cast of it close to him in his residence in Meudon.”[FN 20]

Once again, Auguste Rodin died in 1917. In 1959, Auguste Rodin was some 42 years dead and could not have inscribed "A Rodin."


1966 
6 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist] 

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title LARGE CLENCHED LEFT HAND, Date cast, Medium Bronze, Dimensions 18 1/4 x 10 3/8 x 7 5/8 in., Foundry Georges Rudier, Cast Musée Rodin cast 3/12, 1966, Weight 40 lbs., 18.1 kg., Dims w base/frame no base, Patina dark brown/black w/ olive green, Inscriptions Marked: "A. Rodin," "©by Musée Rodin 1966”, Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 81, CC ID# 2120, Executed Modeled about 1885”

On the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s website, this same Clenched Left Hand is listed as “Originally modeled in 1906, Size: 18 ¼ 10 3/8 x 7 5/8 inches” with no disclosure it was cast in 1966.[FN 21]

Auguste Rodin died in 1917. Who in 1966 inscribed "A Rodin?" It certainly wasn't the dead Auguste Rodin.

1966 
7 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist] 

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title LARGE HAND OF A PIANIST, Date cast, Medium bronze, Dimensions 7 1/4 x 10 x 4 7/8 in., Foundry Georges Rudier, Cast Musée Rodin cast 9/12 , 1969, Weight 20 lbs., 9.1 kg., Dims w base/frame, 8.75 x 10 x 5.2'. Base alone 1.5 x 8.75 x 5.2, Patina very dark brown w/ green, Inscriptions Marked: "A. Rodin No 9," "Georges Rudier. Fondeur.Paris.-," "©by musée Rodin1969,” Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 79, CC ID# 1488, Executed 1885”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

On page 187 of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s published 2001 Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession catalogue, is listed Large Left Hand of a Pianist cast  9/12 in 1969  by the Georges Rudier foundry and listed as  “Signed and numbered A. Rodin No. 9.”[FN 22] In a July 29, 1997 checklist for The Hands of Rodin, A Tribute to B. Gerald Cantor exhibition at Brigham Young University, this bronze is listed with an Insurance Value of $55,000.

To belabor what is now obvious, Auguste Rodin died in 1917.  The concept of editions is an oxymoron for the dead. Yet, is the public to suspend disbelief or just believe the dead can sign and number, much less 52 years after their death?

1970 
8 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist] 

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title JEAN D'AIRE, SECOND MAQUETTE, Date cast G, Medium bronze, Dimensions 27 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 9 3/4 in., Foundry Susse, Cast Musée Rodin cast 1/12, 1970, Weight 90 lbs., 40.8 kg., Dims w base/frame no base, Patina dark brown w/ warm brown undertones, Inscriptions Marked: "A. Rodin," "Susse Fondeur Paris," "© by Musée Rodin 1970,” Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 7, CC ID# 16100, Executed 1885-86”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

In 1970, Auguste Rodin [d 1917] was some 53 years dead. So, who inscribed "A Rodin" onto this posthumous casting in bronze?


1973 
9 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist] 

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title STANDING FEMALE NUDE COMBING HER HAIR, Date cast 1973, Medium Bronze, Dimensions 11 x 5 x 5 inches, Foundry Georges Rudier, Cast Musée Rodin cast 5/12, 1973, Weight 25 lbs., Dims w base/frame no base (confirmed), Patina black w/ green undercoat, Inscriptions Marked: "A. Rodin No 5," ".Georges Rudier.Fondeur. Paris," "© by musée Rodin 1973," "A. Rodin”, Owner Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 49, CC ID# 567, Executed after 1898”

In 1973, Auguste Rodin [d 1917] was some 56 years dead. Rhetorically, would inscribing "A Rodin" to a posthumous cast mislead the public to believe and act on the belief that it was signed, much less approved by Auguste Rodin?

1973 or later 
10 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title MASK OF THE MAN WITH THE BROKEN NOSE, Date cast Unknown, Medium bronze, Dimensions 18 x 7.5 x 7 in. (One piece mask and base), Foundry Coubertin, Cast date and number unknown, Musée Rodin, Weight 50 pounds, Dims w base/frame 18 x 7.5 x 7 in. (one piece mask and base), Patina reddish/mahogany, Inscriptions Inscribed on PR bottom edge of base "DON A MR CANTOR" and " (c) Musée Rodin". Coubertin stamp., Owner Iris Cantor as Trustee of the Iris Cantor Trust, Crate # 58, CC ID# 148000, Executed 1863-64”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

The Coubertin Foundry went into business in 1963 and began working with the Musee Rodin in 1973. So, listing the “Date cast Unknown” is -at best- problematic. Finally, B. Gerald Cantor was born in 1916, one year before Auguste Rodin’s death in 1917. It is safe to say they probably never met. Yet, because of his patronage to the Musee Rodin, they allowed the following inscription: “DON A MR. CANTOR.”

Unfortunately for the true lifetime oeurve of Auguste Rodin, the Musee Rodin's avarice leads to the practice of why let the truth interfere with commerce and a wealthy collector's narcissism.

1975 
11 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title DESPAIRING ADOLESCENT, Date cast 1975, Medium bronze, Dimensions 17 1/2 x 6 x 5 3/4 in., Foundry Godard, Cast Musèe Rodin cast 3/12, 1975, Weight unknown, Dims w base/frame 19.5 x 6.75 x 6.25 in. Two step base: see photo. Total height of base: 2 in. Largest W and D of base: 6.25 in. each., Patina dark brown w/ black undertones, Inscriptions Signed and numbered, "A. Rodin No 3" and inscribed, "E. GODARD Fondr” and (c) BY MUSÉE RODIN 1975,” Owner Iris Cantor as Trustee of the Iris Cantor Trust, Crate # 58, CC ID# 583, Executed 1882”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

In 1973, Auguste Rodin [d 1917] was some 58 years dead. Yet, this 1975 cast is listed as "Signed and numbered A Rodin No. 3." How'd he do that?

1975 
12 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title MONUMENTAL HEAD OF JEAN D’AIRE, Date cast 1978?, Medium bronze, Dimensions 26 3/4 x 19 7/8 x 22 1/2 in., Foundry Georges Rudier, Cast cast 5/12, 1975, Weight 200 lbs., Dims w base/frame no base, Patina very dark brown w/ green undertones, Inscriptions Signed and numbered "A. Rodin No 5" on base and inscribed "Georges Rudier Fondeur Paris" on back., Owner Iris Cantor as Trustee of the Iris Cantor Trust, Crate # 59, CC ID# 1363, Executed About 1908-09, enlarged 1909-10”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

On page 179 of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s published 2001 Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession catalogue, is listed  Monumental Head of Jean d’Aire with date of cast unknown  by the Georges Rudier foundry and listed as  “Signed and numbered A. Rodin No. 5.”[FN 23] Since, the Georges Rudier foundry went into business in 1952, it could not have been signed and numbered  by a dead Auguste Rodin.

With this kind of misrepresentation promoted as full disclosure, what chance in hell does the museum patron have in giving informed consent on whether to attend this exhibition of fakes, much less pay the price of admission?

1978 
13 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title DAMNED WOMEN (or Women Damned), Date cast, Medium bronze, Dimensions 8 x 10 3/4 x 5 in., Foundry Coubertin, Cast Musée Rodin cast 2/12, about 1978, Weight 50 lbs., Dims w base/frame 11 x 13 x 6.25". Base alone is 3 x 13 x 6.25”, Patina very dark brown, Inscriptions Signed and numbered, "A. Rodin 2/12" and inscribed, "(c) musée Rodin,” No date noted., Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 79, CC ID# 1603, Executed about 1885”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

On page 365 of the Musee Rodin's published 2007 Bronzes of Rodin there are fourteen casts of the Damned Women listed. Rhetorically, if the Musee Rodin and the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation can't seem to count for an edition of twelve, should you count on anything they say?

