Assemblage: Despairing Youth and Child of Ugolino around a Vase

These assemblages, “small floral souls that you have raised up out of antique vases”, as Rilke used to say, show how creative and ingenious Rodin was, as he readily borrowed cups and vases from his collection of antiques to incorporate them into his own work.

In this assemblage , Rodin used the torsos of two well-known figures, Despairing Youth and Child of Ugolino, for handles.

The sculptor seems to have explored this kind of work circa 1900, giving free rein to his imagination and occasionally using these assemblages as starting points for works in marble (Little Water Fairy, Flowers in a Vase).