LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LACMA, announces that a generous grant from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation enabled the museum to acquire three unique porcelain plaques by the renowned sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) in honor of the foundation’s 25th anniversary.

Rodin is famous the world over for his masterpieces The Kiss and The Thinker, but his early career is less well known. In 1879, he was hired to help to modernize the products of the porcelain manufactory at Sèvres. The plaques were created by the artist around 1880–82. Many of Rodin’s experimental ceramics were broken during firing or were destroyed in World War I, so his porcelain works are very rare. The former director of the Musée Rodin in Paris, Cécile Goldscheider, wrote that the porcelain fragments created by Rodin are “as sought-after by collectors as are complete vases.”

“We are deeply grateful to Iris Cantor for enabling us to purchase these fascinating works of art,” said Mary Levkoff, LACMA curator of European sculpture. “These ceramics are particularly desirable because they once belonged to Roger Marx, the author of Rodin céramiste [Rodin the ceramicist], a book that remains a fundamental reference to this day.” Levkoff added that the thick glaze of one plaque resembles that of Renaissance enamels from Limoges, while the design of another was likely inspired by Renaissance funerary monuments. The third ceramic, in a convex shape, was the only one to be put into production (1887), in a vase inspired by Ming porcelains. Even though the location of the third ceramic was unknown to scholars until it appeared at auction a decade ago, this plaque was illustrated for years through reproductions of the illustration in Marx’s book.

LACMA president and director Andrea Rich commented, “We are indeed most fortunate that Iris Cantor made this generous gesture to continue the commitment to Rodin’s work at LACMA that was so important to her husband, B. Gerald Cantor.”
The plaques are now on view at LACMA in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Sculpture Gallery in the Ahmanson Building.

Images are available from LACMA’s press office at 323 857-6522 or rbauch@lacma.org.
 

About LACMA:
Established as an independent institution in 1965, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has assembled a permanent collection that includes approximately 100,000 works of art spanning the history of art from ancient times to the present, making it the premier encyclopedic visual arts museum in the western United States. Located in the heart of one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world, the museum uses its collection and resources to provide a variety of educational, aesthetic, intellectual, and cultural experiences. LACMA also offers lectures, classes, family activities, film programs, and world-class musical events.