Auguste Rodin - Daring to Break the Mould
François Auguste René Rodin was a French sculptor with a daring approach and unique ability to model complex human emotions.
Born in 1840 into a working-class family in Paris, he began to draw at the age of 10 and was largely self-educated. Between the ages 14 and 17, he attended a school specialising in art and maths. His art teacher believed in first developing the personality of his students so that they observed with their own eyes and recreated their observation from memory.
Refused entrance to the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts for his unusual style, Rodin escaped the rigid Neoclassical training that still dominated its curriculum in the mid-1850s, but forfeited the early success that École graduates were ordinarily assured.
A Portrait of Auguste Rodin
Instead, Rodin served a long and difficult apprenticeship as a modeller to Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse in Paris. He followed Carrier-Belleuse to Belgium where he modelled a number of decorative female figures to which he signed his own name. In 1876, Rodin travelled to Italy. He was deeply impressed by the work of Michelangelo, which would influence him for years to come.
Many of Rodin’s most notable sculptures were criticized, as they clashed with tradition. Although he was sensitive to the controversy surrounding his work, he bravely refused to change his style. His creations, brimming with emotion and sensitivity, brought increasing favour from the artistic community.
Rodin’s Sculpture ‘The Kiss.’
By 1900, he was a world-renowned artist. Wealthy private clients sought Rodin’s work after his World’s Fair exhibit, and he kept company with a variety of high-profile intellectuals and artists. Rodin’s students included Antoine Bourdelle, Constantin Brâncuși and Charles Despiau. Despite his love for Rose Beuret, this is one of many works he created while infatuated with Camille Claudel. The two artists shared a passionate and productive artistic partnership for a decade, during which Claudel significantly influenced Rodin's work and developed her own unique style. Rodin was 24 years her senior. The relationship ended around 1898, with Claudel seeking to free herself from Rodin and pursue her own career.
Auguste Rodin ‘The thinker’ in plaster - 1904. Originally a part of Rodin's ‘The Gates of Hell’ it exists in several versions in bronze and plaster.
‘Mignon’ - meaning ‘Cutie’ is the first of Rodin’s portraits of Rose Beuret, his partner, muse and eventually wife, wed the year they both died.
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