1978 
14 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title APHRODITE (or VENUS), Date cast 1978, type, Medium bronze, Dimensions 40 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 11 1/2 in., Foundry Godard, Cast Musée Rodin cast 9/12, 1978, Weight 65 Lbs., Dims w base/frame 42.75 x 8.2 x 11.5". Base alone is 2.25 x 8.2 x 7.25”, Patina dark brown w/ olive green, Inscriptions Marked: "A.Rodin No 9," "E.GODARD Fondr," “© BY MUSÉE RODIN 1978”, Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 48, CC ID# 1599, Executed about 1888”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

On page 134 of the Musee Rodin's published 2007 Bronzes of Rodin there are thirteen casts of the Aphrodite listed. Since when does 13 go into an edition of 12 other than for a baker?

1978 
15 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title STUDY FOR TORSO OF THE WALKING MAN, Date cast 1979, Medium bronze, Dimensions 20 1/2 x 10 3/4 x 8 in., Foundry Coubertin, Cast Musée Rodin cast 10 /12, 1979, Weight 40 lbs., Dims w base/frame 22.5 x 10.75 x 8". Base alone is 2 x 7.5 x 6.5”, Patina brown w/ green, Inscriptions Marked: "A. Rodin no 10," "© By Musee Rodin 1979,” Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 50, CC ID# 1516, Executed 1878-79”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

On page 421 of the Musee Rodin's published 2007 Bronzes of Rodin there are thirteen casts of The Walking Man, Study for the Torso listed.  It states the first cast was probably exhibited in 1889 with  an additional twelve cast by the Coubertin Founday between 1979 and 1980. Once again, since when does 13 go into an edition of 12 other than for a baker?

1979 
16 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist] 

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title MEDITATION (WITH ARMS), Date cast 1979, Medium bronze, Dimensions 62 x 31 x 26 in., Foundry Coubertin, Cast Musèe Rodin cast 8/12, 1979, Weight 500 lbs., Dims w base/frame no Base, Patina warm brown, Inscriptions Signed and numbered, "A. Rodin No 8" and inscribed, "FONDERIE DE COUBERTIN" and "c" by Musee Rodin 1979,” Owner Iris Cantor as Trustee of the Iris Cantor Trust, Crate # 40, CC ID# 6540, Executed about 1880; enlarged about 1896”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

Auguste Rodin died in 1917. As tragic as he death was for many his career as an artist ended when he died. So did Auguste Rodin ability to sign, much less number anything.  Yet, 62 years after his death the Musee Rodin, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation and seemingly all museum venues would have  everyone suspend disbelief or just believe the living presence of the artist, though nice, is no longer required to create art attributed to them, if attributed to them, much less whether signed or numbered by them.

1981 
17 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]  

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title IXELLES IDYLL, Date cast 1981, Medium bronze, Dimensions 21 x 14 5/8 x 14 5/8 in., Foundry Coubertin, Cast Musée Rodin cast 4/8, 1981, Weight 50 lbs., 22.7 kg., Dims w base/frame no base, Patina brown and black, Inscriptions Marked: "A. Rodin," "No. 4," " by Musée Rodin 1981,” Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 52, CC ID# 1682, Executed 1883-84”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

In the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s published 2001 Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession catalogue their Idyll of Ixelles is listed as: "1885, Musee Rodin, cast 4/8 in 1981, Bronze, Coubertin, 21 x 14 5/8 x 14 5/8 in. (53.3 x 37.1 x 37.1 cm), Signed and numbered A. Rodin No. 4 with Coubertin foundry mark and inscribed © by Musee Rodin 1981, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 1682 (plate 13)"[FN 24]

Auguste Rodin died in 1917. Auguste Rodin's signing and numbering days were long gone in 1981. 

1982 
18 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title FALLEN CARYATID WITH URN, Date cast, Medium bronze, Dimensions 45 1/4 x 36 3/4 x 31 1/8 in., Foundry Coubertin, Cast Musée Rodin cast 4/8, 1982, Weight 400 lbs., Dims w base/frame no base, Patina warm brown, Inscriptions Signed and numbered, "A. Rodin No 4" and inscribed, "(c) By Musee Rodin" 1982, Owner Iris Cantor as Trustee of the Iris Cantor Trust, Crate # 62, CC ID# 1221, Executed 1883, enlarged 1911-17”

In 1982, Auguste Rodin [d 1917] was 65 years dead. The Musee Rodin and Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation have turned logic on its head for profit through admission fees, city-state-federal grants, outright sales and tax writeoffs. You see if you counterfeit $100 bill the most you can get is $100 but if you counterfeit art, the sky is the limit.

1982 
19 OF 29 Posthumous Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title FALLEN CARYATID WITH STONE, Date cast, Medium bronze, Dimensions 52 1/2 x 33 x 39 in., Foundry Coubertin, Cast Musée Rodin cast 2/8, 1982, Weight 600 lbs., Dims w base/frame no base, Patina warm brown, Inscriptions Signed and numbered, "A. Rodin No. 2/8" and inscribed, "(c) Musee Rodin 1982”, Owner Iris Cantor as, Trustee of the Iris Cantor Trust, Crate # 63, CC ID# 1207, Executed 1880-81, enlarged 1911- 17”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

Once again, in 1982, Auguste Rodin [d 1917] was 65 years dead. The Musee Rodin and Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation have turned logic on its head for profit through admission fees, city-state-federal grants, outright sales and tax writeoffs. Every time these non-disclosed posthumous 2nd-generation-removed forgeries with counterfeit "A Rodin" signature in bogus editions are exhibited in museum venues it gains a perceived expectation of authenticity. Pretty soon challenging their authenticity becomes more and more difficult because the public and the news media can't quite wrap their arms around the idea that dozens upon dozens of museums, a major foundation, participating academia and the Musee Rodin itself would participate in such an obvious fraud. So, the vast majority of the public and the news media suspend disbelief or just believe.

1983 
20 OF 29 Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]  

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title THE NIGHT (DOUBLE FIGURE), Date cast 1983, Medium bronze, Dimensions 10 1/4 x 6 x 6 in., Foundry Godard, Cast Musée Rodin cast I/IV, 1983, Weight 30 lbs., Dims w base/frame 11 1/2 x 6 x 6 in. (Base is 1.25 x 4.4 x 3.5”), Patina dark brown, Inscriptions Marked: "A. Rodin," “No  I/IV," "E. Godard Fondr” "© by MUSEE Rodin 1983,” Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 45, CC ID# 1340, Executed after 1898”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

On page 185 of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s published 2001 Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession catalogue, The Night (Double Figure) is listed as: “After 1898, Musee Rodin cast I/IV in 1983, Bronze, Godard, 10 1/4 x 5 1/2 x 6 7/8 in. (26 x 14 x 17.5 cm), Signed and numbered A. Rodin No. I/IV and inscribed E. Godard Fond and © by MUSEE Rodin 1983, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation 1340.”[FN 25]

On page 561 of the Musee Rodin's published 2007 The Bronzes of Rodin by Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, the author wrote the Musee Rodin's Night, Two-Figure Assemblage is "No. 0" with "twelve cast by E. Godard from 1980: 1 and 2/8" and "I/IV, © 1983, Los Angeles Cantor Foundation.”[FN 26]

With so-called edition in eight in Arabic, four in Roman numerals and the Musee Rodin's numbered zero that totals thirteen. 

Remember, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's statement on their website: "In 1956 French law limited production to twelve casts of each model. A system of numbering was established by French legislation in 1968 whereby the first eight of the twelve casts, numbered 1/8-8/8, have been available for the public to purchase; the last four, numbered I/IV-IV/IV, have been reserved for cultural institutions. This law was reestablished and strictly imposed in 1981.”[FN 27]

CANTOR FOUNDATION IS NOT A CULTURAL INSTITUTION 

This 1983 Musee Rodin cast is not limited to an edition of 12 unless, of course, you consider 13 a baker's dozen and the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation is not a cultural institution. So how did a so-called non-profit foundation end up with a Musee Rodin's -I/IV- cast that is supposedly "reserved for cultural institutions?”

