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MUSÉE RODIN | CENTENARY AUGUSTE RODIN | Press kit | p.2

CoverPaul Dornac, Rodin in frontof the "Monument to Sarmiento", 1898, albumen print, H 12,5 L 18, ph.185, Musée Rodin collection


CENTENARYAUGUSTE RODIN1917 | 2017

PRESS KIT DECEMBER 14, 2016

PRESS CONTACT

Agence ObservatoireT. +33(0)1 43 54 87 [email protected]


PREFACERodin, France's and even Europe’s most celebrated artist, passed away on 17

November 1917. In 2017, to mark the centenary of his death, we will be celebrating

the artist’s ever growing popularity.

A long-awaited recognition for Auguste Rodin. Up until the age of forty, he earned

his living without ever being acknowledged as an artist. It was not until the

commissions from the French State in 1880 that his reputation began to take hold,

notably thanks to the legendary Gates of Hell.

This work inspired Rodin for over thirty years; it formed the basis for The Thinker, a

universally recognised icon, ensuring the artist immense international acclaim and

placing him among the great names in the history of Western art. However, this

masterpiece was not unanimously praised when installed in front of the Pantheon,

receiving insults and called a “pithecanthrope”. Since then, The Thinker has become

a true ambassador of France, an official emblem: it has stood in Tiananmen Square in

Beijing in 1993, in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin in 2003 for the fortieth

anniversary of the Élysée Treaty, and in Rome in 2007 to celebrate the fiftieth

anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome. The Thinker fulfils its role as a

European citizen to the full.

It seems self-evident to honour Rodin in national commemorations, given how much

a part of our heritage he represents. Thanks to Rodin’s donation to the French State

in 1916, his works are presented at the Hôtel Biron, one of the capital’s most

stunning venues. On this anniversary, we have a duty to bring Rodin’s work even

further into the limelight. As such, I am delighted with the partnerships forged

between the musée Rodin in Paris and the collections of other museums in the

regions, which are joining forces to make this centenary a success among the public.

The many events organised for this commemoration are also a way of bringing

together all of the talented individuals focusing on Rodin, his works and his

perception today.

Rodin is also part of the world's shared heritage. His works are presented in over one

hundred collections open to the public worldwide, and over fifty in France.

Enthusiasm for his art has not waned, from Mexico to China, and as far as Australia.

Because Rodin’s strength lies in the artistic testament he bequeathed to modern

artists. The centenary of his death will show that Rodin remains a source of

inspiration, a sculptor with his eye on the future.

Audrey AzoulayMinister of Culture and Communication


EDITORIAL CATHERINE CHEVILLOTDIRECTOR OF THE MUSÉE RODIN1— HOW RENOWNED IS RODIN 100 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH?

Rodin has never been as renowned as he is now! He is known around the world and

his works are presented in countless museums on every continent, which was not

the case during his lifetime. In 1900, at the height of fame, Rodin was visited at his

home in Meudon by illustrious guests like the King of England and numerous artists

such as Brancusi. But it was the donation of his work to the French State in 1916 and

the creation of a museum at the site of his choice, the Hôtel Biron, which ensured his

recognition throughout the 20th century. The musée Rodin in Paris now receives

600,000 visitors per year on average, but thanks to the exhibitions that we design

abroad, more than one million amateurs can discover the artist’s work every year.

Major collections are presented in Europe, in London, Zurich and Copenhagen, as

well as in the United States at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the National

Gallery in Washington and the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, in

Mexico, in Japan in Tokyo and Shizuoka, in South Korea, in Australia in Sydney, and

many more.

By including Rodin in the curriculum for the baccalaureate in visual arts, the French

National Education system has established him as a media artist, thus introducing

thousands of young people to a history and a mode of expression through the study

of his work.

Rodin’s reputation among today’s most recognised artists demonstrates how the

responses he brought to his era still reverberate with current leanings. Most great

artists are still fascinated by his work, and Anselm Kiefer has accepted a carte

blanche at the musée Rodin. This reputation also takes forms more accessible to the

average person: la Monnaie de Paris will be releasing a two-euro coin bearing the

image of The Thinker, so that everyone can carry a piece of Rodin in their pocket!

The French Post Office will also be releasing a stamp of The Kiss, and Rodin will be

played by the actor Vincent Lindon in a film by Jacques Doillon.

2— HOW DO WE SEE RODIN TODAY?

With all of the research carried out over thirty years and taken into account in the

new museography of the musée Rodin, which reopened in November 2015, our view

of Rodin’s work has changed significantly. It is now richer and more comprehensive

than ever. The days of displaying solely final pieces and “noble” materials are a thing

of the past. Transitory phases reveal a highly innovative creative process, laying the

foundations for the avant-garde trends.

