Antonin Proust

The French artist Auguste Rodin is widely considered to be the most important sculptor of the 19th century. Though his personal life and much of his work was considered controversial, he achieved recognition and numerous commissions.

This etching is a portrait of Antonin Proust, the French Minister of Fine Arts in the early 1880’s. After being prosecuted then acquitted for involvement in a government scandal, Proust committed suicide in 1905.