1983 
21 OF 29 Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist] 

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title ILLUSIONS RECEIVED BY THE EARTH (or THE FALLEN ANGEL), Date cast 1983, Medium bronze, Dimensions 15 1/2 x 27 x 15 1/2 in., Foundry Coubertin, Cast Musée Rodin cast 1/8, 1983, Weight 75 lbs, 34 kg., Dims w base/frame no Base, Patina dark brown to olive green, some black, Inscriptions Marked: "A. Rodin/No 1/8," "© by Musée Rodin 1983,” Owner Iris Cantor as Trustee of the Iris Cantor Trust, Crate # 47, CC ID# 1341, Executed 1895”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

On page 184 of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s published 2001 Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession catalogue, Illusions Received by the Earth (The Fallen Angel) is listed as: “1895, Musee Rodin, cast 1/8 in 1983, Coubertin, 15 1/2 x 27 x 15 1/2 in. (39.4 x 68.6 x 39.4 cm), Signed and numbered A. Rodin/1/8 and inscribed © by Musee Rodin 1983, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection, promised gift to the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation 1341.”[FN 28]

If the shoe was on the other foot and someone counterfeited a check on a bank account of the Musee Rodin and/or the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation and claimed it was signed, what would be the serious questions of law and legal consequences if they were caught?

1983 
22 OF 29 Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist] 

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title MONUMENTAL TORSO OF THE WALKING MAN, Date cast 1985, Medium bronze, Dimensions 43.3 x 26.75 x 15 in., Foundry Godard, Cast Musée Rodin cast 1/8, 1985, Weight 350 pounds, Dims w base/frame no base, Patina green and brown, Inscriptions Signed and numbered "A. Rodin No 1/8" on thigh and inscribed "E. GODARD FONDr and "(c) By MUSEE Rodin 1985" on back., Owner Iris Cantor as Trustee of the Iris Cantor Trust, Crate # 60, CC ID# 1394, Executed about 1905"

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

On the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s website, this same Monumental Torso of the Walking Man is listed as “Originally modeled in 1905, Size: 43 ⅓ x 26 ¾ x 15 inches”  with the following comment: “Rodin’s early training as an artist included drawing and modeling from ancient Greek and Roman pieces that were at the time being excavated.  These were often broken – fragments and partial figures – and inspired his own work. One of his earliest partial figures, the Torso of the Walking Man, looks mutilated and worn – similar to the fragmented Classical sculptures,”[FN 29] with no disclosure it was cast in 1985.

Rhetorically, why does the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation and the museum venues continually list dates such as "1905," for posthumous casts, that predate the death of Auguste Rodin [d 1917] that have little to nothing to do with the piece the public is standing in front of?

1985 
23 OF 29 Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist] 

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title NARCISSE (or Narcissus), Date cast, Medium bronze, Dimensions 32 x 13 x 12.25 in., Foundry Godard, Cast Musée Rodin cast 8/8, 1985, Weight 160 lbs, 72.7 kg, Dims w base/frame 37 x 13 x 12.25 inches. Base alone is 5 x 12.25 x 9.4". Has camfered top., Patina green and brown, Inscriptions Marked: "A. Rodin/ No 8/8," "E. Godard Fondr,” "©By Musée Rodin 1985,” Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 80, CC ID# 1402, Executed about1882; enlarged and retitled 1890”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

Notice in the Iris and B. Cantor Foundation's checklist for this "Musee Rodin cast 8/8, 1985,"  it states: "Executed about 1882; enlarged and retitled 1890." This is a red herring since this posthumous "1985" casting date has nothing whatsoever to do with these "1882" and "1890" dates. Particular since the Musee Rodin has admited to casting in bronze from posthumous plaster reproductions rather than Auguste Rodin's lifetime plasters.

1986 
24 OF 29 Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist] 

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title TRAGIC MUSE, Date cast 1986, Medium bronze, Dimensions 13 x 25.5 x 15.25 in., Foundry Godard Foundry, Cast Musée Rodin cast 3/8, 1986, Weight 100 lbs., 45.5 kg., Dims w base/frame no base, Patina dark brown w/ blue highlights, Inscriptions Marked: "A Rodin No 3/8," "E. GODARD FONDEUR," "©BY MUSEE Rodin 1986”, Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 50, CC ID# 1446, Executed 1894-96”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's "Rodin Labels"

This label for this non-disclosed posthumous cast, titled Tragic Musee, is a classic bait & switch. Offer the public dates "1895" and "1905" that predates Auguste Rodin's death in 1917 when in fact it was posthumously cast in 1986 with a counterfeit "A Rodin" inscription with a bogus edition number.

Remember the dead don't sign and number.

1987 
25 OF 29 Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title TOILETTE OF VENUS AND ANDROMEDE, Date cast, Medium bronze, Dimensions 20 x 14.5 x 23.5 in., Foundry Godard, Cast Musée Rodin cast 1/8, 1987, Weight 225 pounds, Dims w base/frame no base, Patina dark brown w/ blue highlights, Inscriptions Signed and numbered, "A.Rodin No 1/8" and inscribed, "E. GODARD Fondr" and "(c) By MUSEE Rodin 1987,” Owner Iris Cantor as Trustee of the Iris Cantor Trust, Crate # 64, CC ID# 1435, Executed after 1890”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

Auguste Rodin did not sign and number this posthumous cast in 1987 some 70 years after his death in 1917. Despite the inference that normally you would find an object of this stature in a museum gift shop, the Association of Art Museum Directors's Professional Practices states foundry marks, signatures and editions numbers must be excluded from reproductions because it would mislead the public to believe they are in the presence of an original.

In other words, the vast majority of Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's collection of non-disclosed posthumous forgeries with counterfeit "A Rodin" signatures in bogus editions could not even be displayed and offered for sale in a museum gift shop.

1988 
26 OF 29 Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist] 

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title BUST OF YOUNG BALZAC, Date cast, Medium bronze, Dimensions 28 1/8 x 13 3/8 x 14 5/8 in., Foundry Godard, Cast Musée Rodin cast II/IV, 1988, Weight 150 lbs, 68.2 kg, Dims w base/frame no base, Patina dark brown w/ light blue, Inscriptions Marked: "A. Rodin/No II/IV," "E. Godard Fondr,” "©BY Musée Rodin 1988”, Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 4, CC ID# 1579, Executed 1893”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Label deceptively states: "On exhibition here is one of Rodin's many heads of Balzac, the acclaimed French writer of the early Nineteenth Century. It was modeled in preparation for Rodin's Mounment to Honore de Balzac, received in 1891 and completed in 1898." This posthumous bronze was cast in 1988 some 71 years after Auguste Rodin's death in 1917 but if the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation can distract you with their misleading labels you have little to no idea you are being scammed. They have no shame.

1995 
27 OF 29 Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title MONUMENTAL HEAD OF THE SHADE, Date cast, Medium bronze, Dimensions 26 1/2 x 14 1/4 x 15 1/2 in., Foundry Godard, Cast Musée Rodin cast II/IV, 1995, Weight 150 lbs., Dims w base/frame no base, Patina dark brown, Inscriptions Marked: "A.Rodin No II/IV,'" "E. GODARD Fondr,” "©by MUSEE Rodin 1995,” Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 12, CC ID# 1681, Executed about 1880”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

Auguste Rodin died in 1917. Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Label states: "there are many variations of the numerous figures that Rodin detached from The Gates of Hell. Obscenely, this is not one of them since in 1995, Auguste Rodin was some 78 years detached from life. The dead don't detach anything.

