Nude Figure on Hands and Knees (Executioner)
1900–1910
Medium
Graphite with stumping and watercolor
Dimensions
9 3/4 x 12 13/16 in. (24.8 x 32.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Thomas F. Ryan, 1913
Accession Number
13.164.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the late phase of his illustrious career, French sculptor Auguste Rodin created *Nude Figure on Hands and Knees (Executioner)* around 1900–1910. This intimate drawing, executed in graphite with stumping—a technique Rodin favored to blend tones and create soft, sculptural modeling—and heightened with watercolor, measures 9 3/4 x 12 13/16 inches. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department of Drawings and Prints, it was a generous gift from Thomas F. Ryan in 1913. Rodin, renowned for his revolutionary bronzes like *The Thinker* and *The Gates of Hell*, turned to drawing as a vital ...
About the Artist
Auguste Rodin · 1840–1917
François Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) stands as the founder of modern sculpture, transforming the art form from academic tradition into expressive modernism. Born into a working-class Parisian family, Rodin faced early rejection, failing three times to gain admission to the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts. This setback forced him to work as a craftsman for nearly two decades, though his 1875 tr...