Assemblage, a technique typical of Rodin’s work, is one example of this. Rodin had

numerous plaster copies of his figures which he assembled as his research

progressed, not necessarily taking into account proportions but focusing on the

sought-after effect.


The assemblage Mask of Camille Claudel and Left Hand of Pierre de Wissant (one of

the Burghers of Calais) is a perfect example. The museum also houses enlargements

in plaster pushed to their limits, the Muse Whistler, for example, which shows

similarities between Rodin and Picasso. Known for his public monuments, bronzes

and his advocacy of feminine sensuality, this side of Rodin is enriched by a more

intimate and unusual side, the daring research work for which is now accessible.

Rodin witnessed a world transformed by technological, intellectual and social

revolutions, and his art has found resonance in a modern world that is also

experiencing upheaval on many fronts.

3— WHAT CHALLENGES DOES THE MUSÉE RODIN FACE AS THE ARTIST’S SUCCESSOR?

The musée Rodin faces a number of challenges. Its first objective is to raise the

profile of the works through exhibitions in France and abroad. The policy in place at

the musée Rodin regarding loans to other French museums has been stepped up in

Calais, Caen, Rodez, Nantes and soon Lyon. But the collections are also promoted

through exhibitions, publications, online catalogues (collections.musee-rodin.fr) and

the creation of specific websites like the one designed for the exhibition Hell according to Rodin on The Gates of Hell.

Moreover, as the artist’s beneficiary, the museum holds a very special position. As

the holder of the artist’s moral right, it actively monitors the art market to identify

and prosecute counterfeiters. The museum continues, in accordance with Rodin’s

wishes, to cast original bronze works. This unusual artist designed a unique

economic model for his museum, as the institution has been self-financed since it

was founded one hundred years ago. But these casts are also a way to renew our

vision of the works, and to enrich national collections as many models were not

released during Rodin’s lifetime. The musée Rodin thus recently added the 3rd copy

of Aphrodite, large model to its collections. In 2017, several previously unpublished

subjects will be cast, and revealed in March.

4— HOW HAS RODIN'S IMAGE EVOLVED OVER HUNDRED YEARS?

Just like Michelangelo, Rodin’s success remains steadfast. Rodin is a heavyweight in

art history, received with enthusiasm from China all the way to the United States.

Like Michelangelo, he uses the vocabulary of the body, he talks of human passions

and destinies, a language that speaks to all cultures and all shades of opinion. His

aura will last beyond the current period due to the key role he plays between

classical and modern art: this is the man who, as his contemporaries said, “brought

sculpture to life”.


2017 marks the centenary of Auguste Rodin’s death. The Thinker and The Kiss, world famous icons, embody a status rarely achieved by an artist. The centenary is an opportunity to shed light on the less well-known aspects of the artist’s work and to celebrate this visionary who laid the foundations of 20th century sculpture. Encompassing the initiatives undertaken around the globe to pay tribute to Rodin, the centenary will touch on all areas of artistic expression: exhibitions, films, publications, musical creation, philately and numismatics.

RODIN THE VISIONARY

Rodin the pioneer will be at the heart of the flagship event of this celebration: Rodin, The Centenary Exhibition, presented at the Galeries nationales du Grand Palais.

Having excelled in the practice of traditional sculpture, Rodin revisited all aspects of

this art that combines volume and light: from The Age of Bronze (1880) to the

Monument to Balzac (1898), he changed the course of sculpture through his

innovation, exploring human passions, using body language and creating

unexpected assemblages (Mask of Camille Claudel and Left Hand of Pierre de Wissant), breaking free of the unity of the body with partial figures (Walking Man).

His cut and pasted drawings preceded Matisse and Picasso, while his relationship to

photography foreshadowed that of Brancusi. At each decisive moment in the history

of 20th century sculpture, a different Rodin has come to light. Far from exhausting

the artist’s work, these changes in contemporary perspective have broadened its

understanding with each passing era. That is why echoes, for the most part

vindicated, of this great artist can be seen in the work of artists such as Giacometti,

Richier, César, Fontana, De Kooning, Baselitz, Lüpertz and Gormley.

As a continuation of this exhibition, the musée Rodin will be asserting its

programme more strongly than ever in cooperation with contemporary artists and

will be giving carte blanche to the artist Anselm Kiefer. The exhibition will

demonstrate the unique encounter of these two demiurges with a taste for

experimentation. Echoing this presentation, the museum displays will be altered to

exhibit entirely unknown works by Rodin for the first time that reflect the shared

concerns of the two artists and their aesthetic combat.