1995 
28 OF 29 Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title ECCLESIASTES, Date cast 1995, Medium bronze, Dimensions 10 1/2 x 10 1/4 x 11 3/4 in., Foundry Godard, Cast Musée Rodin cast II/IV, 1995, Weight 40 lbs., Dims w base/frame no base, Patina blue w/ some brown, Inscriptions Marked: "A. Rodin/ No II/IV,” “E.GODARD Fondr" ," "©By MUSEE Rodin 1995,” Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 45, CC ID# 1683, Executed 1898”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

On page 185 of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s published 2001 Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession catalogue, Ecclesiastes, Before 1899, is listed as: “Musee Rodin cast II/IV in 1995, Bronze, Godard, 10 1/2 x 10 1/4 x 11 3/4 in., (26.7 x 26 x 29.8 cm), Signed and numbered A. Rodin No. II/IV and inscribed E. GODARD Fondr and © BY MUSEE Rodin 1995, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 1683.”[FN 30]

On page 310 of the Philadelphia Museum of Art's published 1976 Sculpture of Auguste Rodin by John Tancock, the author wrote of the Auguste Rodin's "Ecclesiastes" plaster, in the museum's collection as "not signed and inscribed.”[FN 31]

PLASTER NOT SIGNED - POSTHUMOUS BRONZE IS 

So, if Auguste Rodin did not sign an Ecclesiastes plaster that was posthumously acquired by the Philadelphia Museum of Art from the Musee Rodin in the late 1920's, how did the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation acquire a posthumous Auguste Rodin Ecclesiastes bronze, "Signed and numbered by A. Rodin" in 1995, some 78 years after his death? 

On page 354 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -counterfeit- is defined as: "To forge, copy, or imitate (something) without the right to do so and with the purpose of deceiving or defrauding.”[FN 32]

1995 
29 OF 29 Forgeries 

[Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: Figures Checklist]

• “Artist RODIN, AUGUSTE, Title FINAL HEAD OF EUSTACHE DE ST. PIERRE, Date cast, Medium bronze, Dimensions 16 1/4 x 9 5/8 x 11 1/2 in., Foundry Godard, Cast Musée Rodin cast II/IV, 1995, Weight 50 lbs., 22.7 kg., Dims w base/frame 22.5 x 9.7 x 11.5 inches. Base alone 6.25 x 7.5 x 7.5”, Patina dark brown, Inscriptions Marked: "A.Rodin/ No II/IV," "E. Godard Fondr ," “© By MUSÉE Rodin 1995,” Owner Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Crate # 15, CC ID# 1685, Executed about 1886”

IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR FOUNDATION'S "RODIN LABEL"

http://www.haaedu.org/rodin-labels

Auguste Rodin died in 1917. The history of the 1347 siege of Calais has nothing to do with this 1995 cast in bronze with a counterfeit "A Rodin" inscription but then the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation has a history of rewriting it for their avarice.

“In response to your fax of 26 January, I precise that when the edition of a new subject shall be decided, we derive a new ordeal in the molds that our listings have to avoid sending the originals platres a foundry. These molds are the molds of Rodin, and we therefore provide a perfect fidelity. This way the original plasters remain intact.” [Google Translate]

Musee Rodin curator Antoinette Le Normand-Romain [February 1, 2000 FAX]

BRONZES NOT CAST FROM THE ORIGINAL PLASTERS

THIRD, as documented on the prior page in a February 1, 2000 FAX [translation above], the Musee Rodin curator Antoinette Le Normand Romain acknowledges that the Musee Rodin does not cast in bronze from Auguste Rodin’s original plasters but posthumous plaster reproductions.

Additionally, before it was deleted from the Musee Rodin’s website, the Musee Rodin curator Antoinette Le Normand Romain acknowledged [in the excerpt below from the Musee Rodin’s April 2000 website] that the Musee Rodin does -not- cast in bronze from Auguste Rodin’s original lifetime plasters but posthumously made plaster reproductions.

“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.”

Musee Rodin curator Antoinette Le Normand Romain [April 2000 Musee Rodin website]

As a result of the Musee Rodin practice of posthumously casting bronzes from posthumous plaster reproductions made from Auguste Rodin’s original lifetime plasters, they are violating Auguste Rodin’s 1916 Will.

MUSEE RODIN GIVEN REPRODUCTION RIGHTS

This is confirmed on page 285 in the former Musee Rodin curator Monique Laurent’s “Observations on Rodin and His Founders” essay, published in the National Gallery of Art’s 1981 Rodin Rediscovered catalogue, where Ms. Laurent wrote Auguste Rodin’s 1916 Will stated: “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 33]

RUTH BUTLER AND REPRODUCTION RIGHTS

These specific details of Auguste Rodin’s 1916 Will are additionally confirmed on page 504 of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation published 1993 Rodin, Shape of Genius biography by Ruth Butler. In part, the author wrote: “a draft of an act of donation was drawn up and signed in Meudon on April 1, 1916, in the presence of Clementel, Valention (representing the Ministere des Beaux-Arts), and Antole de Monzie, the lawyer and deputy who had helped prepare the deed. The document included a number of safeguards for Rodin: at the Hotel Biron--thenceforth to be called the Musee Rodin--he was to be in charge of personnel. He would have the right to use the building until the end of his life, and the state would install heat. All reproduction rights to his art would remain with Rodin during his lifetime.”[FN 34]

So, 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 35]

Therefore, since the Musee Rodin is posthumously casting bronzes from posthumous plaster reproductions made from Auguste Rodin’s original lifetime plasters, the second-generation-removed bronzes could not, by definition, even be considered reproductions.

FRENCH LAW AND THE NOTATION -REPRODUCTION- 

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 36]

Remember, the Musee Rodin admits they do -not- send Auguste Rodin's original lifetime plasters, but posthumous plaster reproductions, to foundries for casting in bronze. 

Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Summary

ALL ORIGINAL - SOME WERE MADE DURING HIS LIFETIME? 

Yet, despite that irrefutable fact, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation would have the news media, much less the public, believe their widely distributed "Summary: Authorized Posthumous Casting of the Work of Auguste Rodin" paper that states: "all works in the Iris and B. Gerald Collection and Cantor Foundation are original Rodins. Some of these were made during Rodin's lifetime, others were made after he died and according to his explicit wishes and instructions to the government of France."[FN 37]

DEFINITION OF ORIGINAL 

On page 286 of HarperCollins' published 1991 Dictionary of Art Terms & Techniques by Ralph Mayer, -original- is defined as: "an artist's independent creation."[FN 38]

Does the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's statement, quote ”Some of these were made during Rodin's lifetime” give any confidence whatsoever that they understand what constitutes an original, much less a forgery? 

Photo from Tasende Gallery’s published 1999 Sculptures from the Musee Rodin, Paris catalogue

POSTHUMOUS COUNTERFEIT “A RODIN” SIGNATURES

FOURTH, then to add insult to injury, the Musee Rodin posthumously counterfeits either an “A Rodin” or “Rodin” signature to these non-disclosed posthumous second-generation-removed bronzes. This 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 39]

On page 1386 in the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, signature is defined as: “a person’s name or mark written by that person or at the person’s direction.”[FN 40]

Therefore, even if Auguste Rodin’s original lifetime plasters were actually signed by Auguste Rodin, the posthumous plaster reproductions would at best reproduce his signatures. The subsequent posthumous bronzes, cast from that posthumous plaster reproductions, would -at best- reproduce the reproduction of his signatures.

In other words, a copy, much less a copy of a copy, will never qualify as a signature.

