[Republicanprofessor]

What I understand about Rodin's work is that there were many plasters of uncast works in his studio at his death and that various authorities (museums included?) cast a great many of them. This was rather unethical, as the artist could not fix, polish, etc., the final casts as he would have normally. Also, the more works that are cast, the less each one is worth.

I know nothing about so many plasters, but I expect that if they were by Rodin, they would be less in number than the 28 in Toronto. But I do know that Rodin would repeat the same image in various sizes, so if you recognize any of these plasters as a different size than you are used to, that in itself does not suggest a fake.

[Republicanprofessor]

Rodin's Age of Bronze in Toronto.

It's too bad if the idea of a great sculpture park in Toronto has died with the hoopla of this story.

[TET1968]

I'm more interested in the industry of tax deductible contributions.

How much was actually paid for these pieces of "Art" ?
How much were they reappraised for before they were donated to the museum?

What was the total write off taken?

[Savage Beast]

The French would be wise to move the entire Musée Rodin to Toronto. When the Muslims take over France, they will blow the Musée up.

But then, if the French were wise, the Muslims would not be taking over France in the first place.

I say, let's back a plan to move ALL French Musées to somewhere safe--somewhere in America perhaps--or, as an alternative, maybe to Antarctica.

As I told my (displeased) tour guide in Athens, when she grumbled about the Elgin Marbles' being in the British Museum: "I wish Lord Elgin had gotten the Victoire de Samothrace before she got her head and arms blown off and the Venus de Milo before she got her arms blasted away."

Maybe we should just storm France and take the art treasures away for safe keeping. After all, the French stole many of them (the Venus, the Victoire, the Mona Lisa) e.g. And as for the rest--well it would be like holding Grandma's nice things for her in a safe place as long as she's...well...you know...not herself (i.e. totally demented, completely incompetent, and out of her cotton pickin' mind).