Impressionism rodin

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ART HISTORY 4450 Impressionism: Sculpture Rodin

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) •

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biography: – 1857: sought admission to Ecole des Beaux-Arts; rejected three times – 1862-63: stricken by death of sister; w/drew to monastery – 1870: enlisted in National Guard during Franco-Prussian War – 1875: traveled to Italy to study work of Michelangelo – 1883: began ten-year affair w/ student, Camille Claudel, then 19 years old significance: first sculptor of genius since Bernini aim: to create “new classics” subject matter: departed from traditional mythology/allegory poses: derived from Classical & Hellenistic Greek art; also Michelangelo surface texture: – unfinished, rough areas – relate to Impressionist adoption of “sketch-like” brushwork

Rodin: exhibition history 1877: 1880:

1881: 1882: 1883: 1888: 1889:

1890: 1894: 1906: 1907:

exhibited The Bronze Age; accused of having casting directly from life French state buys Bronze Age; commissions monumental door for future Museum of Decorative Arts (never completed; cast after he died) French state buys St. John the Baptist The Thinker met Camille Claudel (19 yrs of age) French state commissions The Kiss in marble for Universal Exh. of 1889 founding member of Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts; exhibits w/ Monet at Galérie Georges Petit; received order for Monument to Victor Hugo (Pantheon, Paris) Monument to Balzac invited by Monet to Giverny where he met Cézanne Thinker placed in front of Pantheon Walking Man exhibited at Salon of Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts

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Rodin •

The Age of Bronze (1876) –

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significance: first full-scale work • completed upon return from Italy • inspired by Michelangelo's Dying Slave (Louvre) figure: well-proportioned nude figure modeled by Belgian soldier • studied from all angles, at rest, and in motion • mounted ladder for additional perspective pose: unconventional • right hand atop his head • left arm held out at side • forearm parallel to body

Rodin •

St. John Baptist Preaching (1878) – –

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scale: larger than life (6' 7”) pose: gestures and seems to move toward viewer • effect of walking achieved both feet firmly on ground – physical impossibility • R chose contradictory position to, in his words, to "display simultaneously...views of an object which in fact can be seen only successively" theme: despite title, not obviously religious exhibition history: • R submitted piece to Paris Salon (1880) – critics still mostly dismissive – piece finished third in sculpture category

(Left) RODIN’s Impressionist Age of Bronze (c. 1875 CE) vs. (right) MICHELANGELO’S High Renaissance Dying Slave (c. 1500 CE)

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Rodin •

Age of Bronze –

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subject matter: lack of theme • commemorates neither mythology nor noble historical event • abandons useof symbols • first titled The Vanquished – relate to Franco-Prussian War – left hand held spear; R removed it b/c obstructed torso from certain angles quality of naturalism: realistic • departure from conventions of academic sculpture • derided as "sleepwalker" and "low type" • R accused of surmoulage (cast from a living model) – R denied charges » wrote to newspapers » photographs of model to prove differences – R demanded an inquiry; exonerated

Rodin •

The Thinker (1882) –

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subject matter: existential • biographical reference to sister’s deathfigure: seated male pose: derived from Hellenistic interest in everyday life hand gesture: sign of melancholy musculature: well-defined spatial order: negative facial expression: stoic surface texture: “unfinished” • roughness allows for dramatic interplay of light/shadow

(Left) RODIN’s Impressionist The Thinker (c. 1875 CE) vs. (right) Greek Hellenistic Tiber Muse (c. 200 BCE)

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(Left) RODIN’s Impressionist The Thinker (c. 1875 CE) vs. (right) Greek Hellenistic Seated Boxer (c. 50 BCE)

Rodin • The Old Courtesan (1885) – figure: seated female – musculature: naturalistic aging process – pose: derived from Hellenistic interest in everyday life – spatial order: negative – facial expression: stoic – surface texture: “unfinished” • roughness allows for dramatic interplay of light/shadow

(Left) RODIN’s Impressionist The Old Courtesan (c. 1885 CE) vs. (right) Greek Hellenistic Old Market Woman (c. 2nd century BCE)

