Imagine shapes as if they were directed towards you;
all life bursts from the center and expands from within to the surface.
Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin died on November 17, 1917. At that time, he was at the peak of fame, one of the beacons of modern sculpture and an endless source of inspiration for generations of sculptors. He left behind six thousand sculptures, seven thousand drawings, and forty paintings as part of the endowment he bequeathed to the French state, along with a library, around ten thousand photographs, six thousand five hundred different antiquities, and a hundred and sixty paintings on canvas from painter friends he collected (Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh…).
As World War I was still ongoing during those years, the government could not organize a state funeral. Therefore, on the centenary of his death, a very rich exhibition was held at the Grand Palais and the Rodin Museum in Paris, as well as at the Rodin Museum in Meudon.
The Gates of Hell, Rodin’s life’s work inspired by the Divine Comedy
To be primarily A person, only then an artist
Of humble origin, with no particular education, he failed the entrance exam for the Academy of Arts three times, although the professors recognized his undeniable talent. The reason was his lack of education and a style that did not fit into the then prevailing neoclassical canon.
As a tireless worker, he participated in many workshops and learned from sculptors who helped him shape, develop, and elevate himself. He began to travel and made numerous acquaintances. In 1875, he traveled to Italy and, among other beauties, discovered the “secrets” of Donatello, but it was Michelangelo’s work that deeply impressed him and became a source of inspiration for him.
In 1877, he presented the Bronze Age (Age d’airan) in Paris, a life-size plaster statue of a young man. The sculpture was so incredibly lifelike that he was accused of casting it from a live model. The scandalous aura surrounding the success of this sculpture actually brought him luck. The following year, to remove that controve Azum, created a statue of Saint John the Baptist larger than life size.
Like Pygmalion, through his works, whether made of plaster, clay, marble, or bronze, he breathes life into them. He utilizes the expressive power of the non finito technique, borrowed from Michelangelo, leaving parts of the statue unfinished.
His dream is clearly expressed in the artistic testament he left behind: Young ones, you are the servants of Beauty. Bow to Phidias and Michelangelo (…). Respecting tradition, recognize within it what bears eternal fruit: love for nature and sincerity. These are the two mighty inclinations of all geniuses (…). Let nature be your only goddess (…). Art starts solely with inner truth. May all shapes and colors you use reflect your feelings (…). One should be primarily human, only then an artist.
Rodin knows how to portray the ardor of love, as in The Kiss, where life pulsates.
Manifestation of Genius
Through expressiveness of movement and emotions, sensuality, and the ability to reproduce the inten By expressing intense emotions through sculpture, he strongly influences the world of sculpting. Besides originating a new style called expressionism, he introduces innovative techniques such as “assemblages,” in which he collages diverse objects and materials, utilizes figure multiplication, and creates fragments (“incomplete” sculptures).
His favorite subject is the human body. The nude is his form of expression. Initially presented in its entirety, the body is sometimes later fragmented, deprived of limbs, and reduced to essential parts. For instance, the torso-only Man Walking without arms is displayed on feet. This body, compressed within its boundaries, aims to convey the image of the human soul’s suffering.
While adopting the canons of ideal beauty from classics, Rodin alters them with realism and truthfulness: he does not idealize or embellish his figures but sees beauty in them as they are. He kneads the sculpting material to extract its essence: Sculpting reproduces only the exterior; I, on the other hand, strive to depict the spirit. He is also part of Nature. I observe the whole truth, not just the superficially noticeable.
His most important life’s work, The Gates of Hell, was inspired by The Divine Comedy. This commission from the French state, on which he worked until his last day, was never delivered. Since 2013, the work has been exhibited at the Rodin Museum. The Gates of Hell were the starting point for a large number of smaller figures that Rodin envisioned as parts of that composition, which he transformed into independent works during his lifetime, the most famous being The Thinker and The Kiss. The Thinker was originally conceived as The Poet who contemplatively viewed the vices and sufferings of humanity depicted on The Gates of Hell.
All his life, Rodin endeavored to transform the tragedy of human existence and the questions arising from it into matter.
All his life, Rodin strived to embody the tragedy of human existence and the questions arising from it in matter. All of this is concentrated in the immortal work, The Thinker, which crowns The Gates of Hell. However, Rodin knew. To showcase the fervor of love, as seen in the work The Kiss that pulsates with life. His contemporaries said: “In Rodin’s presence, marble trembles.”
Rodin organized his work in six workshops where over fifty of his collaborators worked. He was both an employer and an idol and a myth.
For many, he was primarily a master. His influence on contemporary artists is undeniable, but also complex. While filled with awe, many simultaneously resisted this influence, trying to distance themselves and become independent. Even among the members of the Art Academy at that time, he had serious opponents.
His greatest influence was on his closest students, assistants in the studio, who collaborated on realizing his works. The most famous among them were Francois Pompon, renowned for his perfectly smooth animal sculptures, and Jules Desbois, Antoine Bourdelle, and Constantin Brancusi. Bourdelle added a symbolic dimension to his works, and upon Rodin’s death, he wrote a touching dedication. The living text of Rodin’s art. However, after a brief collaboration with Rodin, Brancusi decided to distance himself and pursue his own path because “nothing grows in the shadow of big trees.”
Rodin is a precursor to numerous techniques that a whole range of sculptors have been studying and further developing to this day.
Towards the end of his life, defining an artist, he gives his own portrait: Everything is beautiful to him because in every being and in everything his penetrating gaze reveals character, i.e., the inner truth that is glimpsed beneath the form. This way, the artist’s ideal approaches the ideal of a philosopher in search of truth and unity.
1 https://www.musee-rodin.fr/en/resources/creative-process/multiples-fragments-assemblages