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work of the month

The Age of Bronze

François Auguste René Rodin, 1876
Bronze, 181 cm
Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

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By 1900 Rodin was regarded as the greatest sculptor since Michelangelo. Straying from nineteenth-century academic conventions, Rodin created his own sense of personal artistic expression that focused on the vitality of the human spirit. His modeling techniques captured the movement and depth of emotion of his subjects by altering traditional poses and gestures. His pioneering work has been a critical link between traditional and modern figurative sculpture.

In 1875 Rodin began work on The Age of Bronze. This sculpture typifies Rodin's departure from the academic conventions of his day and it helped to bring the artist to public recognition through controversy, if not outright scandal, like many of his major commissions throughout his career. What do you think might have troubled critics and the public about The Age of Bronze when it was first exhibited in 1877? How is this sculpture different from others you have seen made around that date? (A visit to the Ricau Gallery is recommended, or click here to see a few works from the collection).

What Were Some Of Rodin's Influences In Making This Sculpture?

Using as his model a Belgian soldier named Auguste Neyt, Rodin created the image of a vanquished warrior that many scholars believe was meant to evoke the tragedy of France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. Rodin had long admired the sculpture of Michelangelo, and the figure's pose brings to mind particularly Michelangelo's Dying Slave.

Where Was This Work First Exhibited?

The plaster cast of Rodin's sculpture was first exhibited in early 1877 under the title The Vanquished at the Cercle Artistique in Brussels. When he showed it later that year at the Paris Salon, Rodin changed its title to The Age of Bronze.

What Did Critics Say About The Age Of Bronze?

The critics of the day, both in Brussels and Paris, were shocked by the sculpture's unflinching, earthy realism. Many of them accused Rodin of surmoulage, the making of the statue from casts taken directly from his model (a disreputable, but not uncommon practice at the time). The artist angrily denied the charge and to disprove it supplied the salon jury with his casts and with photographs of Neyt taken in the nude. This was the first of numerous artistic scandals that paved the way for Rodin's international fame.

Why Do You Think Rodin Triumphed Over The Critics To Become Such A Celebrated Artist?

In considering the answer to this question, please visit the special exhibition, "Rodin," in the museum's large changing gallery, or click here to see an online preview of "Rodin." Examine other works by Rodin and see if you can determine from looking at them which characteristics seem evident in all of the artist's sculptures. Also, examine closely the ideas and feelings you recognize in Rodin's figures. Do these figures seem detached, intellectual, or idealized as Rodin has portrayed them? Do you see movement in the treatment of the bodies or faces of Rodin's figures? How does his sculpture differ from what you may have seen in the Ricau Gallery?

- compiled by John Welch

RESOURCES

Jeff Harrison, The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections, 1991.

Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, A Teacher's Guide - Rodin.

FURTHER READING

Busco, Marie. Rodin and His Contemporaries. New York: Cross River Press, 1991.

Levkoff, Mary L. Rodin in His Time. The Cantor Gifts to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1994.

Fusco, Peter and H.W. Janson, eds. The Romantics to Rodin: French 19th-Century Sculpture from North American Collections, 1980.

A Time Line of Rodin's Life and Work - 1840 Francois Auguste Rene Rodin born November 12, 1840 in Paris to Jean-Baptiste Rodin and Marie Cheffer. - 1854 Rodin begins studies at the Þcole Imp¹riale de Dessin et de Math¹matiques (La Petite Ecole). - 1860 Rodin completes his first-known work, a neoclassical bust of his father, Jean-Baptiste Rodin. - 1863 Rodin leaves the religious order to pursue a career as a sculptor. Sculpts first "masterpiece," The Man with the Broken Nose. - 1875 Rodin visits Florence and Rome and studies Michelangelo and Donatello. After his return to Brussels, Rodin begins work on The Age of Bronze. - 1877 Rodin exhibits The Age of Bronze (as The Vanquished) in Brussels and at the Paris Salon. Controversy surrounds him as Rodin is accused of casting the sculpture from life. He returns to Paris in the fall. - 1884 While still working on The Gates of Hell, Rodin receives the commission for The Burghers of Calais. - 1889 Rodin exhibits definitive model of The Burghers of Calais at joint exhibition with Monet at the Galerie Georges Petit in Paris. Rodin receives commission for a monument to Victor Hugo. - 1893 Rodin becomes president of the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts. The Kiss is exhibited at the Chicago World's Colombian Exhibition. - 1900 Rodin Pavilion exhibits 150 works as part of the Universal Exposition, bringing Rodin to international acclaim. - 1904 Rodin is named president of the International Society of Painters, Sculptors and Engravers after the death of former president James McNeil Whistler. - 1909 Inauguration of Rodin's Monument to Victor Hugo at the Palais Royal Gardens. - 1917 On January 29, Rodin marries lifetime companion Rose Beuret in Meudon. Beuret dies three weeks later. Rodin dies on November 17. He is buried beside Beuret with The Thinker over his grave.