Vase of the Titans

between 1877 and 1879

Auguste Rodin , Artist Albert Ernest Carrier-Belleuse , Designer

Not On View

Vase of the Titans: 1 of Collection Gallery

Vase of the Titans: 2 of Collection Gallery

Vase of the Titans: 3 of Collection Gallery

Vase of the Titans: 4 of Collection Gallery

Vase of the Titans: 5 of Collection Gallery

Vase of the Titans: 6 of Collection Gallery

Vase of the Titans: 7 of Collection Gallery

Vase of the Titans: 8 of Collection Gallery

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

The vigorously modeled surfaces and powerful Michelangelesque figures on this vase speak to the collaboration between Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (1824–1887) and his assistant Auguste Rodin. The younger sculptor entered the workshop of Carrier-Belleuse in 1864 as a modeler of decorative figures. Their collaboration ended in 1872, and Rodin left for Italy in 1876 to study Italian mannerist art, particularly the works of Michelangelo. Upon returning to Paris in 1877, Rodin once more worked with Carrier-Belleuse and his son Victor Louis, who headed the ceramic manufactory at Choisy-le-Roi, just outside of Paris. This vase dates to this later period of collaboration.  Although the Vase of the Titans bears the signature of Carrier-Belleuse, the four figures on the plinth and the overall modeling are universally considered the work of Rodin who emulated Michelangelo. This vase is one of a handful of surviving examples from its original edition of seven.

Title Vase of the Titans

Artwork Date between 1877 and 1879

Makers Auguste Rodin (Artist) French, 1840-1917 Albert Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (Designer) French, 1824-1887

Medium Glazed polychromed terracotta

Dimensions Overall: 28 3/8 × 19 3/4 × 19 3/4 inches (72.1 × 50.2 × 50.2 cm) Weight: 52 lbs

Classification Ceramics

Department European Modern Art to 1970

Credit Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 2003.32

Markings

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Provenance

David and Constance Yates (New York, New York, USA);
2003-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Revue de L'Art no. 116, p. 77 (fig. 1).

Choix de sculptures: XVII-XX Siècles, Andre Lemaire and Alberic Froissart, Dealer's Catalogue. Nov.-Dec. 2006, pp. 48-51.

Darr, Alan. P. and Brian Gallagher. "Recent acquisitions (2000-2006) of European sculpture and decorative arts at The Detroit Institute of Arts." The Burlington Magazine 149, no. 1251 (June 2007): p. 454, pl. XVIII (ill.).

Darr, Alan P. "Two newly acquired sculptures by Rude and Rodin in the Detroit Institute of Arts." In La Sculpture en Occident: Etudes offertes à Jean-René Gaborit, ed. G. Bresc-Bautier, F. Baron and P.-Y. Le Pogam. Paris, 2007, pp. 279-283.

Bulletin of the DIA: Notable Acquisitions, 2000–2015 89, no. 1/4 (2015): p. 25 (ill.).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Auguste Rodin; Albert Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, Vase of the Titans, between 1877 and 1879, glazed polychromed terracotta. Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund, 2003.32.