For P ygmalion, King of Cyprus, who desperately adored the perfect ivory statue he had carved, his
sculpture finally became alive. For Rodin as a sculptor, this subject
naturally had a special significance. Like in 'The
Hand of God' (1898), it offered him an opportunity to associate the
art of sculpting or modelling with the creation of life.
In
this late marble work, however, the theme of adoration seems to prevail. A
sitting Pygmalion is looking up to a standing Galatea. His head is nearly
touching her belly - a constellation reminding of 'The
eternal Idol' and Camille Claudel's 'Sakountala'.
The work was created around 1908 and purchased from Rodin by
the American collector Thomas F. Ryan, who presented it to the Metropolitan Museum,
New York.
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