A rare marble edition of Rodin's L'Eternal Printemps is to cross the block for the first time at Sotheby's on May 9.

The work is expected to make $8m-12m.

Rodin created L'Eternal Printemps in the midst of an affair with a young sculptor

It's the first time this specimen has ever been offered for auction.

A marble version of the sculpture has not been offered for around 20 years, although a bronze version sold for £938,500 ($1.5m) at Bonhams earlier this year.

Sotheby's comments: "This sculpture is believed to be the fifth of ten known uniquely finished carvings of the subject in marble, and was singled out in Frederick Lawton's 1906 biography on the artist as the most magnificent of the series…

"L'Éternel Printemps was one of Rodin's most celebrated sculptures of the 1880s.

"Rodin later stated that he was listening to Beethoven's 2nd Symphony when he first conceived of L'Éternel Printemps, and certainly the passion and romance of the great German composer can be felt in this marble sculpture."

Rodin's Iris, Messagère des dieux set a new auction record for his work earlier this year, when it sold for £11.6m ($16.7m).

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