Bust of a Woman

Auguste Rodin

National Gallery of Art

The head and shoulders of a young woman with an elaborate updo is shown in this free-standing terracotta bust. Her shoulders face us and her head tips to our left in this photograph. She looks at us from the corners of her eyes under low brows. She has a snub nose, her bow-shaped lips are parted, and she has smooth, full cheeks in her round face. Curls are piled atop her head and some rest low on her forehead. Her hair along with a flower to one side and a suggestion of a hat are indistinct because of the loose sculpting here. More hair falls down the right side of her face, to our left, and down the nape of her neck. A bow is tied like a choker and ruffles suggest a bodice and perhaps a coat. The bust ends in an upward curve and rests on a polished, white stone pedestal.