Twenty-two Thinkers in an Edition of Twelve

VARIATIONS IN THE NUMBERING SYSTEM

FIFTH, one of the Musee Rodin's largest 20th-21st century patrons, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, on their website states: "Efforts have been made in France by the Musée Rodin and in the United States by the College Art Association to ensure the quality and authenticity of posthumous casts. In 1956 French law limited the casting of each of Rodin’s works to twelve examples of each size. In 1968 France passed a law requiring that the date of the cast be inscribed on each sculpture. A system of numbering was established by French legislation in 1981 whereby the first eight of the twelve casts, numbered 1/8–8/8, are made available for public purchase; the last four, numbered I/IV–IV/IV, are reserved for cultural institutions. (Despite these efforts, variations in the numbering system are occasionally found on authorized casts.)"[FN 41]

CANTOR FOUNDATION FLIP-FLOPPING

For over ten years the United States-based Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's website promoted limitation of "Rodin's work to twelve examples.” According to the foundation, under French law, the limitation of twelve was “reestablished and strictly imposed in 1981.”[FN 42] The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation  is now flip-flopping  when it states: "Despite these efforts, variations in the numbering system are occasionally found on authorized casts."[FN 43]

22 The Thinkers in an Edition of 12

The Thinker, 1880–81, Bronze, Georges Rudier Foundry, 10/12, Posthumous cast authorized by Musée Rodin, 1972, 181.6 x 78.7 x 142.2 cm., Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, promised gift to the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, 1988.106 
http://museum.stanford.edu/view/rodin_
1988_106.html

A.A. HEBRARD FOUNDRY

 1 of 22  1903, University of Louisville, Alle R. Hite Art Institute

 2 of 22  1904, Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek

ALEXIS RUDIER FOUNDRY

 3 of 22  1903, Detroit Institute of Art

 4 of 22  1904, [transferred to the Musee Rodin, 1921]

 5 of 22  1906, Buenos Aires, Plaza de los Do Congresso

 6 of 22  1909, Stockholm, Prince Eugen s Waldemarsudde

 7 of 22  1914, San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor

 8 of 22  1916, Cleveland Museum of Art

Auguste Rodin died November 17, 1917

 9 of 22  1917, Rodin Tomb’s [commissioned 1917, delivered 1918

10 of 22  1919, Philadelphia, Rodin Museum

11 of 22  [acq. 1923], Kyoto, National Museum [Japan]

12 of 22  1925, Brussels, Laeken cemetery

13 of 22  [acq 1926], Tokyo, National Museum of Western Art

14 of 22  1928, Baltimore Museum of Art

15 of 22  1930, New York, Columbia University

16 of 22  1942, Moscow, Pushkin Museum

17 of 22  1950, Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department 

                          on loan to Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

GEORGES RUDIER FOUNDRY

18 of 22  1965, Shizuoka Prefetoral Museum of Art

19 of 22  1966, Bielefeld Kunsthalle

20 of 22  [acq. 1968], Stanford University, Cantor Arts Center [10/12]

21 of 22  [acq. 1969], Pasadena, Norton Simon Art Foundation

22 of 22  1974, Nagoya City Museum

SOURCE: [79 inches high large version with casting and/or acquistion dates & collection location] of 22 The Thinker casts, page 587, The Bronzes of Rodin by Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, © 2007 Musee Rodin

U.S. COPYRIGHT LAW

SIXTH, the Honolulu Museum of Art is located at 900 S. Beretania, Honolulu, Hawaii 96814 in the United States of America and operates under U.S. laws. 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 44]

Since 29 of these bronzes in the Honolulu Museum of Art's July 23, 2015 - January 10, 2016 Auguste Rodin: The Human Experience, Selections from the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Collections exhibition are -at best- posthumous, under U.S. Copyright Law's definition of a "work of visual art" i.e., sculpture, a dead Auguste Rodin [d 1917] could -never- be the author.

The dead don’t “consecutively number,” much less apply their “signature.”

Additionally, under U.S. Copyright Law 101. Definitions, a derivative work is defined as an: "art reproduction"[FN 45] and under U.S. Copyright Law 106A. the "Rights of certain authors to attribution and integrity - shall not apply to any reproduction."[FN 46]

Remember, as documented earlier, Auguste Rodin gave in his 1916 Will to the State of France, upon his death, the “reproduction rights to objects given by him.”

Therefore, since anything posthumously cast by definition would be a reproduction, that subsequent derivative i.e., reproduction, would not be attributable to an artist, living or dead.

ASSOCIATION OF ART MUSEUM DIRECTORS

SEVENTH, the Honolulu Museum of Art Director Stephan Jost is a current member of the Association of Art Museum Directors.[FN 47]

  

AAMD ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR REPRODUCTIONS

As an AAMD member, the Honolulu Museum of Art and its director endorses the ethical guidelines on reproductions in their 2001 Professional Practices in Art Museum publication. In part, it states: "museums must clearly indicate, through the use of integral markings on the objects, as well as signs, labels, and advertising, that these items are reproductions - signatures, editions numbers, and/or foundry marks on sculpture must not appear on the reproduction. - The touting of exaggerated investment value of reproductions must be avoided because the object or work being offered for purchase is not original and the resale value is highly in doubt. - When advertising reproductions, museums should not use language implying that there is any identity of quality between the copy and the original or lead the potential buyer to believe that by purchasing any such reproduction, he or she is acquiring an original work of art."[FN 48]

Therefore, under these ethical guidelines, AAMD members, such as the Honolulu Museum of Art, could not even display these 29 non-disclosed posthumous second-generation-removed bronzes in their gift shop because of the posthumous application of a counterfeit "A. Rodin" signatures with foundry marks and edition numbers.

U.S. CUSTOMS MAY 2006

EIGHTH, under U.S. Customs Informed Compliance Publications titled Works of Art, Collector’s Pieces, Antiques, and Other Cultural Property May 2006, under the subtitle ORIGINAL SCULPTURE, STATUARY, IN ANY MATERIAL, the following is -duty free-: “Heading 9703 covers not only original sculpture made by the sculptor, but also the first 12 castings, replicas or reproductions made from a sculptor’s original work or model, by the sculptor himself or by another artist, with or without a change in scale and whether or not the sculptor is alive at the time the castings, replicas or reproductions are completed.”[FN 49]

Therefore, since the Musee Rodin admittedly does not cast from Auguste Rodin’s original models and the so-called editions of 12 are not [in many cases] limited as promoted, the importation of those non-disclosed posthumous second-generation-removed bronze forgeries, attributed to Auguste Rodin, are problematic and may bring in serious questions of law. 

PICK THE COLOR OF A PURCHASED BRONZE

NINTH, in 1996, the Musee Rodin allowed the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation and/or its representative to pick the color of their newly purchased posthumous [1996] Monument to Victor Hugo bronze, attributed to Auguste Rodin.

This is confirmed in the Fall 1998 Sculpture Review trade magazine published article, “Casting of the Monument,” 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 50]

This is additionally confirmed in the 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 states: “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 51]

PUBLIC RELATIONS CAMPAIGN AND THE COVERUP

TENTH, on March 28, 2004 Buffalo News' published  a front page article by Tom Buckham titled "Lively debate on posthumous art.” The reporter wrote: "Who can blame the Albright-Knox Art Gallery for counting on "Rodin: A Magnificent Obsession" to produce blockbuster numbers when the exhibition of 70 works settles in for 10 weeks beginning April 20?" Yet, "If art dealer Gary Arseneau is to be believed," the reporter wrote: "all but a handful of the traveling works from the California-based Cantor Foundation are "fakes" - sculptures cast long after Rodin died 86 years ago and not from the original plaster molds but from copies of those molds."[FN 52]

On the other hand, "Albright-Knox Art Gallery curator for modern art and a Rodin scholar" Ken Wayne, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on the sculptor while a Cantor Fellow at Stanford University, not only rejected this Gary Arseneau's assertions that anything posthumous in the exhibition were "copies of copies" but is quoted stating: "Some are lifetime works, and some are posthumous. Posthumous casts are legitimate."[FN 53]

As for Curator Ken Wayne's use of the phrase "some are posthumous casts," that some totaled at least 54 of the 60 or so bronzes, in the exhibition; they were actually cast between 1919 and 1995 with counterfeit "A. Rodin" signatures, some 2 to 78 years after Auguste Rodin's death in 1917. 