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Rodin

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The Kiss (1888) – –

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patron: French state for Universal Exhibition in 1889 subject: from Dante’s Inferno • second circle in Hell (infidelity) • Paolo & Francesca figures: seated musculature: naturalistic pose: derived from Hellenistic interest in everyday life spatial order: negative facial expression: hidden by embrace surface texture: • smooth human qualities • rough, “unfinished” natural forms

(Left) RODIN’s Impressionist The Kiss (1885 CE) vs. (right) Greek Hellenistic Eros and Psyche (c. 150 BCE)

(Left) RODIN’s Impressionist The Kiss (1885) vs. (right) CANOVA’s Neoclassical Eros and Psyche (1793)

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RODIN’s Impressionist The Burghers of Calais (1889)

Rodin

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Gates of Hell (1880-1917) –

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patron: French state • commissioned future Museum of Decorative Arts • although Rodin worked on it until end of his life, never delivered • cast in bronze after he died theme: Dantesque • modern vision of chaos & futility composition: see Michelangelo’s Last Judgment (Sistine Chapel) light/shadow: dramatic relief: high & low

(Left) Michelangelo’s Last Judgment in Sistine Chapel (c. 1535) vs.

Rodin’s Impressionist The Gates of Hell (c. 1890)

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(Left) Rodin’s “Adam” from Gates of Hell (c. 1880-1917) vs. (right) Michelangelo’s High Renaissance Pieta (c. 1515)

(Left) Rodin’s “Adam” from Gates of Hell (c. 1880-1917) vs. (right) Michelangelo’s High Renaissance Rebellious Slave (c. 1515)

(Left) RODIN’s detail of Impressionist Walking Man (1907 CE) vs. (right) Classical Greek Torso (c. 450 BCE)

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IMAGE INDEX • • •

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Photograph of Auguste RODIN. Photograph of Camille CLAUDEL. RODIN, Auguste. The Age of Bronze (1875), bronze, 72 in. high, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

(Left) RODIN’s Impressionist Age of Bronze (c. 1875 CE; and (right) MICHELANGELO’S High Renaissance Dying Slave (c. 1500 CE), Musee du Louvre, Paris.

Alternate views of RODIN’s The Age of Bronze (1875).

RODIN, Auguste. The Thinker (1879-89), bronze, height 27 1/2”, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Comparison between RODIN’s The Thinker and (Greek) Hellenistic style Tiber Muse (c. 200 BC).

Comparison between RODIN’s The Thinker and (Greek) Hellenistic style Seated Boxer (c. 50 BC), Bronze, approx. 50” high, Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome.

IMAGE INDEX •

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RODIN, Auguste. The Old Courtesan (1885), Bronze, 20 1/8 x 9 7/8 x 11 3/4 in., Musee Rodin, Paris.

Comparison between RODIN’s The Old Courtesan and Hellenistic Old Market Woman (c. 2nd century BC), marble, 49 1/2”, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

RODIN, Auguste. The Kiss (1885), Bronze, 87 x 51 x 55 cm., Musee Rodin, Paris.

(Left) RODIN’s Impressionist The Kiss (1885); and (right) Hellenistic Eros and Psyche (c. 150 BC), marble, 49” high, Museo Capitolino, Rome.

(Left) RODIN’s Impressionist The Kiss (1885); (right) CANOVA’s Neoclassical Eros and Psyche (1793), Louvre, Paris.

RODIN, Auguste. The Burghers of Calais (1884-1889), Bronze, 79 3/8 in × 80 7/8 in × 77 1/8 in., Calais, FR.

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RODIN. The Gates of Hell (1880-1917), approx. height 21’.

(Left) Michelangelo’s Last Judgment in Sistine Chapel (c.

1535); and (right) Rodin’s The Gates of Hell (c. 1880-1917).

(Left) Rodin’s “Adam” from Gates of Hell (c. 1880-1917); and (right) Michelangelo’s High Renaissance Pieta (c.

1515).

(Left) Rodin’s “Adam” from Gates of Hell (c. 1880-1917) ; and (right) Michelangelo’s High Renaissance Rebellious Slave (c. 1515) (Left) Classical Greek Torso (c. 450 BC); and (right) RODIN’s Walking Man (1907 AD)

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