Rodin 'copy' sells for $1 million in France
Described as an "extremely rare" find by auction organiser Aymeric Rouillac, the figure was in fact an 1892 work, "Despair" by Auguste Rodin, that had gone missing after being sold at auction in 1906.
The work was put on sale at the weekend at an opening price of 500,000 euros, but eventually sold for 860,000 euros (one million dollars), according to Rouillac.
The family had long believed the 28.5 centimetre (11 inch) figure of a sitting woman holding one foot was a copy of the legendary sculptor's work, said Rouillac.
After the owners approached Rouillac about another matter, he and his team spent months investigating the origin of the sculpture, including even looking into the family's origins.
He went to the Comite Rodin in March and the body that is considered the leading authority on the French artist confirmed its authenticity six weeks later.
Rouillac said the committee found that "Despair" was sold at auction in 1906 and then disappeared from view. "So we have rediscovered it," he told AFP.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
8 hours ago
- News.com.au
Peter Garrett urges Aussies to fight proposed laws to allow AI models to steal music and books
Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett has said proposals to water down copyright law to allow AI companies to steal music, books and other art to train their models would make 'roadkill' out of songwriters, authors and playwrights. During a creative industries town hall on Tuesday, Garrett said the push by Big Tech to scrape text and data contained in songs, books, plays and films without paying for it was a 'moment of reckoning' for Australia. The virtual protest meeting comes after Crowded House were forced to call out a fake AI ad on social media that cloned Neil Finn's likeness and voice. Dressed up as a nightly news report, the ad for a men's health product featured the fake Finn saying he had become a father again at 67 after battling erectile dysfunction. 'We're not sure where this came from but please don't be fooled. Neil's never had trouble with erections,' the band captioned their warning about the AI ad. The Stolen Property: Big Tech's Push to Mine Our Culture virtual protest meeting aims to galvanise a national campaign against the Productivity Commission interim report which featured a policy option to create a new fair-dealing exception under the Copyright Act. That policy would allow 'text and data mining' to train AI models with songs and other works without compensating songwriters. 'The threat here is literally to our cultural, political, social and economic sovereignty and capacity to make decisions and to be protected in an environment where there are massive behemoths of unparalleled power and influence, with extremely powerful technologies getting ready to let rip,' Garrett said. 'And if we don't take it up to our politicians, then we'll be left as roadkill on the side of the road. 'It won't just be musicians lying there, wounded and bleeding. It'll be all be all of us.' Digital Rights Watch chair Lizzie O'Shea warned it wasn't just the creators of Australian culture whose livelihoods would be impacted by the Productivity Commission recommendations. She said the personal information of all Australians would be exploited by Big Tech and AI models if privacy laws were also watered down. O'Shea shared how two security researchers last month exposed the security vulnerability of an AI chatbot created by that allowed them to access the personal information of thousands of Australians applying for a job at McDonald's. 'AI is only as good as the data it's trained on and this includes not just copyrighted material but also personal information,' O'Shea said. 'And that personal information was often collected for an entirely different purpose than training a large language model, for example, and that has obviously quite serious ethical implications.' Garrett said the government needed to implement robust guardrails to protect Australian culture and the income of our storytellers against the 'thievery' of the world's biggest tech companies, who take billions of dollars out of the country even as they complain about media regulations and copyright laws. The former Federal Government minister said Australians concerned about the threat of AI should lobby their local members against the Productivity Commission policy recommendations.
News.com.au
15 hours ago
- News.com.au
Fans thirst over Hemsworth brothers' group photo
Hemsworths, assemble. Liam Hemsworth has shared a glorious selfie with brothers Chris and Luke on Instagram as the Aussie trio celebrated the Marvel star's 42nd birthday. Chris, one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors thanks to his role as Thor in the MCU, is enjoying a holiday in Ibiza, Spain, surrounded by friends and family, with Liam uploading a sweet tribute as they spent some time on a boat. 'Happy birthday brother Chris! Thanks for always being such a wonderful legend. Never change,' Liam wrote. 'I hope I have abs like you when I grow up. Love you.' Indeed, Chris' abs, not to mention his biceps, are on full display in the family happy snap, which has attracted thousands of thirsty comments from fans. 'Mammamia,' one wrote. 'I'll take the abs, the boat invite, and maybe just 10% of the Hemsworth genetics,' another said. 'You animals,' actor Scott Eastwood chimed in. 'It's just not fair to all the other men on the planet,' another wrote. Meanwhile, Chris' wife of more than a decade, Spanish actress Elsa Pataky, also shared a sweet message in honour of her husband. The model, who shares three children with Chris, is thought to be at the couple's home in Byron Bay after being photographed grocery shopping earlier this week. 'Happy birthday to my Rocky Balboa,' Pataky wrote alongside a video post with several photos. 'You're the best of the best.' Chris has been spending much of his time in the UK of late, with production on Marvel's hugely-anticipated Avengers film currently underway. He's set to reprise his role of Thor, which he debuted in 2011, alongside fellow MCU great Robert Downey Jr. in Avengers: Doomsday, which hits cinemas next year. Russo brothers Joe and Anthony are directing the movie and its follow-up, Avengers: Secret Wars, the latter of which is set to be released in May 2027.
