This is a 1955 photo-essay depicting the aged artist's model, Libero Nardonne, re-staging some of the poses he struck many decades earlier when he was employed by a few of the great French artist's of the Nineteenth Century. Auguste Rodin was one of these artists, and Nardonne was the model who posed for his most celebrated sculpture: "Le Baiser" (The Kiss, 1885).
It was pointed out by Jill Berk Jiminez in her book Dictionary of Artists' Models that when Nardonne heard that the Tate Gallery had purchased "The Kiss" in the mid-Fifties, he was having luch at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. It was reported that he arose from his seat and shouted:
"Le Baiser - c'est moi! May the whole world know that this model is still alive!... You should have seen me at that time. I had a magnificent muscular body and my hair fell in curls onto my shoulders."
Although the archives at the Rodin Mueum in Paris indicates that Nardonne was the model, as he was for the statue "Balzac" as well, there still remains some controversy as to whether or not it is true. No information exists regarding the woman who posed.
From Amazon: Dictionary of Artists' Models
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