Rodin's unpublished work with Argentine roots to be auctioned in Europe

A unique bronze , signed and dedicated by Auguste Rodin , estimated at 500,000 euros , will be auctioned in France today at the Chauviré-Courant auction house.

This unique piece , about 60 centimeters high , had been commissioned by the Jockey Club of Buenos Aires in 1904 and offered as a wedding gift to a great French fencer and his Argentine wife.

The work remained in the private domain until it was rediscovered by a former student of the athlete, who acquired it for public auction. Its next destination will be determined this Friday in the French city of Angers.

The lips that barely touch, the twisting of their bodies, the muscles that shine, even more so, thanks to the lustrous bronze. Her arm around his neck, an arm that one perceives, perhaps longer than reality would allow, and yet, perhaps the expression of the extent of that sudden passion that awoke between the brothers-in-law and that would end in the darkest of nights?

Few works have embodied the gesture of love as powerfully as Auguste Rodin's "The Kiss." Inspired by the doomed lovers Paolo and Francesca immortalized by Dante Alighieri in his Divine Comedy —destined to an eternity of unfulfilled desire, buffeted by the eternal winds of unremitting passion— the sculpture was originally conceived as part of The Gates of Hell . However, it soon took on a life of its own and came to represent something more: the suspended instant of a love as passionate as it is tragic.

When the Argentine Jockey Club commissioned the bronze casting of this unique piece, some five years had already passed since Rodin had conceived and carved it in marble. That first work, which enjoyed resounding success, now resides in the Rodin Museum in Paris.

Irénée Brun, an expert in 19th- and 20th-century paintings and sculptures at the Perazzone-Brun Art Authentication Office, is responsible for authenticating and presenting the work . His entry into the art world was almost accidental: he came to Paris to study art sales, but a university thesis on auctions led him to discover Drouot, the legendary art salesroom. From then on, his career has been linked to the market for unique pieces like this one.

In an exclusive interview with Clarín from France, the expert gave details of the discovery: “ This unpublished version is rare because it was cast during the artist Auguste Rodin's lifetime. Signed under the woman's left buttock, it is even more exceptional because it is one of the first three castings of The Kiss , a 60-centimeter model, known as the second reduction, produced between July and September 1904. The quality of its nuanced patina and its significant size make this piece an exceptional work of art,” the expert explains.

"Rodin's 'The Kiss' has been made in four sizes. This example is the second largest and has the distinction of having been offered as a tribute to a prominent figure: Lucien Mérignac, Olympic gold medalist in fencing," Brun notes.

It was a wedding gift and a tribute from Buenos Aires' elite to the French Olympic champion who, at the time, ran the exclusive club's weapons room. The dedication engraved in the bronze reads: "To the admirers of French fencing / to Lucien Mérignac / Buenos Aires 1904."

“ He was a great fencer , he came from a family of fencers, he had won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Paris and, thanks to his reputation, he gave fencing courses in Italy, in Spain... Then, he went to Argentina, at the beginning of the 20th century and married an Argentine woman in 1904 ,” explains Brun.

That Argentine woman was named Christina Ruiz de Castillo, and she belonged to one of Buenos Aires's high-society families of the time . The Buenos Aires Jockey Club, founded in 1882 as a luxurious meeting place for the country's wealthiest families, like other private clubs around the world, was an exclusive haven that marked the pulse of a thriving society from an economic, artistic, and sporting perspective.

By dedicating and offering this work of art by one of the most admired living French sculptors of the time, Auguste Rodin, the club members wished to express their gratitude to the famous fencing champion.

“What's interesting is that, at that time—the late 19th and early 20th centuries —Rodin not only had an international reputation, but he also held exhibitions in the United States, Japan, and Eastern Europe… In 1900, he had his own pavilion at the Universal Exhibition in Paris, and he enjoyed a certain renown,” Brun notes.

And he explains: “ He made a publishing contract with the Barbedienne house, that great house that was founded in Paris and that had representation in Argentina. I imagine that the people from the Jockey Club went to see this Barbedienne house and asked if it was possible to have a dedicated Rodin, a personalized bronze. That was commissioned in September 1904 and, later, it was necessary to have it shipped to Argentina. It is a very heavy bronze that was transported by ship because there were no airplanes at the time,” the expert remarks.

After a stay in Mexico, the couple returned to France in 1916, where he taught fencing at the La Flèche Military High School. There, sculpture occupied a prominent place.

"It's a very beautiful story because Merignac had it on display in his weapons room , so all his students have seen that bronze, which is quite important because of its size and, in addition, it's placed on a plinth on the floor, so it's quite visible," says the expert enthusiastically.

Christina died in 1923, and in 1937 Lucien Merignac married his most brilliant student, Agathe Turgis . They settled in the Angers region, and when the fencer died in 1941, Agathe taught fencing for a few years at Le Lion d'Angers, where the magnificent bronze held pride of place . Sold to a local antique dealer, it was a former student, the current seller, who reacquired Lucien Merignac's "The Kiss" and went to the Maison Perazzone-Brun to offer it at public auction.

"This woman trusted us, and we've valued the piece at around 500,000 euros . For us, it's a very beautiful piece, a great piece of art. We're going to do our best to enhance its value and present it to any potential buyers who might be interested," Brun assures.

"Art is the pleasure of a spirit that penetrates nature and discovers that it, too, has a soul." This quote from Rodin clearly demonstrates his almost mystical conception of art, understood not as a mere reproduction of reality, but as a form of spiritual revelation, where the sculptor not only shapes matter but also unravels the life latent within it.

Considered the father of modern sculpture, Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) broke with the academic canons of his time by privileging emotional expression and the movement of the human body . His work challenged classical perfection by introducing unfinished surfaces, truncated gestures, and a previously unseen dramatic power.

Buenos Aires was no stranger to the fascination with Rodin. The National Museum of Fine Arts currently houses 23 works by the sculptor, many of them acquired by Eduardo Schiaffino, its founding director, at the beginning of the 20th century. Among them, another version of "The Kiss," in marble, stands out. There are also two other monumental pieces by the artist in public spaces: The Thinker, located in front of the National Congress, and the Monument to Sarmiento, located in Plaza Sicilia in Tres de Febrero Park , a donation from the French government in 1900.

All these works not only attest to Rodin's international dimension, but also to the cultural dialogue between France and Argentina at the beginning of the last century. At a time when travel was long and bronze was cumbersome, Buenos Aires was one of the few non-European cities with direct access to these pieces.

Brun concludes: “ This bronze casting of Rodin's "The Kiss" from 1904 has a beautiful patina and remarkable expressive power . It's not a decorative object. It's a work with a history, evoking Rodin, Mérignac, and also Buenos Aires. It's formidable to be able, through a bronze, to reconstruct such a complete story.”

The work will be auctioned this Friday at 3 p.m. in the French department of Maine-et-Loire, by the Chauviré-Courant Auction House.