Born in Paris on November 12, 1840, Francois Auguste Rene Rodin, was the son of a police department clerk of modest means. He began drawing at an early age and attended the Ecole Imperiale de Dessin, but was rejected three times at the more prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He discovered he liked sculpting with clay and won several prizes before he was seventeen. Rodin started working in decorativ
...see more »e arts making ornamental statues for public projects throughout Paris, while doing his own personal projects at night. After the death of his sister in 1862 he briefly entered a Catholic order, but realized early on that the monastic life was not for him.
In 1863 Rodin was able to afford his first studio, while continuing to work for others during the day. He went to Brussels in 1870 to work on a project and stayed over six years, during which time he held his first exhibition. Rodin traveled to Italy in 1875 where he was inspired by Donatello's and Michelangelo's work. Returning to Paris, he continued to work for others, including the Sevres porcelain factory, while creating his own sculptures that he started showing at the annual Paris Salon. Some of his best known works were done during this period: The Vanquished, The Age of Bronze and Saint John the Baptist, although his work was being criticized because it was so realistic that he was accused of casting them from live models.
During the 1880s, Rodin's reputation grew and he was given a commission for an entrance to a proposed museum to be built in Paris. This project became known as The Gates of Hell, and from it, he produced some independent statues that are considered some of his best, including The Thinker and The Kiss. During the late nineteenth century, Rodin produced many public and private commissions and he had achieved considerable acclaim. At the 1900 Paris World Exposition, he exhibited over one hundred and fifty of his works in bronze, plaster, marble and drawings. He was asked to do exhibitions all over the world. Rodin was creative in other ways as well including oil and watercolor paintings, drypoint, drawings and prints.
In 1908, Rodin moved into a studio in the Hotel Biron outside Paris, where he lived until his death on November 17, 1917. The studio was willed to France as a museum for his work. His work can be found in museums and public and private collections and prints are available from retailers around the world.
A partial list of artwork:
The great 'La Porte de l'enfer' (The Gate of Hell) was commissioned for the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in 1880, and during the next 30 years he was mainly engaged on the 186 figures for these bronze doors.
1878 The Age of Bronze (Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minnesota)
1878 St John the Baptist Preaching (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1880 The Gates of Hell (Musée d'Orsay, Paris)
1881 Eve (Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio)
1884-6 The Burghers of Calais (New York City, and London)
1886 The Kiss (Musée Rodin, Paris and Tate, London)
1893 Balzac, Nude (Musée Rodin, Paris)
1897-8 Monument to Balzac (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)
1904 The Thinker (Panthéon, Paris)
1905 The Bather (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City)
1906 George Bernard Shaw (Rodin Museum, Philadelphia)« see less
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