ALS in French, signed “Rodin,” one page both sides, 8 x 5.25, Rue de l'Universite stamped letterhead, no date. Letter to his friend and staunch defender, critic Gustave Geffroy, in full (translated): "I was bedridden yesterday. But today I am all right, so there will not be any delay, although I had not been at the studio. I must say that only this morning I sent for my letters at the Rue de l'Universite and read yours, without which I would have appeared at the studio anyway. I have had my Thinker given a black bronze patina. Therefore I am ready, the plaster being light and adjustable into place promptly, either at the base or at the top of the steps. Then I can have it put with the bronze which will be in the wagon—if the plaster is all right. It's perhaps superfluous, but it won't cost me any more to transport the two, and to leave the second one wrapped up in the carriage may be useless." Rodin adds a brief postscript at the end: "Tomorrow or some other day let's have lunch together, as usual at half-past noon if it suits you. I still have the bust." Includes a clothbound presentation case. In fine condition. In the summer of 1880, a government commission made Rodin the proud possessor of an atelier in the Depot des Marbres, located between the Seine and the rue de l'Universite on the Left Bank. Rodin eventually maintained three studios at the now world-famous address, the cite of his lifelong project, The Gates of Hell, an unfinished portal for a museum that was never built. Of the portal's many sculpted figures, the most famous would be The Thinker, a now iconic union of artistry and philosophy—Rodin's massive bronze castings did not appear until 1904.
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