Monument to Balzac 1897, Musée Rodin cast 9/12 in 1967 Bronze 117 x 47 ¼  x  47 ¼  in. Los Angeles County Musuem of Art, Gift of B. Gerald Cantor Art Foundation In 1891 Rodin received a commission from the Societé des Gens de Lettres (Society of Men of Letters) to create a monument to Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), one of France's most influential yet controversial writers. For the next seven years Rodin struggled to represent an accurate physical portrayal of Balzac that would also symbolize the writer's creative genius. Since Balzac had been dead for forty years, Rodin faced the challenge of having to render his likeness from photographs. He researched the writer extensively, going so far as to order a suit from Balzac's tailor to visualize his size and girth. During his seven-year struggle Rodin completed at least fifty studies, some based on Balzac's actual appearance and others more subjective and abstract. In 1898, after seven years of work, Rodin presented the final nine-foot plaster model to the public. It was met with outrage, disbelief, and ridicule, and as a result the literary society refused to accept it. Deeply hurt by the criticism, Rodin removed the sculpture to his studio at Meudon, outside of Paris, and refused to allow it to be cast during his lifetime.