What made this article unique is unlike dozens of prior published newspaper articles, concerning these contentious issues of authenticity raised with the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's so-called -Rodin- collection, it was published on the -front page- giving it, its widest audience. 

22,000 ATTEND RODIN VERSUS 167,000 ATTENDED MONET 

Five months later the potential consequences of that published front page story became evident. The Buffalo News published on July 2, 2004 "Rodin exhibit closes Saturday; gallery to feature more self-produced shows" article by Tom Buckham. In part, the reporter wrote: "Over the 11-week run that opened April 17, the traveling retrospective from the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, containing 60 of the French master's bronze works, has drawn roughly 22,000 visitors. That's a far cry from the record 167,000 who came to see "Monet at Giverny" during its 14-week stand in 1999, and many fewer than have attended other recent exhibitions starring famous Impressionists."[FN 54] 

1.45 MILLION IN POTENTIAL LOST REVENUE 

With the Albright-Knox Art Gallery's $10 adult admission to view this exhibition, that 145,000 difference in attendance adds up to an estimated $1.45 million in potential lost revenue. 

Ironically, Albright-Knox spokeswoman Cheryl Orlick was quoted in that article not only diminishing their attendance expectations but backhandedly complimenting the exposure of these contentious issues of authenticity: "We would have liked to see more people, but we didn't really expect huge crowds" but "If anything, the debate might have piqued peoples' interest a little bit." 

Unfortunately, future museum venues of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's collection of non-disclosed posthumous forgeries, would not respond as kindly to these same contentious issues of authenticity being debated. 

GLENBOW MUSEUM AND CANTOR FOUNDATION PR CAMPAIGN 

In the Fall of 2004, in an attempt to preempt these contentious issues of authenticity from being effectively brought up in the next venue, the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta [Canada], and its Communications Specialist Tanis Booth, along with the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation Director Judith Sobol and attorneys for the foundation, helped put together a public relations campaign titled: The Curious Fixation of the “Rodin Chaser.” 

THE CURIOUS FIXATION OF THE RODIN CHASER PODCAST 

The Glenbow Museum's strategy was further confirmed in a 2006 "Media Relations Matters" online podcast titled "The Curious Fixation of the Rodin Chaser,"[FN 49] interview by Media Training Consultant Eric Bergman with Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt (maiden name Booth) concerning the museum's Fall 2004 Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession, Sculpture from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation exhibition. 

2006 IABC GOLD QUILL AWARD OF EXCELLENCE 

“The Curious Fixation of the Rodin Chaser With Tanis Shortt” podcast interview is described as: “This 10-minute conversation with Tanis Shortt discusses her 2006 IABC Gold Quill award of excellence. She developed a proactive media relations campaign to fend off potential negative publicity when the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, featured a three-month showing of Rodin: A Magnificent Obsession, Sculpture from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation.”[FN 55]

ILLEGITIMATE SOURCE OF CULTURAL AUTHENTICITY 

In the interview, the Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt stated: "that when we were developing the marketing and media campaign for this exhibition, we were advised by the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, which is actually one of the largest private collector of Rodin sculpture and who was touring the show, that there is a self-proclaimed crusader who denounces the sculptures in this exhibition. He claimed they were frauds because they were cast following the death of Rodin. And so we were concerned about Glenbow's reputation if we were, I guess, treated in the media as being an illegitimate source of cultural authenticity."[FN 56]

A Glenbow Museum Communication Specialist, Tanis Shortt states: "sculptures in the exhibition" but admits "they were cast following the death of Rodin" and they are concerned the media will treat the Glenbow Museum as "an illegitimate source of cultural authenticity?" 

BEAT HIM TO THE PUNCH 

The Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt stated that the museum developed a media strategy to notify the news media with a -media advisory- [on Gary Arseneau] and a "backgrounder" [on the authenticity of these sculptures] to "beat him to the punch."[FN 57]

The Glenbow Museum's "The Curious Fixation of the Rodin Chaser" media advisory stated: "Gary Arseneau constantly repeats his mantra that ‘dead men don’t sculpt’ and his claim that all posthumous Rodin casts are ‘fakes/reproductions’" and "Art experts, scholars and museum curators dismiss Arseneau’s accusations as nonsense." 

So, who are these so-called "art experts, scholars and museum curators" referred to in this media advisory [on Gary Arseneau] that supposedly believe the dead can sculpt and that anything cast, much less posthumously, is not, at best, a reproduction? 

The only name given on this Glenbow Museum -media advisory- [on Gary Arseneau] is the "Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt" who admits later in this interview she has "no curatorial background."

QUITE NEGATIVE AT PREVIOUS VENUES 

Despite some misgivings within the Glenbow Museum concerning this -media advisory- [on Gary Arseneau] strategy, Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt stated: "when we demonstrated how it had proven to be quite negative at the previous venues where the show had been hosted,"[FN 58] the museum signed off on it. 

So, when the Glenbow Museum didn't like the message, their Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt recommended they attack the messenger. 

INITIALLY WANTED TO CALL HIM THE RODIN STALKER 

As for the media advisory [on Gary Arseneau], the Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt, stated: "The one hiccup that we thought was totally unexpected was we initially wanted to call him the Rodin Stalker because he'd actually, this fellow, who is the self proclaimed crusader, had previously been referred to as the Rodin Stalker in the media by the media in the U.S. And when we ran this initial document by the lawyers of the Cantor Foundation who's the owner of all these works, the lawyer actually advised that was not a good idea because the legal connotation to using the word stalking. Of course it's a felony. So, we actually had to go back and change it. And of course we thought stalker certainly conveyed a certain message and we still wanted to indicate why or we still wanted to use a word that sort of demonstrated how aggressive this person was in his approach to the media. So, we sort of back peddled and came up with the chaser, the Rodin Chaser. We thought it was still kind of fun phrase."[FN 59]

On page 1412, of the Seventh Edition of Black's Dictionary, stalking is defined as: "1. The act or an instance of following another by stealth. 2. The offense of following or loitering near another, often surreptitiously with the purpose of annoying or harassing that person or committing a further crime such as assault or battery."[FN 60]

So, even after being warned by the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation attorneys that referring to this scholar as a "stalker" would imply a "felony" has been committed, this "Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist" Tanis Shortt still years later continues to potentially defame Gary Arseneau when she publicly states: "of course we thought stalker certainly conveyed a certain message." 

The Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt, when asked "in terms of briefing the media did you have to walk that balance so that you did not overwhelm them with information?" She responded: "Yea, absolutely and that's something we had to do on a day to day basis so we're not alienating ourselves because not everybody has a curatorial background, including myself."[FN 61]

CASTING PROCESS - AN ART FORM 

The Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt was asked by Eric Bergman: "So, did they [media] find that they were able to ask more sophisticated questions of the Rodin Chaser because they had that information in advance and to pick through at what were really - really the facts were of the story, is that something that you, some feedback that you got back from reporters?” She responded: "It was, I think the other thing we were really please with was to see the level of interest in the whole casting process, its a pretty complicated process for an art form."[FN 62]

OTHER ART MUSEUMS - INITIATE THE SAME STRATEGY 

"Beyond that," the Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt stated: "this media relations strategy has since been taken on using both our materials and speaking with us in advance to develop their own campaign by five other art museums across North America and I think that's a, that's a big success story in itself. - I think we were in even more pleased because it wasn't even just in Canada, we've actually had three art museums in the states who recognized the success of the campaign and wanting to take it on and initiate the same, initiate the same strategy for themselves."[FN 63] 

What the Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt failed to disclose, in this interview, is that these museums, with one known exception, plagiarized the Glenbow Museum media advisory [on Gary Arseneau] without giving proper attribution to its source. So, aside from the fraud, for monetary consideration, including but not limited to admission fees and city-state-federal grants, non-disclosed posthumous forgeries from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation as sculptures, these museums were intellectually dishonest. 

