True Nature: Rodin and the Age of Impressionism
Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) is one of the most recognized sculptors of all time. Images of his work pervade our collective cultural consciousness, and he has been canonized into the narrative of Western art history as the epitome of the tormented, virile, creative genius.
Significantly, the myths created around him-and perpetuated relentlessly by him helped cement Rodin's reputation as the tortured, and ultimately triumphant, maker of art. His artistic output, however, is far more nuanced than this characterization. Rodin can be seen as a Romantic, due to his presentation of powerful emotions through the expression of physical form; as a classicist, for his commitment to the tension bound to the narrative messages of the past; and as a naturalist, given his profound consideration of the accuracy of movement, drawn from the sinew and skeleton of the human body.
Through an examination of a selection of Rodin's works, his varied artistic concerns reveal powerful conceptual and formal challenges with the art of his past and present that link him, indisputably, to the art of the future.
True Nature: Rodin and the Age of Impressionism
Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) is one of the most recognized sculptors of all time. Images of his work pervade our collective cultural consciousness, and he has been canonized into the narrative of Western art history as the epitome of the tormented, virile, creative genius.
Significantly, the myths created around him-and perpetuated relentlessly by him helped cement Rodin's reputation as the tortured, and ultimately triumphant, maker of art. His artistic output, however, is far more nuanced than this characterization. Rodin can be seen as a Romantic, due to his presentation of powerful emotions through the expression of physical form; as a classicist, for his commitment to the tension bound to the narrative messages of the past; and as a naturalist, given his profound consideration of the accuracy of movement, drawn from the sinew and skeleton of the human body.
Through an examination of a selection of Rodin's works, his varied artistic concerns reveal powerful conceptual and formal challenges with the art of his past and present that link him, indisputably, to the art of the future.