Rodin

Fülszöveg

Auguste Rodins sculptures have become
icons of modern art. Even those who have
never stepped into an art gallery are familiar
with images such as The Thinker and The
Kiss. What was so startling about them was
their ability to convey raw emotion and indi-
vidual character in a way that audiences
reared on a cool, classical vision had never
seen before. These are qualities which do not
age and make Rodin's sculptures as fresh and
accessible today as they were a century ago.
These qualities which ensure Rodins popu-
larity today were also those which kept him
outside the French establishment for many
years. Rodin came from a modest back-
ground and it took him many years of
struggle to establish himself in his profes-
sion. He was rejected three times from entry
to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and when he
did exhibit a work such as The Age of Bronze
it was greeted with suspicion, as its realism
suggested it had been cast directly from a
human figure. Gradually... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Auguste Rodins sculptures have become
icons of modern art. Even those who have
never stepped into an art gallery are familiar
with images such as The Thinker and The
Kiss. What was so startling about them was
their ability to convey raw emotion and indi-
vidual character in a way that audiences
reared on a cool, classical vision had never
seen before. These are qualities which do not
age and make Rodin's sculptures as fresh and
accessible today as they were a century ago.
These qualities which ensure Rodins popu-
larity today were also those which kept him
outside the French establishment for many
years. Rodin came from a modest back-
ground and it took him many years of
struggle to establish himself in his profes-
sion. He was rejected three times from entry
to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and when he
did exhibit a work such as The Age of Bronze
it was greeted with suspicion, as its realism
suggested it had been cast directly from a
human figure. Gradually success and major
commissions came Rodins way, with the
Gates of Hell and the Burghers of Calais. In
his old age he produced some of his most
evocative portraits of Victor Hugo and Balzac;
ironically Rodin was finally elected to the
Académie Française a few days after his
death in 1917.
Rodin presents a delightful and representative
selection of Rodin's work over more than half
a century. In an introduction illustrated with
Rodins watercolours and photographs of the
artist, his wife, and his lover, Camille
Claudel, Tim Marlow describes Rodins long
life and the forces that helped shape it. Sixty
of his finest works are reproduced in large-
scale colour plates with many informative
details. Altogether Rodin is a book all art
lovers will treasure. Vissza