Auguste Rodin- Artist Posting

    
     Auguste Rodin, born November 12, 1840 in Paris, began drawing at a young age. In his own words: “A grocer patronized by my mother used to wrap his prunes in paper bags made of pages torn from illustrated books, or even prints. I copied them; they were my first models.” Despite his eagerness and passion for art, he was never seen by others as having artistic skills. By 1857, he had already failed to get into École des Beaux-Arts for the third time. From this point on, Rodin would do art his own way, straying from the world of conventional academic art. Working as a bricklayer, Rodin began sculpting and would do many works over many years, struggling financially and emotionally before great success found him.  By 1892, Rodin had six atelier rooms. He started hiring more and more assistants. By 1900, Rodin’s work was entrenched. His most famous works included The Gates of Hell, The Burghers of Calais, The Thinker, The Kiss and many others. In his later years, Rodin concentrated more on the female form and small dance studies.  Rodin married his lover of 50 years Rose Beuret in 1917 the same year that both of them would die. 

     Many of Rodin’s works have historical context or were inspired by classical literature.  The Thinker, The Burghers of Calais, and The Kiss are just three examples.

The Thinker

     Rodin's The Thinker (originally called 'The Poet') is unquestionably his most well-known piece.  It depicts a nude man in the seated position, one hand tucked under his chin as though he is deep in thought.  It has become one of the most popular symbols of intellect and thought in the world today -- even though people ironically often seem to forget who created it.  However, what few people know is that the enormous bronze-and-marble piece that we all know and love is actually an enlarged version of the original. 

     The original concept for The Thinker was much smaller (a little less than 2.5 feet tall) and was not meant to stand alone.  It was intended to serve as part of a larger piece which was commissioned in 1880 for a planned are museum in Paris; a sculpted portal called The Gates of Hell, which was based on Dante's Divine Comedy.  Each statue in the large piece depicts characters from the poem -- The Thinker is supposed to be Dante himself contemplating the scene before him (hence the original title, 'The Poet').

     At present, more than 20 casts of the original (in varying sizes and media) exist in museums all over the world.  The most famous version -- the enlarged bronze sculpture -- currently resides in Paris' Musée Rodin.

The Burghers of Calais

      In 1347, the French town of Calais was laid siege to from King Edward III of England.  In attempt to end the eleven months of starvation and water shortage from the attacks, six leading men, or burghers, offered themselves as hostages to King Edward in exchange for their city’s
freedom.  Edward agreed, and required the six burghers to dress in rags with nooses around their necks and the keys to the city.  They traveled to England, where instead of being murdered, as King Edward III intended, their lives were spared by Phillipa, King Edward III’s pregnant wife. She believed it would be a “bad omen” for their unborn child, and the burghers were allowed to return home as heroes to their city.

     In 1885, Auguste Rodin was commissioned by the town council of Calais to create a sculpture that would honor the burghers, who were later names the heroes of the Hundred Years’ War.  Rodin based his work on the writings of Froissart’s Chronicles, who describes each man, and their emotional struggles. The most striking part of The Burghers of Calais is the point in time Rodin picked to represent. According to metmuseum.org, “Rodin ch(ose) to portray the moment in
the narrative when the men, believing they are going to die, leave the city. He shows the burghers as vulnerable and conflicted, yet heroic in the face of their likely fate.”

     Collectively, the six men convey emotions ranging from hesitation, doubt, conviction, determination, and pain.  Wikipedia summarized Rodin’s accomplishment well by saying “It was this moment, and this poignant mix of defeat, heroic self-sacrifice, and willingness to face imminent death that Rodin captured in his sculpture, scaled somewhat larger than life.”

     The monument contains six figures all life size, and was created by a cast iron process. The monument was innovative in that it presented the burghers at the same level as the viewers, rather than on a traditional pedestal, although until 1924 the city council of Calais, against Rodin's wishes, displayed the statue on an elevated base.  It was completed in 1889 and still sits in Calais France.

The Kiss

     The Kiss is a marble sculpture made by Rodin in 1889. The embracing couple depicted in this sculpture also appeared originally as part of The Gates of Hell.  The couple was later removed from the Gates because Rodin did not feel that it fit.  The figures were made into their own statue.  The resulting piece, The Kiss, was originally titled “Francesca da Rimini”, as it depicts the 13th-century Italian noblewoman of the same name. Francesca fell in love with her husband Giovanni Malatesta’s younger brother Paolo.  The couple are discovered and killed by Francesca’s jealous husband.  The lovers’ lips do not actually touch in the sculpture suggesting that they were interrupted and met their demise without their lips ever having touched. The form of the lovers emerges from the highlights and shadows of the statue. Light and shade were used by Rodin to create an impression of actuality.  

     The Kiss clearly shows the complexity of an act of kissing and the amount of emotion between the lovers. The Kiss also clearly indicates the "strong man", who appears to be tenser and more "concentrated" on the kissing, whereas the woman is totally relying on the man, deeply emotionally involved and loses herself in the act of The Kiss. When critics first saw the sculpture in 1887, they suggested the less specific title Le Baiser (The Kiss). A bronze version of The Kiss was sent for display at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The sculpture was considered unsuitable for general display and relegated to an inner chamber with admission only by personal application.

     

     Over the course of his lifetime, Rodin produced these and many other sculptures that can now be found all over the world in museums such as the Museum Rodin in Paris, in various museum exhibitions, and in private collections.