Which writer commissioned Auguste Rodin’s monument to Balzac?

Émile Zola commissioned Auguste Rodin’s monument to Balzac.

The Société des gens de lettres commissioned Rodin in 1891 to create a monument honoring the novelist Honoré de Balzac. Émile Zola, who was then president of the society, played a leading role in arranging the commission. Rodin spent years studying Balzac’s appearance, clothing, and literary presence before producing the final sculpture.

Rodin’s monument was unveiled at the Salon of 1898, where its simplified, enveloping form caused controversy. The society rejected the work and refused to pay for it, leading to a major dispute between the sculptor and his patrons. Rodin later withdrew the sculpture from the planned public site.

The commission is often remembered as a conflict between modern sculpture and conventional expectations of portraiture. Zola’s role was as the literary organization’s president and a major supporter of the project, not as the subject of the monument.