Historical Figures Codexery

Auguste Rodin

French sculptor considered founder of modern sculpture.

He is generally considered the founder of modern sculpture.[1] Rodin died on 17 November 1917.[1]

Quick Facts

Birth name
François Auguste René Rodin
Born
12 November 1840
Birthplace
Paris, France
Died
17 November 1917
Place of death
Meudon, France
Resting place
Villa des Brillants, Meudon
Field
Sculpture and drawing
Education
École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Rodin began to draw at age 10 and was largely self-educated.[2] His drawing teacher Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran believed in developing students' powers of observation.[3] Rodin failed three times to gain entrance to the École des Beaux-Arts.[4] Father Peter Julian Eymard recognized Rodin's talent and encouraged him to continue with sculpture.[5]

Rodin visited Italy in 1875 and was profoundly influenced by Michelangelo and Donatello.[6] His life-size male figure The Age of Bronze brought him attention but led to accusations that he had cast it from a living model.[6][7] Many figures from that portal, including The Thinker and The Kiss, became famous independent sculptures.[8] For roughly twenty years after leaving the Petite École in 1857, Rodin supported himself by creating decorative objects and architectural embellishments as a craftsman and ornamenter.[9]

What the cited sources add

The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo states that Rodin's bust of Father Eymard is his first work that can be clearly dated.[10] The same source notes that Father Eymard was the priest who welcomed Rodin when he considered entering the priesthood after his sister's death.[10] The museum records that the bust shows the young Rodin could already grasp the internal spirit of his model.[10] The Musée Rodin account of The Age of Bronze explains that a young Belgian soldier, Auguste Ney, was the model for the statue.[11]

That account also states the scandal over the statue drew attention to Rodin and earned him the commission for The Gates of Hell in 1880.[11] An article in The Independent reports that Camille Claudel arrived at Rodin's studio at age 19 to work as his assistant and became his model, lover, and artistic equal.[12] The same article notes that Claudel's presence cast an important influence over Rodin's work.[12]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Auguste Rodin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Rodin". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.; "Auguste Rodin – Art History", Oxford Bibliographies; William Tucker, Early Modern Sculpture: Rodin, Degas, Matisse, Brancusi, Picasso, Gonzalez, 16. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Auguste Rodin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Auguste Rodin", Encyclopædia Britannica; Schjeldahl, "The Stubborn Genius of Auguste Rodin"; "(François) Auguste (René) Rodin." International Dictionary of Art and Artists. St. James Press, 1990. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Auguste Rodin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jianou & Goldscheider, 31.; Ando, "Rodin's Reputation in Great Britain: The Neglected Role of Alphonse Legros", Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide, 2016 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Auguste Rodin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Rodin, Famous Sculptor, Dead", The New York Times, 18 November 1917, p. E3; Hale, 40. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Auguste Rodin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Bust of Father Eymard", The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo; "Rodin Works: Bust of Father Eymard", rodin-web.org (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Auguste Rodin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hale, 49–50.; Taillandier, 91. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Auguste Rodin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hale, 51. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Auguste Rodin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Auguste Rodin, Céramiste", Smithsonian Institution; Vincent, "Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) Essay The Metropolitan Museum of Art Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History", The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, October 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Auguste Rodin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The story of French sculptor Auguste Rodin", Complete France, 7 April 2017; Reily, "Georgia O'Keeffe, A Private Friendship, Part I: Walking the Sun Prairie Land", Sunstone Press, 1 February 2017 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. "Bust of Father Eymard", The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. facts only, no text reused. collection.nmwa.go.jp
  11. "The Age of Bronze Musée Rodin", www.musee-rodin.fr. facts only, no text reused. musee-rodin.fr
  12. Akbar, "How Rodin's tragic lover shaped the history of sculpture", The Independent, 11 August 2012. facts only, no text reused. independent.co.uk

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Auguste Rodin (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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