News.com.au
17 hours ago
- News.com.au
Worrying new photos of Katie Price after her latest facelift
Katie Price's latest cosmetic surgery efforts have been revealed after she was spotted in her hotel lobby. The reality star and former glamour model ignored a growing feud with daughter Princess to fly to Istanbul in Turkey to get a new face lift. Originally planned to be 'his and her' surgeries with boyfriend JJ Slater, Katie ended up going under the knife alone when JJ suffered complications related to his diabetes. Today, the results of Katie's latest trip to the operating table was revealed, with the star sporting a very tight face pinned back by surgical bandages and stitching tape. Walking through the hotel restaurant, Katie wore comfy tracksuit bottoms and a tank top as she kept her head straight, struggling to turn her neck as she moved. The latest surgery comes less than a year since she had another facelift as well as a 'fox-eye lift' at the Trio Clinic in Istanbul. Her new pics seems to confirm she has had further work on her face as well as her nose and eyes. A clear nose plug was seen visible on her septum, while flesh-coloured bandages were seen pulling back the sides of her eyes. Her trip comes as she has hit a turbulent patch in her relationship with daughter Princess, whose TV documentary series The Princess Diaries aired in the UK this week. As exclusively revealed by The Sun, the mum and daughter duo, who are often hailed 'twins' due to their lookalike appearance, have run into trouble when Katie was banned from seeing her daughter walk a runway in Ibiza – despite being on the island at the same time. In scenes that aired on the show, Princess was seen hitting the catwalk for Ibiza Fashion Festival and admitting her nerves, fearing she didn't fit in. Ahead of the show's debut, Katie shared her frustrations at 'not being allowed to go near' the documentary, with Princess moving into her dad, Peter Andre's house, while she shot it. TV bosses reportedly told how Katie could not be a part of the series, with a source telling The Sun that Katie felt 'isolated and disregarded'. 'She loves Princess so much and is supremely proud of the young woman she is becoming,' they said. 'Princess told her mum that she needed to distance herself publicly and yet chats to her all the time behind closed doors. 'She feels a bit like Brooklyn Beckham, with no one in the Andre family really speaking to her.' The Sun reported telly bosses deliberately cut the former glamour model out of The Princess Diaries because it is 'not good for Princess to be seen with Katie'. In a bid to market the youngster as a pretty, middle-class influencer, they even turned down Katie's team's offer to film for free for three days. Katie later vented her frustrations on her podcast, The Katie Price Show, to sister Sophie, explaining that although she supports Princess no matter what, the situation has left her 'insulted' and struggling mentally. Addressing The Sun's article, Katie said: 'They've told the truth in it. If you actually read it, there's not a fib. I'm not allowed and I'm not welcome. 'But what hurts my feelings, and it does upset me, is when your kids grow up, you go to their assemblies, you go to their Christmas things, you go to their awards, you go to their football matches or gymnastics, you're involved in everything they do. 'And knowing that what my career has been, Princess is taking that same path, trying to do the same as what I've done, which I absolutely love and adore of Princess. 'But I have not been allowed to go on any photo shoot, no signings or Superdrug openings or anything like that, and it puts Princess in a situation because I don't want her to feel she has to choose between me and her work because I want her to do well.' 'I have said to Princess, just see how it feels for me because I should be there supporting you,' she added. 'I want to be there to support you like my family did. And I'm your mum and especially as you're doing stuff that I did, I'm proud of you and want to be there.'
