Hand of a Pianist

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)

In 1900, the critic Gustave Kahn wrote, "Rodin is the sculptor of hands, raging, tensed, arched, damned hands". There is no doubt that Rodin attached more importance to this part of the body than any other. Fascinated by the expressive power of isolated hands, he studied them unceasingly, accumulating in his studio numerous studies in clay or plaster, in which the sensitivity of the modelling vies with the verisimilitude of the gesture.

Through hands, Rodin expresses the full range of human emotions, from anxiety to suffering, from resignation to despair. As revealing as the face, on their own they can sometimes symbolize a form of human activity, such as this Hand of a Pianist which seems to run over an imaginary keyboard with nervous energy.

Each reproduction requires great expertise   and draws on the skills of the Rodin Museum's teams and craftsmen. It is from the official moulds from the museum's collections that the most accurate resin reproductions are made. They are then hand-patinated to give it the appearance of bronze, plaster or marble.

Finally, they are validated and checked by the Musée Rodin’s curators to ensure that they comply with moral rights.

Reproductions come with an explanatory note about the history of the work.

The seal and the mention “Reproduction - Musée Rodin” guarantee the quality and origin of the sculpture reproduction.