For confirmation, compare these two pdf files : 

“The Curious Fixation of the "Rodin Chaser" [pdf 201k] (September 23, 2004) *This media strategy won a 2006 International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Gold Quill Award of Excellence in the Media Relations category). 

http://www.glenbow.org/about/media/archived.cfm

“Beware Vancouver of the “Rodin Chaser!” May 16, 2005 ... Vancouver, BC – Beware Vancouver, the “Rodin Chaser” may strike in our city in ... Since 1999, the “Rodin Chaser” has dogged this acclaimed …

www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/media_room/pdf/rodin_chaser.pdf

As for the Glenbow Museum and Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's assertions that "Art experts, scholars and museum curators dismiss Arseneau’s accusations as nonsense," contrast that with the following, but not limited to, two examples: 

DR. ROBERT TORCHIA 

In an April 8, 1999 letter to Gary Arseneau, "concerning the Cummer's forthcoming exhibition of Rodin's Movement to Victor Hugo" from the Iris and B. Cantor Foundation, Cummer Museum of Art curator, systematic cataloger for the National Gallery of Art, author and Ph.D in Art History, Dr. Robert Torchia wrote: "Although this is an extremely complex issue, I have to admit that I am in basic agreement with your objections concerning the work's originality and degree of authenticity." 

JUDITH SOBOL, CANTOR FOUNDATION

In a January 2, 2005 Opelika-Auburn News' published "Rodin's legacy, The artist who helped usher in the age of ambiguity in sculpture continues to raise questions almost 90 years after his death" article by Jason Nix, concerning an Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: In his Own Words exhibition in 2005 at Auburn University, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation Director Judith Sobol's is quoted stating: "We don't comment about his [Gary Arseneau] contentions because they don't bear any weight whatsoever in the art world - Nobody who knows anything about the field doubts the originality of these pieces. I don't understand what entitles him to a point of view that's covered by the press. It's talking about the picture frame and not the picture.” Yet, the reporter wrote: "Mark Graham, an AU art professor and interim department head, disagrees." 

MARK GRAHAM, AUBURN UNIVERSITY ART PROFESSOR & DEPT CHAIR

Mark Graham continued: "Mr. Arseneau might be abrasive in his approach, but a lot of the issues he raises are real issues. - The Rodin estate has been turned into a Rodin industry. It's not common in sculpture to keep reproducing an artist's work after his death the way we see with this artist. - Like Arseneau, Graham takes issue with the use of the term 'original' to describe works produced after the Rodin's death. - The term 'original' is a stretch - a Rodin original is any version that was authorized by him or which had his input. With this, you're not seeing work that reflects Auguste Rodin's input. This exhibit is a Disneyland vacation of Rodin's art.”

LAW, ETHICS AND THE VISUAL ARTS 

On page 816-817 of Kluwer Law International’s published 1998 Law, Ethics and the Visual Arts, Third Edition by John Henry Merryman and Albert E. Elsen, they wrote about “Counterfeit Art.”[FN 64]

Under the subtitle “Truth,” the authors wrote: “The most serious harm that good counterfeits do is to confuse and misdirect the search for valid learning.  The counterfeit  objects falsifies history and misdirects inquiry.”[FN 65]

  

Additionally, under the subtitle “Resource Allocation,” the authors wrote: “Museum and art historical resources are always limited. What gets acquired, displayed, conserved and studied is the result of a continuous process of triage, in which some objects can be favoured only at the expenses of others. Counterfeit objects distort the process.”[FN 66]

  

Finally, under the subtitle “Fraud,” the authors wrote: “There remains the most obvious harm of all: counterfeit cultural objects are instruments of fraud. Most are created in order to deceive and defraud, but even “innocent” counterfeits can, and often will, be so used. The same considerations of justice and social order that make deliberate fraud of other kinds criminal apply equally to fraud through the medium of counterfeit art…”[FN 67]

  

CONCLUSION 

What needs to be accomplished is the full and honest disclosure of all reproductions as -reproductions- by all museums, auction houses and art dealers. If the Honolulu Museum of Art and the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation will  give full  and honest  disclosure for all reproductions as reproductions, it would allow museum patrons informed consent on whether they wish to attend an exhibit of reproductions, much less forgeries, not to mention whether to pay the $10 price of adult admission. 

But, if these objects are not reproductions by definition and law but forgeries, then serious consequences of law may come into play for those who chose to misrepresent these forgeries for monetary consideration including but not limited to: admission fee, city-state-federal grants, corporate sponsorship, tax write-offs and outright sales.

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:

1.Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation as of: 11/5/2014

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

3. https://www.honolulumuseum.org/art/exhibitions/15038-auguste_rodin_human_experience_selections_iris_b_gerald_cantor_collections/

4. www.getty.edu website [Under their Getty Vocabulary Program]

5. https://www.honolulumuseum.org/art/exhibitions/15038-auguste_rodin_human_experience_selections_iris_b_gerald_cantor_collections/

6. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

7. Ibid

8. http://www.cantorfoundation.org/about-us/our-mission/

9. Volume 1, © Musee Rodin, Musee Rodin 979-2-9014-2890-9, RMN: 978-2-7118-4941-3, Paris 2007 

10. Ibid

11. © Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation 2001, ISBN 1-85894-143 hardback

12. Ibid

13. Ibid

14. Ibid

15. Volume 1, © Musee Rodin, Musee Rodin 979-2-9014-2890-9, RMN: 978-2-7118-4941-3, Paris 2007

16. © Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation 2001, ISBN 1-85894-143 hardback

17. Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundations: Rodin: Sculpture from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection, Working Checklist July 23, 1997, Nevada Museum of Art, 1801 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 435, Los Angeles, California 90067, 310 277-4600 

18.  © Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation 2001, ISBN 1-85894-143 hardback

19. Volume 2, Musee Rodin: 972-2-9014-2890-9, RMN: 978-2-7118-4941-3, © Musee Rodin Paris, 2007, 19, boulevard des Invalides, 75007 Paris

20. http://www.cantorfoundation.org/2012/01/spotlight-on-the-three-faunesses/

21. http://www.cantorfoundation.org/resources/selected-bronzes/

22. © Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation 2001, ISBN 1-85894-143 hardback

23. Ibid

24. Ibid

25. Ibid

26. Volume 2, Musee Rodin: 972-2-9014-2890-9, RMN: 978-2-7118-4941-3, © Musee Rodin Paris, 2007, 19, boulevard des Invalides, 75007 Paris

27. http://www.cantorfoundation.org/Rodin/Bronze/rbrz.html

28. © Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation 2001, ISBN 1-85894-143 hardback

29. http://www.cantorfoundation.org/resources/selected-bronzes/

30. © Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation 2001, ISBN 1-85894-143 hardback

31. Copyright © 1976 by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Trade edition: ISBN 087923-157-2 

32. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864 

33. 1981 Rodin Rediscovered ISBN 0-89468-001-3 (pbk)

34. Copyright © 1993 by Ruth Butler, ISBN 0-300-05400-0

35. Copyright © Bena Mayer, Executrix of the Estate of Ralph Mayer, 1991, ISBN 0-06-461012-8 (pbk.)

36. p 281, "An Original in Sculpture" essay by Jean Chatelain, professor at the University of Paris and former director of the Museums of France, 1981 Rodin Rediscovered ISBN 0-89468-001-3 (pbk) 

37. [copy forward by email from a newspaper source] 

“SUMMARY: AUTHORIZED POSTHUMOUS CASTING OF THE WORK OF AUGUSTE RODIN 

“All works in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection and Cantor Foundation Collection are original Rodins. Some of these were made during Rodin’s lifetime, others were made after he died and according to his explicit wishes and instructions to the government of France. 

