page_title: Monument to Balzac
section_title: Rejection
hierarchical_section_title: Monument to Balzac / Commission / Rejection
caption_attribution_description: English: Statue of BALZAC made by RODIN (intersection between Boulevard Raspail and Boulevard du Montparnasse), Paris. Français&#160;: Statue de Balzac par Rodin (intersection entre le boulevard Raspail et le boulevard du Montparnasse), Paris.
context_page_description: Monument to Balzac is a sculpture by Auguste Rodin in memory of the French novelist Honoré de Balzac. According to Rodin, the sculpture aims to portray the writer's persona rather than a physical likeness. The work was commissioned in 1891 by the Société des Gens de Lettres, a full-size plaster model was displayed in 1898 at a Salon in Champ de Mars. After coming under criticism the model was rejected by the société and Rodin moved it to his home in Meudon. On July 2, 1939 the model was cast in bronze for the first time and placed on the Boulevard du Montparnasse at the intersection with Boulevard Raspail.
context_section_description: Finally in 1898, Rodin presented a plaster study of the Balzac statue in the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. The sculpture was not received well by the critics; Rodin took the negativity as a personal attack. Many disliked the grotesque stature of the figure while others criticized the work to be very similar to that of the Italian impressionist Medardo Rosso. As well, reports surfaced before the unveiling of the sculpture regarding anticipated dismay over the final outcome of the artwork. The Société des Gens de Lettres decided to disregard the commission to Rodin and not accept the sculpture.
  Regardless of rejection from his commissionaires, contemporaries such as Paul Cézanne, Toulouse-Lautrec and Claude Monet supported Rodin in his point of view. A backlash against the rejection along with a petition signed by supporters in the artistic community proceeded, yet in the end, Rodin decidedly declined any bids for the work and placed the plaster artwork in his home at Meudon.
caption: Monument to Balzac in Paris by Auguste Rodin
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