Man claims some of the Auguste Rodin sculptures coming to the Hillstrom Art Museum are fakes

On March 8, Gustavus’ Hillstrom Museum will unveil the new exhibit “Rodin: In His Own Words,” featuring a collection of bronzes by Auguste Rodin from the Gerald Cantor Foundation. Self-proclaimed Scholar, Artist and Author Gary Arseneau claims, however, that 29 of the works in the collection are non-disclosed fakes.

“Sculptures are original works of visual art created by living artists,” said Arseneau, who hails from Fernandina Beach, Florida. Arseneau has been studying and making claims against the Cantor Foundation’s exhibit for a number of years.

Since Rodin’s death, a French museum called the Musée Rodin has held the right to reproduce Rodin’s work. According to Arseneau, however, many of the reproductions in the Cantor exhibit are second-generation reproductions, or reproductions of already reproduced works of art.

Arseneau claims that, by violating these rights to reproduce Rodin’s work, the sculptures are fake.

“Each time the surface of one of these subjects is approximated by the necessary crude handling of the materials used in the reproduction processes, there is visible change,” writes Arseneau on his personal website.

Arseneau also claims that the works have been stamped with Rodin’s original signature, a right that should have died with Rodin in 1917.

Despite Arseneau’s claims, Hillstrom Museum Director Donald Myers is excited for Gustavus to host the Cantor Foundation’s exhibit.

“Gary Arseneau has been making such claims about Rodin exhibitions for several years now,” said Myers. “Most, but not all, of the works in the exhibit are posthumous casts, created in limited editions as per the guidelines of the Musée Rodin and following French law. Such posthumous casts are almost universally accepted in the museum and art world as legitimate.”

Myers mentioned that he spent nearly thirteen years as a member of the sculpture department at the National Gallery of Art, a department that contained works by Rodin. Myers noted that he and his colleagues understood the problem with posthumous casting.

“We did not consider [posthumous casting] to be problematic as long as nobody was trying to claim a posthumous cast was actually a lifetime cast,” said Myers.

According to Myers, Rodin did not personally cast any of his works while he was living, but instead hired professionals to cast his work. If he wanted one of his works cast in bronze, he would have a plaster cast made from his original clay work and then send it to the foundry to be cast. Rodin even reproduced his works in marble. “He typically hired professional carvers to do his work,” said Myers. “This was a typical ethos in his period.”

Despite Myers’ claims, Arseneau still finds it important to inform the public of what he believes regarding the works found in the Cantor Foundation’s exhibit.

Arseneau compared his view of the Cantor Foundation’s exhibit to a student being punished for bringing something to class that they did not create. More often than not the punishment for plagiarism and counterfeit work is a failing grade and even a possible expulsion.

“So should an academic institution—much less its museum—be held to a lesser ethical standard than [its] students?” said Arseneau “The dead don’t sculpt. Therefore, anything reproduced is, at best, a reproduction—not a sculpture—whether the artist is alive or dead.”

Myers, however, would disagree. “Certainly none of the works coming to Gustavus are ‘fakes,’” said Myers. “I would assume that Gary Arseneau actually understands this fully, but prefers, for whatever motive, to try to stir up trouble.”

Photo By: Alex Messenger