Sculpture copies

I heard of a person that had a small, original Rodin sculpture, and had a nearly exact personal copy (surmoulage) made, maybe so he could keep the original in a safe, and display the copy. I've thought about this from time to time and wondered if the copy was even legal, but since the copyright has expired, I think it may be legal (at least in the US...I know France has some additional laws covering this).

At some point, this person will pass away, and the copy likely end up changing hands. My question is, how would a value be applied to something like this copy, and would it even have any appeal? Is the making of personal copies of sculptures like this (not mass produced copies) very common?

 

https://cantorfoundation.org/resources/laws-that-govern-the-casting-of-rodins-work/
Not something he should be doing.

 

I hope his copy was marked in some way as a later casting.

 

Should be destroyed.

 

There's legal, and there's ethical. I'm pretty sure all of Rodin's work is now in the public domain, the copyright having expired. There are additional French laws, but I don't think they apply outside France. Even the French law allows copies, as long as they are marked as such.

 

Did you not read the laws posted above? It’s not a free for all for any one to cast Rodins work. I really don’t know what you mean when you say there’s legal and there’s ethical. Reproducing an artists work without permission when the copyright belongs to someone else is neither legal or ethical.
If you have doubts then I suggest you or your friend contact the Museum.

 

https://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2014/10/french-moral-rights-may-prevent-copy-of.html

 

I don't know about this personally, it's just something I heard about, and I wondered how things that are legal, but unethical are treated when resold. In the US, it's legal to copy Rodin sculptures or any other sculpture whose copyright has expired. It's illegal to sell it as an original (fraud). But legal to sell as a copy. As an example, probably 99% of the Remington bronzes out there are reproductions. But I don't see jails full of the people making them or selling them. If you look on auction sites, there are sales of Rodin bronzes that say "after Rodin", and other things that indicate they're not original.

I was just wondering if it was common for people to make private one-off copies of valuable works, and how a one-off copy like that would be treated when the person dies, and they start changing hands.

I'm kind of sorry I asked the question. It's just an area of interest to me since I think understanding copies/reproductions is pretty important, since those made to deceive are a scourge. I think folks have somehow taken my questions as a defense of reproductions. That's definitely not the case.

 

That law only applies in France, and allows copies if they are visibly and indelibly marked as such.

 

I've heard of the same thing done with paintings - keep the original in a vault and hang the copy on the wall.

 

even VISA made copies of Rodins statues - small to mid-size - for their bonus program; I think they were cast in Belgium.

 

It’s a sore spot with me as I have been a professional sculptor for 20 years. I think about what the Artist wanted and it was obviously for top quality castings of his work, hence the permission given by Rodin to the people of France and the Museum. So he didn’t want poor quality stuff knocked up all over the globe and especially with no indication it’s a copy.
Your friends casting with no indication it’s a copy will possibly be sold as genuine sculpture in the future, a quick buck is such a temptation.

 

with the new techniques it's not poor quality anymore. especially the museum copies from France are top-notch.

 

Again, it wasn't a friend, or even a person I know. And I appreciate your feelings on this. My wife's parents were both professional artists.