Auguste Rodin

Rodin primarily used etching to plan and rethink his sculpture. This portrait shows the playwright Henry Becque, controversial in 19th-century Paris for his unsentimentalized portrayal of contemporary social issues. Rodin first depicted Becque in a bronze sculpture several years before this print, then again two decades later in a marble bust. The etching medium allowed the artist to rethink details of the work from varied perspectives. As he would work a sculpture from different angles and make adjustments, Rodin printed and continued to edit this plate, creating a total of four variations (or “states”).