Auguste Rodin - Autographed Letter Signed To His Patron

Auguste RODIN (1840 - 1917), French sculptor
Autograph letter signed to Maurice Fenaille. February 24, 1903; 1 page in-8° on paper addressed to 182 rue de l'Université [Paris].
A missed appointment with his patron and friend: "I was at home for almost a month without being very sick but taken all the same. I hope to go to your place next Wednesday in a week and I ask you to accept my cordialities and to remember me in the memory of Madame Fenaille to whom I present my respects..." Maurice Fenaille (1855 – 1937), great French industrialist, he inherited the company founded by his father in the oil industry, which would become Essor Standard in 1952. Passionate about art, he invested a lot of his time and money in museums and artists of his time and more particularly Auguste Rodin, with whom he maintained a lasting friendship. He commissioned a series of bathers to decorate the indoor swimming pool of his residence in Neuilly and the bust of his wife. The Rodin Museum now holds a significant part of his collection.