"Sculpture", said Rodin, "is an art of forms". Throughout his career Rodin sought out unique, expressive forms, which often involved distortions or unusual poses, "Woman Grabbing her Right Foot" records a spontaneous attitude struck by Adele Abruzetti, Rodin's favourite model in the early 1880's.

The pose is informal, suggestive, and entirely outside the vocabulary of Rodin's academic colleagues. Included as a minor figure at the top of the right pilaster of the "Gates of Hell", the figure became a major success as an independent work, which Rodin produced in various media and sizes. Viewers have interpreted the work in many ways.

Octave Mirabeau, a sophisticated collector and supporter of the artist, referred to the piece as "my frog", later critics have found "Woman Grabbing Her Right Foot" one of the artist's most audacious achievements in sculpture form.

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