NEW YORK, NY.- A distinguished selection of sculptures by Auguste Rodin will highlight Bonhams fall sale of Impressionist & Modern Art on November 12. Leading the sale is Le Baiser, 4ème réduction ou petit modèle (estimate: $300,000-400,000). Along with The Thinker, it is considered among the finest achievements and most recognizable sculpture of Rodin’s oeuvre.

Le Baiser is one of the most significant representations of all-consuming and undying love. Two lovers wrapped in an erotic embrace, Rodin reinterprets the classical subject matter of forbidden love in an unprecedented three-dimensional visualization. Conceived in 1886 and cast circa 1904, this sculpture was cast in bronze by the Alexis Rudier Foundry in 1945 in an edition of 21. Fresh to the market, Le Baiser was acquired by the present owner in 1995 and has been in the same collection for over twenty years.

Additional sculptures by Rodin include L'un des Bourgeois de Calais: Pierre de Wiessant, vêtu, reduction (estimate: $300,000-500,000), a work that Rodin conceived to commemorate an episode from the 100 Years War, in which six prominent citizens in 1347 offered themselves as hostages to raise the eleven-month siege of the city by King Edward III of England. Rodin depicted all six hostages as isolated, suffering individuals and Pierre de Wiessant was perhaps the figure Rodin was most satisfied out of the group. Another highlight is Faunesse Zoubaloff, one of the most intriguing figures in Rodin's mythical oeuvre and is a lifetime cast made prior to 1914 (estimate: $100,000-150,000). Other casts of the sculpture reside in major institutions, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt; and the Gezira Center for Modern Art, Cairo.

Molly Ott Ambler, Bonhams Head of Impressionist & Modern Art for the Americas, comments: “We are thrilled to share the beautiful imagery and the many interesting stories of provenance and connoisseurship that weave their way through the 82 lots in our sale. This season covers a wide range of price points and time periods, and our team of specialists looks forward to welcoming collectors and the public to our exhibition.”

Additional highlights include:

· Alberto Giacometti’s two intense psychological portraits of Ivan Stravinsky, the brilliant composer from the collection of an esteemed American Conductor, Robert Craft, executed in 1957 (estimate for each: $30,000-50,000)

· Marc Chagall’s Le bonheur du jeune couple aux fleurs, gouache, India ink and pencil on paper, executed in 1967 (estimate: $350,000-550,000)

· Henri Le Sidaner’s Neige, oil on canvas, painted in 1924, has been in the same private collection since 1998 (estimate: $300,000-500,000)

· Henri Lebasque’s Nu assis sur un canapé près de la fenêtre, oil on canvas, painted in 1934-35 (estimate: $100,000-150,000)

· Henry Moore’s Reclining Figure: Pointed Legs, bronze, conceived in 1979 (estimate: $100,000-150,000)