Auguste Rodin - Paper
Auguste Rodin was born in 1840 and died in 1917, a year before the end of World War I. He was one of the most illustrious artists of his time, and in the eyes of posterity he remains, surely, the greatest name in Western Sculpture since Michelangelo.
His style was both classic and romantic, and to his contemporaries it was also revolutionary, for although Rodin followed routine closely, he presented it exactly as he saw and experienced it, and refused to be bound by the artistic conventions of his day. Unlike his contemporary sculptors of the 1870's and 1880's, Rodin had both a brilliant technique and something to day. It was Rodin's imaginative modeling that re-established sculpture as exaggeration rather than description or literal imitation. Rodin had realized the purification and elevation of sculptural aesthetic by his use of modeling and light. No sculptor of the age could compete with him in the expressiveness and forcefulness of his modeling. The inspiration of his sketches was preserved in the bronze cast rather than being expunged by the polished style in vogue among other sculptors. To his bronzes he also gave a warmth of touch and humanity that refused to be chilled in the frigid salon air. His sculptures emerged from deepening personal convictions and love for his subjects.
Just as the Impressionists derived inspiration from the life of the city (Paris), so too Rodin was to draw upon the society within he worked for his most important ideas.
He responded to his own "impressions" to use his own word rather than those of others. This should not be taken to mean that Rodin was an Impressionist like Monet and Pissarro. Rodin was not content with sensory stimuli alone. In contrast to Monet's underseeing, Rodin preserved more of the actual materiality of his subjects and sought to show on the outside what lay behind the sensorily perceivable.
With his consciousness of man's diversity and unity, his aspirations and dignity tempered by
His style was both classic and romantic, and to his contemporaries it was also revolutionary, for although Rodin followed routine closely, he presented it exactly as he saw and experienced it, and refused to be bound by the artistic conventions of his day. Unlike his contemporary sculptors of the 1870's and 1880's, Rodin had both a brilliant technique and something to day. It was Rodin's imaginative modeling that re-established sculpture as exaggeration rather than description or literal imitation. Rodin had realized the purification and elevation of sculptural aesthetic by his use of modeling and light. No sculptor of the age could compete with him in the expressiveness and forcefulness of his modeling. The inspiration of his sketches was preserved in the bronze cast rather than being expunged by the polished style in vogue among other sculptors. To his bronzes he also gave a warmth of touch and humanity that refused to be chilled in the frigid salon air. His sculptures emerged from deepening personal convictions and love for his subjects.
Just as the Impressionists derived inspiration from the life of the city (Paris), so too Rodin was to draw upon the society within he worked for his most important ideas.
He responded to his own "impressions" to use his own word rather than those of others. This should not be taken to mean that Rodin was an Impressionist like Monet and Pissarro. Rodin was not content with sensory stimuli alone. In contrast to Monet's underseeing, Rodin preserved more of the actual materiality of his subjects and sought to show on the outside what lay behind the sensorily perceivable.
With his consciousness of man's diversity and unity, his aspirations and dignity tempered by