Thoughts of Rodin

Thoughts of Rodin

Tracy Bowens

November 15, 2018

Paper 1 – Thoughts of Rodin

  I mentioned in my Yale Art Galley post that I was an admirer of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin, and the professor, rightly so, admonished me for not having delved deeper into the artist or the particular work I had gone to see, the Thinker. Here I will endeavor to rectify those omissions. I have sculpted for almost ten years, after many years of admiring the works of great artists like Michelangelo, Donatello, Henry Moore, Alberto Giacometti, and am currently an admirer of Jamaican sculptor, Basil Watson. As wonderfully talented as these artists were/are, my biggest inspiration has always been Auguste Rodin.

August Rodin photographed in his studio by Paul François Arnold Cardon a.k.a. Dornac (1858–1941).

Photo and caption form https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_Rodin

  By the time of his death in 1917, Rodin was the most famous sculptor of his time and was, unlike many great artists, a wealthy man, as he well sought after by rich patrons for commissions. Not only did they wealthy seek him out but so too did the famous. In fact, despite having many signature and renowned works, it was his portrait bust of French writer Victor Hugo, that had fascinated me most. From afar I had often gazed at pictures of the portrait wondering how someone could create so life-like resemblance out of bronze. I didn’t know at the time that he worked in clay and that the bronzing came later, remember this was a long, long time ago, I didn’t know any better. The bust appeared more akin to a portrait of Zeus than that of an aging writer.

Photo from the Musée Rodin website http://www.musee-rodin.fr/en/collections/sculptures/victor-hugo-known-bust-illustrious-master

  In 2012, I visited Paris and was fortunate enough to see several of the master’s works up close, including another bust he had done of Hugo that was housed at the cavernous Musée d'Orsay. The museum was a former railway station that display some of the most well-known artist of the late nineteenth century, including others works by Rodin. Here is a picture of the second Hugo bust. This Hugo, head tilted downward, is introspective than the previous forward gazing, paternal visage of the former. Both portraits exhibit the humanistic realism that Rodin was known for. Unlike many of his illustrious predecessors, who smooth and perfect figures sought divine comparisons to the mythological gods, Rodin’s figures gave witness to man’s imperfections. Every crease, every wrinkle, are put on full display, as if, as some of his detractors would rumor, human beings were encased in plaster

Photo from Auguste RodinVictor Hugoen 1897buste en bronze et fonte sur piédoucheH. 70,6 ; L. 61,5 ; P. 56,8 autre dimension H. 20 ; L. 26 ; P. 26 cm (piédouche)musée d'Orsay, Paris, France©photo musée d'Orsay / rmn

  Other works of Rodin within the d’Orsay include, The Bronze Age, which is more reminiscent of a Donatello or Michelangelo sculpture, which may have been intentional as a way of silencing his critics. 

Photo from https://theartstack.com/artist/auguste-rodin/the-age-of-bronze

  The life-sized nude male is more classical that some of his other works.  

  Among those other works would be the aforementioned Thinker, and the equally as famous, The Burghers of Calais. The Burghers were another commissioned piece, but uncharacteristically, one he had to compete for when the town of Calais wanted to memorialize an event from the Hundred Year’s War. Rodin won the commission and created the life-sized grouping of six anguished looking robed men appearing to burden with pain and doubt. According to Wikipedia there are only twelve, the maximum allowed under French law, original casts created.  One of which is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. I look forward to seeing that soon. Pictured is the one in Paris at the  Musée Rodin.

Photo from Les Bourgeois de Calais par Auguste Rodin au Musée Rodin de Paris

  I'd be remiss if I failed to mention the work of another that was closely tied to Rodin, and that is his one-time student, assistant, collaborator, and lover, Camille Claudel. A talented artist in her own right, she suffered emotionally, financially, and eventually mentally after the break up with Rodin who refused to take her as his wife. The autobiographical piece she created, The Mature Age, is part of the d’Orsay collection and illustrates the end of their association.

Photo from The Mature Age L'age mûr, statue de Camille Claudel, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Of all the works of Rodin, one stands above all others in terms of ambition, scope, and creativity. I was struck by the sheer size of the giant doorway which is nineteen feet in height and thirteen feet wide. It is enormous to say the least. Rodin was commissioned to create the project within five years, he worked on it for thirty-seven years, stopping only due to his death. He was inspired by Dante’s, Divine Comedy. The Gates are adorned by many miniature replicas of his other works that would be enlarged to be individual works on their own, the most well known being the Thinker, which represented Dante, overlooking the top of the doors entrance. The one displayed at Musée d'Orsay is said to be the original plaster that Rodin worked on, the others around the world were cast from this original.

Photo from Gates of Hell Musée d'Orsay Picture taken by deror avi on June 2005. {{Attribution|1=deror_avi}} Category:Gates of Hell Category:Musée d'Orsay

For size context, below is a version with admirers in the foreground.

Photo from https://www.artble.com/artists/auguste_rodin/sculpture/the_gates_of_hell

Here the Gates are flanked by representations of Adam and Eve, located at Stanford University.

Photo from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Gates_of_Hell_sculpture_by_Rodin_surrounded_by_Adam_and_Eve.JPG

For all the images within the Gates of Hell, roughly around one hundred eighty figures, two original figures are absent from the final display. Paolo and Francesca, the lovers locked in eternal embrace displayed in, arguably, Rodin’s most recognized sculpture, The Kiss, had been removed from The Gates.

Photo from http://www.anngeo.com/rodin/kiss.html

  The Kiss was inspired by the tale of a noblewoman who fell in love wit her husband’s brother and was killed by her husband for the transgression. Rodin didn’t feel that the lover’s happiness meshed well with the misery that The Gates represented and removed the piece. The characters are represented singularly on The Gates away from each other’s tender arms. Rodin, it seems, may have been a bit of a romantic, although Camille Claudel might disagree.

Cites

 http://www.musee-rodin.fr/en/collections/sculptures/victor-hugo-known-bust-illustrious-master

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_Rodin

http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/sculpture/commentaire_id/the-bronze-age-8931.html?tx_commentaire_pi1%5BpidLi%5D=842&tx_commentaire_pi1%5Bfrom%5D=729&cHash=43843ab6df

https://theartstack.com/artist/auguste-rodin/the-age-of-bronze

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Burghers_of_Calais

https://www.artble.com/artists/auguste_rodin/sculpture/the_gates_of_hell

http://www.anngeo.com/rodin/images/large/gates.html

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Gates_of_Hell_sculpture_by_Rodin_surrounded_by_Adam_and_Eve.JPG

http://www.anngeo.com/rodin/kiss.html