La Duchesse de Choiseul, Auguste Rodin, 1908
Auguste Rodin, retratoAuguste RodinFrança, 1840–1917

La Duchesse de Choiseul

1908 · Bust

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Onde está «La Duchesse de Choiseul» hoje? Museu Vitória e Alberto, Sculpture, Room 21, The Dorothy and Michael Hintze Galleries, Londres. Sim, exposta agora. Verificado 25 de setembro de 2026.

Museu Vitória e Alberto

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SalaSculpture, Room 21, The Dorothy and Michael Hintze Galleries

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Claire Coudert (1864-1919) was the eldest daughter of a well-known New York lawyer, Charles Coudert. The family was originally French but moved to America in 1824. She married the Marquis (later Duc) de Choiseul in 1891 and moved to France. She enjoyed a close friendship with Rodin from about 1904 until he ended their relationship in 1912. Before then, she had dominated many aspects of his life, cutting him off from his friends and relations and taking control of his business dealings, especially with the U.S.A. She was responsible for introducing Rodin to the American millionaire Thomas Ryan, who was instrumental in introducing his work to the USA. (See Museum no. A.48-1914). In effect, the Duchess became Rodin's agent, conducting negotiations with potential buyers.

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Both this portrait and its companion (Museum no. A.45-1914) are close studies of an intimate friend. They were not commissioned and have a great informalilty and vitality. Rodin was able to observe and draw the Duchess in a very natural way, capturing her lively personality. In this earlier version she is pensive, with her head to one side, unlike the later version where she smiles. In both versions, hair springs up unusually from her forehead; Marcelle Tirel, employed by Rodin at the time, reported that Rodin noticed she wore false hair. These are amongst the most intimate and informal of all Rodin's portraits.

Museu Vitória e Alberto

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Número de inventário
A.46-1914

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Na vida de Auguste Rodin

A vida inteira
  1. 1890s–1900s

    Young sculptors in Rodin's studio

    His income let him hire gifted young sculptors, among them Antoine Bourdelle, Charles Despiau, Jules Desbois, François Pompon and Aristide Maillol. Constantin Brancusi left after two months, convinced that nothing grows under a big tree.

  2. 1900s

    Portraits of the famous and the rich

    Rodin began to receive regular commissions for portraits; his clients included Bernard Shaw, Gustav Mahler, Georges Clemenceau, the Argentine president Sarmiento, the chemist Berthelot and the philanthropist Bertha Palmer. Clemenceau was displeased: he thought the portrait looked like a “Mongol general”.

  3. 1905–1906

    Rilke as Rodin's secretary

    In 1905–1906 the sculptor's private secretary was the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke, who later wrote an admiring monograph on Rodin.

  4. 1906 · Prémio

    honorary doctorate of the University of Glasgow

  5. 1907 · Prémio

    Honorary doctor of the University of Oxford

  6. 1908

    Moves into the Hôtel Biron

    Rilke invited Rodin to the eighteenth-century mansion where he rented rooms; Rodin liked it so much that he took the ground floor, moved his studio there and lived there for his last years.

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