Auguste Rodin
He broke the classical mold, using fractured forms and emotional intensity to capture the restless spirit of modern humanity in bronze and marble.
1840–1917 (age 77)·French sculptor·Birthday: November 12
Biography
Auguste Rodin entered the art world through the back door, repeatedly failing the entrance exams for the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts. He spent his formative years as a commercial ornament carver, a practical education that gave him a mastery of materials but left him outside the official salons. His early major work, 'The Age of Bronze,' was so lifelike he was accused of casting it from a living model—a charge that scandalized the art world but proved his genius. Rodin’s great project, the never-finished 'Gates of Hell' for a decorative arts museum, became a laboratory for his most famous figures, including 'The Thinker' and 'The Kiss.' He rejected the smooth, idealized forms of neoclassicism, instead modeling clay with a violent, passionate touch that left the marks of his fingers visible, creating surfaces that seemed to breathe and pulse with psychological turmoil. By the end of his life, this once-rejected craftsman had overturned centuries of tradition, establishing sculpture as a medium capable of expressing the raw, complex interior life of the individual.
#1 When Auguste Was Born
The biggest hits of 1840
Auguste's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1840Born
1845Started school
1853Became a teenager
1856Could drive
1858Could vote
1861Turned 21
President: Abraham Lincoln
1870Turned 30
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1880Turned 40
Edison patents the incandescent light bulb
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1890Turned 50
Wounded Knee massacre marks the end of the Indian Wars
President: Benjamin Harrison
1900Turned 60
Boxer Rebellion in China
President: William McKinley
1910Turned 70
Halley's Comet makes its closest approach
President: William Howard Taft
1917Died at 77
Russian Revolution overthrows the tsar; US enters WWI
President: Woodrow Wilson
Key Achievements
- Created 'The Thinker,' originally conceived as a portrait of Dante, which became one of the most recognized sculptures in the world.
- Executed the monumental public sculpture 'The Burghers of Calais,' depicting six citizens offering their lives to save their city.
- Pioneered the use of fragmentation, presenting partial figures like 'Walking Man' as complete works of art.
- His intense, textured modeling technique and focus on emotional expression fundamentally redirected the course of Western sculpture.
Did You Know?
He worked for several years in the studio of Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, primarily producing decorative objects.
He maintained a long, complex, and professionally vital relationship with sculptor Camille Claudel.
Many of his most famous works, like 'The Kiss,' were originally part of his massive 'Gates of Hell' commission.
He owned a vast collection of ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian sculptures, which influenced his work.
““I invent nothing, I rediscover.””
