Marble
Tate Collection
Works with images
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Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/auguste-rodin-1860" aria-label="More by Auguste Rodin" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Auguste Rodin</a>
Mrs Charles Hunter
Presented by Mrs Charles Hunter 1925
adults
beauty
body
emotions, concepts and ideas
garland
head / face
Hunter, Mary
individuals: female
named individuals
people
plants and flowers
portraits
Smyth, Mary
universal concepts
woman
<p>Mary Hunter (1856-1933) was a well known society hostess in London. She  sat to Rodin at his house in Meudon  near Paris. There are several casts of her portrait in bronze, but Rodin admired  the 'marble' quality of her flesh, and  made this more elaborate version in  that material. He told her she was like  'an Englishwoman of the time of Pericles' (that is, in the great period of Greek sculpture). The base of the sculpture is  a cloudy, formless mound, decorated with a swag of roses, turning the head into  a symbol of beauty, as well as a portrait.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2004</em></p>
sculpture marble
8 August 2001 – 21 April 2003
2003-04-21
8 August 2001 – 21 April 2003
2003-04-21
2001-08-08
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2001-08-08
French Influence on British Art
Collection based display
1 September 2006 – 28 February 2007
2007-02-28
23 September 2006 – 1 January 2007
2007-01-01
2006-09-23
Royal Academy of Arts (London, UK)
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk
2006-09-01
Rodin, A Journey
Loan-out
24 November 2018 – 21 April 2019
2019-04-21
24 November 2018 – 21 April 2019
2019-04-21
2018-11-24
Wolsey Art Gallery (Ipswich, UK)
2018-11-24
Rodin's The Kiss
Loan-out
Mrs Charles Hunter
object: 876 × 565 × 457 mm, 264 kg
Presented by Mrs Charles Hunter 1925
<p>
Mary Hunter (1856-1933) was a well known society hostess in London. She <br/>
sat to Rodin at his house in Meudon <br/>
near Paris. There are several casts of her <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portrait</span></a> in <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/m/metal" title="Glossary definition for 'Metal'"><span>bronze</span></a>, but Rodin admired <br/>
the 'marble' quality of her flesh, and <br/>
made this more elaborate version in <br/>
that material. He told her she was like <br/>
'an Englishwoman of the time of Pericles' (that is, in the great period of Greek <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/sculpture" title="Glossary definition for 'Sculpture'"><span>sculpture</span></a>). The base of the sculpture is <br/>
a cloudy, formless mound, decorated with a swag of roses, turning the head into <br/>
a symbol of beauty, as well as a portrait. </p>
Display caption
2004-08-18T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>Auguste Rodin</b> 1840-1917</p>
<p><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/rodin-mrs-charles-hunter-n04116" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N04116</span></a> <b>Mrs Charles Hunter</b> 1906</p>
<p>Inscribed 'A. Rodin' on l. side of base 
<br/>Marble, 34 3/4 x 22 1/4 x 18 (88.5 x 56.5 x 45.7) 
<br/>Presented by Mrs Charles Hunter 1925 
<br/><i>Exh</i>: 8th Exhibition, International Society, London, January-February 1908 (274); <i>Exhibition of Fair Women</i>, International Society, London, February-March 1908 (12); <i>Modern Loan Exhibition</i>, Grosvenor Gallery, London, November 1917 (76); <i>Works by Auguste Rodin</i>, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1917-18 (works not numbered, dated 1906); <i>Rodin: Sculpture and Drawings</i>, Hayward Gallery, London, January-April 1970 (120, repr.); on loan to the Bethnal Green Museum, London, since 1970 
<br/><i>Lit</i>: Judith Cladel, <i>Auguste Rodin: L'Oeuvre et l'Homme</i> (Brussels 1908), p.160; Jacques-Emile Blanche, <i>Portraits of a Lifetime</i> (London 1937), pp.123-4; Georges Grappe, <i>Catalogue du Musée Rodin</i> (Paris 1944), No.356; Jennifer Hawkins, <i>Victoria and Albert Museum: Rodin Sculptures</i> (London 1975), No.22, pp.29-30, repr. pls.32 and 33 
<br/><i>Repr: L'Art et les Artistes,</i> IV, 1907, p.407; <i>L'Art et les Artistes</i>, XIX, 1914, p.67  
</p><p>Mary Hunter, née Smyth (1856-1933), was the wife of Charles Hunter, a Northumbrian coal-owner, and a sister of Dame Ethel Smyth, the composer. She was one of the outstanding 'Beauties' of her period and a famous hostess who entertained extensively both in London and in her country house, Hill Hall, near Epping, including among her guests many leaders of the literary and artistic world. Sargent painted her <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portrait</span></a> in 1898 and a group portrait of her three daughters, 'The Misses Hunter', in 1902 (both pictures are now in the Tate Gallery [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/sargent-mrs-charles-hunter-n04469" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N04469</span></a> and <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/sargent-the-misses-hunter-n04180" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N04180</span></a>]); it was probably through him that she met Rodin, though they also had other acquaintances in common. He stayed with Mrs Hunter on several occasions during his visits to London, and in the autumn of 1914 he and Rose Beuret were at Hill Hall for several weeks as refugees.</p>
<p>Mrs Hunter sat for her bust in Rodin's studio at Meudon. The present work seems to be his only version in marble (the material Rodin preferred for his female sitters), but there are also <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/m/metal" title="Glossary definition for 'Metal'"><span>bronze</span></a> casts showing her with the head erect and turned slightly to the left. In the marble, the head is inclined a little to one side, which gives the figure a more contemplative, withdrawn air. Evidently the bronzes were <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/cast" title="Glossary definition for 'Cast'"><span>cast</span></a> from a study made directly from life, whereas the marble has been elaborated and 'interpreted'. A similar relationship exists between the bronze and marble busts of the Duchesse de Choiseul made at more or less the same period, or between the bronze and marble busts of Miss Eve Fairfax. The actual carving of the marble must have been carried out largely, if not entirely, by an assistant working under his supervision.</p>
<p><b>Published in</b>: 
<br/>Ronald Alley, <i>Catalogue of the Tate Gallery's Collection of Modern Art other than Works by British Artists</i>, Tate Gallery and Sotheby Parke-Bernet, London 1981, pp.649-50, reproduced p.649</p>

Catalogue entry
2004-09-15T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
adults beauty body emotions, concepts and ideas garland head / face Hunter, Mary individuals: female named individuals people plants and flowers portraits Smyth, Mary universal concepts woman