Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) is generally considered to be one of the founders of modern sculpture. While traditional sculpture prior to Rodin tended to be decorative, formulaic, or thematic, Rodin portrayed the human body with realism and celebrated individual character and physical features. Rodin was considered a naturalist who focused on character and emotion rather than on monumental expression. During his life, his works were often criticized and were somewhat controversial.
While Rodin showed artistic talent at a young age, he was a poor student. He attended the Ecolé Impériale Spéciale de Dessin et de Mathématique where he learned modeling and drawing. He applied to get in to the noted Ecole des Beaux-Arts and was rejected three times. Humiliated by this failure, Rodin went to work for commercial decorators and sculptors. However, he had a compulsion to sculpt and opened his own studio.
Rodin spent six years in Belgium during which time he journeyed to Italy to visit the fourth Michelangelo centennial. Rodin began to depart from the accepted style of French sculpture, focusing on investigating the human form as a vehicle to express human emotion.
The Portland Art Museum recently presented a special exhibit: Rodin: The Human Experience—Selections from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collections. This exhibit displayed 52 bronzes by the groundbreaking French sculptor Auguste Rodin. The exhibition was staged to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the artist’s death. Rodin insisted that a part of a figure—the torso or a hand—could itself convey meaning. Parts of a figure could, therefore, be complete works of art.
Torsos
Shown below are some of Rodin’s torsos which were displayed at this special exhibit.
Shown above: Narcisse. Modeled about 1882, enlarged and retitled in 1890.
Shown above: Study for Torso of the Walking Man. Modeled in 1878-79.
Shown above: Monumental Torso of the Walking Man. Modeled about 1905.
According to the museum display:
“This larger-then-life-size torso of a walking man is a fine example of Rodin’s modeling, which captured the sensuousness and textures of the body’s flesh and musculature.”
Shown above: Iris, Messenger of the Gods. Modeled in 1891. Some people feel that this was Rodin’s finest piece.
According to the display:
“That freedom of expression was paramount in Rodin’s work can be seen in this piece, with its extraordinary leaping pose, revealed female genitalia, and obvious joy in movement. Probably modeled from the poses of a can-can dancer. Rodin’s bronze is a testament not only to his interest in big gestures, but also to the world of demimonde pleasures that surrounded him and his circle in the late nineteenth century.”
Shown above: Study for the Monument to Whistler. Modeled in 1905-1906. The International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers asked Rodin to create a monument in Whistler’s honor. Rodin took a different approach and instead of doing a portrait of Whistler, he created an image of Whistler’s muse. The model for this piece was Welsh painter Gwen John (1876-1939) who was Rodin’s lover and who had studied with Whistler.
Hands
Shown below are some of Rodin’s hands which were displayed at this special exhibit.
According to the museum display:
“Rodin was fascinated by the expressive capabilities of hands. He modeled hundreds of them, using them both as independent sculptures and as parts of more complex pieces. By carefully modeling their musculature, proportion, texture, and balance, he demonstrated that hands could convey profound emotion, from anger and despair to compassion and tenderness.”
Shown above: Large Hand of a Pianist. Modeled in 1885.
Shown above: Large Clenched Left Hand. Modeled about 1885.
Shown above: The Hand of God. Modeled in 1898.