Our drawing by Auguste Rodin, rendered with a masterful interplay of ink and wash on paper and meticulously cross-hatched with graphite, bears a striking resemblance to the decoration adorning the Saïgon Vase, titled L’Enlèvement (The Abduction). Created at the manufactory of Sèvres around 1880 (fig. 1) and now held in the Château-Museum of Boulogne-sur-Mer, this vase is likely part of a series of unfinished works that were left in the sculptor’s studio before being acquired by Roger Marx in 1903. The esteemed critic and collector entrusted its completion to the ceramist Taxile Doat, who glazed and fired the vessel.
With its representation of a man lifting a young, naked woman in a dynamic embrace, our drawing reinterprets the classical theme of the abduction, and infuses it with an undeniable eroticism - a signature trait of Rodin’s artistry. A comparison between our drawing and the Saïgon Vase reveals that the artist did not rigidly adhere to his preliminary sketch. He subtly softened the dark contours of the figures’ musculature, originally accentuated by dashes of brown wash, and later introduced a vegetal motif on the right side of the composition, ultimately enriching its decorative quality.
Like the vase, our drawing once belonged to Roger Marx, who admired The Abduction for its “Michelangelesque appearance”.1 Two additional drawings depicting the same abduction scene – also integral to the creative process of the vase – are known to exist: one is held in the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, while the other – a simpler composition on tracing paper – is part of the Rodin Museum’s collection in Paris.