PARIS.- The Kneeling Fauness, a major work in marble by French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), is to be put up for sale at Cornette de Saint Cyr‘s Impressionist and Modern Art auction organised at Drouot-Montaigne, Paris, on Wednesday July 6th, 2011. Signed and dedicated on the base « Au Maître Puvis de Chavannes », this 21 5/8 in. high statue, conceived in 1887, was produced in its marble version circa 1890. An emblematic figure in Rodin’s oeuvre, The Gates of Hell, it expresses well the ambivalence of the sculptor’s feelings towards women, both muses and temptresses. Rodin conjures to perfection through the brilliant modelling of the body, the contorted face and the delicacy of bared skin. The Kneeling Fauness offers us a perfect example of the artist’s creation process: a deep knowledge