“In the early part of the 19th century, the creation of sculpture became a large-scale enterprise. Growing cities and an expanding middle class created new patrons and markets for modern sculpture. Advances in the techniques for creating editions in bronze allowed for the production of a great number of high quality examples. Auguste Rodin achieved success as an artist within this environment and naturally tailored his subjects as well as his output to satisfy an increasing demand for examples of this most popular works. During his lifetime, Rodin sometimes licensed commercial foundries to cast unlimited editions of his works. Certain foundries were even given the discretion to enlarge or reduce the size of the original model according to the demands of the market. Thousands of sculptures were produced by foundries that would make new casts without hesitation whenever there were customers for them. (There were, for example, more than 300 casts of The Kiss, in different dimensions, produced during Rodin’s lifetime.) 

“Throughout his lifetime, Rodin was keenly interested in the broad dissemination of his work. He employed a number of assistants to make plaster casts from clay sculptures. These plasters were exhibited and also were provided to foundries so that they could, in turn, use them to produce casts in bronze. Rodin generally did not supervise the steps of casting his bronzes as they emerged from the foundries that had contracts to produce large quantities of his works. 

“In 1916, Rodin willed his entire estate, including his artistic property and the right to continue to cast his work posthumously, to France. The French government’s agent who oversees this is the Musée Rodin. Since Rodin’s death in 1917, the Musée has been casting sculptures either from the molds left by the artist or from molds taken from his plasters. The Musée Rodin continued to use the Alexis Rudier foundry until it closed in 1953; after this the bronzes were cast at the foundry of George Rudier until 1983. More recently, the Coubertin Foundry has been used by the Musée Rodin because of its high standards of craftsmanship. People knowledgeable in the field are confident that Rodin fully understood the process he authorized and trusted his executors when he allowed them to cast bronzes from his original molds and models after his death. 

“Efforts have been made in France by the Musée Rodin and in the United States by the College Art Association to ensure the quality and authenticity of posthumous casts, as well as their accurate identification as such. In 1956, the casting of each of Rodin’s works was limited by French law to twelve examples. 

"Indeed, three of Rodin’s most important commissions, The Gates of Hell, the Monument to Balzac, and the Monument to Victor Hugo were, to his great disappointment, not cast during his lifetime. However, the right that he designated in his will for posthumous casting by his estate has made it possible for these commissions to be realized after his death as they had been intended. Thus the 20th and 21st century public and generations of artists and students have been able to see them. 

“A primary mission of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation is to make work of Auguste Rodin available to a broad public audience through the organization and support of exhibitions, scholarship, and publications associated with the artist and his work.” 

38. Copyright © Bena Mayer, Executrix of the Estate of Ralph Mayer, 1991, ISBN 0-06-461012-8 (pbk.)

39. Page 47, RODIN, Sculptures from the Musee Rodin Paris, Tasende Gallery, Library of Congress Catalog No: 99-072906, ISBN: 9655319-5-3

40. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864 

41. http://www.cantorfoundation.org/resources/laws-govern-casting-rodins-work 

42. http://www.cantorfoundation.org/Rodin/Bronze/rbrz.html 

43. http://www.cantorfoundation.org/resources/laws-govern-casting-rodins-work    

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

454. Ibid

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

47. page 6, https://aamd.org/our-members/members

48. Published in 2001 by the Association of Art Museum Directors, 41 East 65th Street, New York, New York 10021, ISBN: 1-880974-02-9

49. http://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/icp061_3.pdf

ORIGINAL SCULPTURES AND STATUARY, IN ANY MATERIAL

Heading 9703 covers ancient or modern original sculptures and statuary in any material. In the following section we discuss which items are included, what the term “original” means, whether there are limits on how many copies can be made, and whether the sculptures must be created by an artist. 

Sculptures may be in any material (stone, reconstituted stone, terra-cotta, wood, ivory, metal, wax, etc.), in the round, in relief or in intaglio (statues, busts, figurines, groups, representations of animals, etc., including reliefs for architectural purposes). 

These works may be reproduced by various processes including the following:

The artist carving the work directly from hard materials, or

The artist modeling soft materials into figures, which are then cast in bronze or plaster, or are fired or otherwise hardened or reproduced by the artist in marble or other hard materials.

In the latter process, the artist usually proceeds on the following lines: 

He begins by roughing out his idea as a model, also known as a maquette, (usually on a reduced scale) in clay or other plastic material; with this as a basis, he then models a “clay form.” This “clay form” is seldom sold, but is usually destroyed after it has served for molding a very limited number of copies decided in advance by the artist, or it is placed in a museum for study purposes. These reproductions include, firstly, the “plaster model” produced directly from the “clay form.” This “plaster model” is used either as a model for the execution of the work in stone or wood, or for preparing molds for casting in metal or wax.

These two methods, casting (bronze) or carving (marble), are only two of several processes that can be used. Previously it was implied in the Explanatory Notes that these were the only two processes used. Although these are the most used, they are only two of many.

The same sculpture may be reproduced as two or three “copies” in marble, wood, wax, bronze, etc., and a few in terra cotta or in plaster. Not only the preliminary model, but also the “clay form,” the “plaster model” and these “copies” constitute original works of the artist; the copies are in fact never quite identical as the artist has intervened at each stage with additional modeling, corrections to casts, and for the patina imparted to each article. Only rarely does the total number of replicas exceed twelve.

The heading therefore covers not only the original models made by the sculptor but also copies and reproductions of those models made by the second process described above, whether these are made by the sculptor himself or by another artist.

Additional U.S. Note 1 to Chapter 97 states that:

Heading 9703 covers not only original sculpture made by the sculptor, but also the first 12 castings, replicas or reproductions made from a sculptor’s original work or model, by the sculptor himself or by another artist, with or without a change in scale and whether or not the sculptor is alive at the time the castings, replicas or reproductions are completed.

The term “original” has been judicially defined as original in design, conception and execution, as distinguished from the works of skilled craftsmen that are representative of the decorative or industrial arts. 

The standard used in determining whether a creator of a work is a professional sculptor rather than a skilled craftsman is that he be a graduate of a course in sculpture at a recognized school of art (free fine art, not industrial art) or that he be recognized in art circles as a professional sculptor by the acceptance of his work in public exhibitions limited to the free fine arts. Thus, one who has not received the formal education may nevertheless be recognized as a professional sculptor by the merit of his publicly exhibited works.

The limit of sculptures that we allow under heading 9703 in an edition is 12. The reason 12 is used (previously 10) is that fine art is normally very limited. If an artist such as Edgar Degas creates 15 of a particular sculpture only the first 12 or cast numbers 1 through 12 will be allowed in duty free. When an artist such as Salvadore Dali produces more than 50 in an edition, it is no longer fine art and none will be allowed duty free. 

50. Sculpture Review (ISSN 0747-5248) is published quarterly by the National Sculpture Society, Inc., 117 Avenue fo the Americas, New York, NY 10036, 212 7645645 

51. © 1998 Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, ISBN: 1 85894 071 0 (exhibition paperback) 

52. http://www.buffalonews.com/LIVELY_DEBATE_ON_POSTHUMOUS_ART.html

53. Ibid

54.http://www.buffalonews.com/RODIN_EXHIBIT_CLOSES_SATURDAY_GALLERY_TO_FEATURE_MORE_SELF-PRODUCED_SHOWS.html

55. http://www.presentwithease.com/podcast.html 

56.http://www.presentwithease.com/tanisshortt.html 

57. Ibid 

58. ibid 

59. Ibid 

60. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864 

61. http://www.presentwithease.com/tanisshortt.html 

62. Ibid 

63. Ibid 

64. © Kluwer Law International 1998, ISBN: 90-411-0697-9 

65. Ibid 

66. Ibid 

67. Ibid

PHOTOGRAPHS:

Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation Rodin: Figures Checklist