How Auguste Rodin Brought Stone to Life
Although I usually prefer paintings to statues, something about Auguste Rodin's work is different. Over the years, I've had the chance to visit both the Rodin Sculpture Garden on the Stanford campus in California and the Rodin Museum in Paris. Before these trips, I never quite understood the appeal of statues. Rodin's work changed that and made me curious about the man behind these extraordinary pieces.
Finding His Way
Born on November 12, 1840, in Paris, Rodin came from humble beginnings. His father worked as a police department clerk, and his mother came from a farming family. They were simple, hardworking people who couldn't afford fancy art lessons. However, they gave their son something more valuable: the freedom to pursue his passion.
Despite this supportive environment, young Auguste struggled with poor eyesight and dyslexia, making traditional education difficult. When he applied to Paris's prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, he was rejected three times. Instead of giving up, he chose a different path, working as a craftsman who created decorative pieces for buildings. This was the type of work "serious" artists considered beneath them.
The Magic Touch
While other sculptors of his time obsessed over making their statues smooth and perfect, Rodin did something radical. He left his fingerprints visible in the clay. He kept rough patches that showed how the sculpture was made.
Think of it like the difference between a posed photograph and a candid shot. Other sculptors were creating technically perfect but lifeless poses. Rodin was capturing life in motion, with all its beautiful imperfections.
“It is the artist who is truthful, while the photographer is mendacious; for, in reality, time never stops cold.” - Auguste Rodin
When you stand before a Rodin sculpture, you can see how his hands shaped the clay, how his fingers pressed and molded until stone seemed to pulse with life. This intimate connection between artist and material was unprecedented in sculpture.
Fighting for His Vision
For the first two decades of his working life, Rodin struggled to pay rent as a house decorator. During his spare time at home, he would sculpt with inexpensive clay and plaster, pursuing his real passion whenever he could.
Then, in 1877, everything changed. Rodin created "The Age of Bronze," a statue so lifelike that it caused a scandal in Paris. Critics couldn't believe what they were seeing. They accused him of cheating, claiming he must have simply cast a living person in bronze. The art establishment, which preferred classical figures that looked like Greek statues, was shaken.
However, three years would pass before Rodin received his first public commission.
The World Finally Sees
His breakthrough came with a prestigious commission from the French Ministry of Fine Arts to create an elaborate entrance called "The Gates of Hell." Inspired by Dante's Inferno, this massive bronze door would become Rodin's masterwork, featuring over 180 figures caught in eternal torment.
Though the museum was never built, the project gave birth to some of his most famous works, including its centerpiece: "The Thinker." For the first time, someone had created a sculpture that showed both physical power and deep thought. It wasn't just a body. It was a mind at work.
Thanks to a technological innovation called the Collas Machine, which could copy and scale plaster casts exactly, "The Thinker" was reproduced worldwide. Today, copies as tall as six feet sit in museums and public spaces across the globe. Fittingly, “The Thinker” also sits over Rodin's grave in the Meudon cemetery.
Breaking New Ground
While "The Thinker" made Rodin famous, it was "The Kiss" that showed his true genius. Originally representing doomed lovers from Dante's Inferno, this passionate embrace feels so real that viewers often blush.
This ability to connect with viewers reached new heights in "The Burghers of Calais." Breaking all the rules of public sculpture, Rodin refused to put his figures on a high pedestal. Instead, he placed them at ground level, allowing people to walk among them and share their space.
On Top of the World
By 1900, Rodin had achieved the impossible. He became the most famous sculptor since Michelangelo. His studio outside Paris became a pilgrimage site for artists around the world. His productivity during his lifetime was astounding: over 6,000 sculptures, 7,000 drawings, and 10,000 plasters. He was elected president of the International Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers in 1903.
In his later years, he pushed boundaries even further, creating experimental works with partial figures and rough fragments. He proved that art didn't need to be "pretty" to be beautiful. Unlike many artists who find fame after death, Rodin enjoyed both artistic and financial success during his lifetime, with collectors throughout Europe and the United States eagerly acquiring his work.
A Legacy Written in Stone
Rodin worked until the very end, passing away from influenza at his home in Meudon, France, during the cold winter of 1917. He was 77, and just days before his death, he was still creating. His influence continues to shape how we see sculpture today. He bridged the gap between classical sculpture and modernism, showing that art isn't about achieving perfection. It's about capturing life itself, with all its messiness and beauty.
“The main thing is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live.” - Auguste Rodin
In 2012, on what would have been his 172nd birthday, Google honored him with a Doodle featuring “The Thinker.”
Lovely write up! I saw three Rodins at the museum a few weeks ago and was absolutely captivated. thank you for this excellent post!
Very nice tribute, I'd recommend Camille Claudel!