This visionary Rodin will be the star of one of the key events of the centenary: the

film Rodin by Jacques Doillon with Vincent Lindon in the role of Rodin and Izïa

Higelin as Camille Claudel. The television channels Arte and France 5 already have

plans to broadcast documentary films produced for the occasion. Bruno Aveillan and

François Bertrand will each be giving their views on Rodin’s major work, The Gates of Hell. Rodin’s life and work is also the subject chosen by Claire Duguet for her film

Rodin, Sculpting his Century.

RODIN FOR ALL AUDIENCES

MUSÉE RODINPRESS RELEASECENTENARY OF AUGUSTE RODIN 1917 | 2017

PRESS CONTACT

Agence ObservatoireT. +33(0)1 43 54 87 [email protected]

Édition November 14, 2016


The musées de France are also contributing to this centenary event by showcasing the

works by Rodin in their collection. Beyond the musée Rodin itself, at its two sites in Paris

and Meudon, the musée des Arts décoratifs and museums in Aix-les-Bains, Lyon, Calais,

Morlaix, Rodez, Montpellier, along with many more, are taking part and placing the artist in

the limelight.

At international level, Rodin’s works are presented to the public in over one hundred

museums, from Mexico to Japan, and from Korea to the United States. Rodin’s sculpture

fascinates, and attracts audiences from all cultures, all shades of opinion and all origins.

Using body language and constantly delving more deeply into human passions, the artist

moves every human being spontaneously and instantly, rarely leaving people unaffected.

All of these events will be publicised on the dedicated centenary website.

With the addition of Rodin to the curriculum for the baccalaureate in visual arts in France as

a reference theme, the centenary of the artist’s death is now a topic of interest to thousands

of secondary school pupils.

The musée Rodin will be running a special programme of mediation and entertainment

throughout the year for all audiences. The programme will kick-off on Valentine's day with

a “love” operation based on The Kiss and will come to an end the week of 17 November

2017 (the anniversary of Rodin’s death) with a special Rodin week. Initiatives will also be

put in place for school groups and disabled visitors.

Beyond the public sphere and the museums housing his works, Rodin will also be

accessible to all through the two-euro coin bearing the image of The Thinker and the artist

released by the French Mint and a stamp of The Kiss released by the French Post Office.

THE MUSÉE RODIN, RODIN'S SUCCESSOR

As the artist’s beneficiary, the museum, in accordance with Rodin’s wishes, casts and sells a

maximum of twelve original bronzes, notably thanks to the original moulds bequeathed by

the sculptor. The musée Rodin continues to fulfil this vocation by regularly casting

previously unpublished subjects, as for the centenary, for example. Three works:

Punishment, Monument to E. Carrière and Medea, will be cast in 2017.

A SPECIAL CENTENARY WEBSITE : RODIN100.ORG

The musée Rodin will be publicising the latest news from the centenary on a special

website for all of the initiatives submitted, whether in France or abroad. In addition to the

agenda, this website will also contain online resources:

→ Rodin around you : the museum collections and public spaces where Rodin’s works are

displayed, both in France and abroad, are presented in the form of an interactive map.

→ Rodin, Ups & Downs : written by Rodin himself as an intimate portrait, Rodin, Ups & Downs retraces the highs and lows of the artist’s life in forty anecdotes. A chronology will

add further information to this unusual portrait.

→ Your Rodin will be dedicated to publications by Internet users on Instagram.


EXHIBITIONKIEFER RODINMARCH 14 – OCTOBER 22, 2017 MUSÉE RODIN PARISTo mark the centenary of the death of Auguste Rodin, the museum will be asserting its programme more strongly than ever in cooperation with contemporary artists and is giving carte blanche to the artist Anselm Kiefer. Installed in the exhibition hall, the exhibition will demonstrate the unusual convergence of these two giants, shaped with freedom and liberated from all artistic contingencies.

The similar backgrounds, sources of inspiration and creative processes between

Kiefer and Rodin reveal an instinctive originality. Drawn by the accidental, open to

chance, they exploit all domains, manipulate all materials, heading off the beaten

path and allow themselves a myriad of arrangements and daring transformations.

Drawn by the debris and offcuts directly resulting from Rodin’s sculpture style,

which he combines with relics of his own life and other unusual materials, Anselm

Kiefer produces a series of entirely unprecedented displays. The artists takes it all in,

absorbs and digests it to create new forms. Behind the glass, Kiefer watches for the

spark of his metamorphoses with a keen eye. Similarly, the exhumed, tired and

dirtied, sealed, broken and disembowelled moulds of Rodin’s works testify to a past

life and a life yet to come. The form is imprisoned, preserved, ready to bloom, almost

palpable, permeated, compelled and perpetually reinvented by the gaze of the

observer.

Echoing this presentation, the museum displays will be altered to exhibit entirely

unknown plasters by Rodin for the first time that reflect the shared concerns of the

two artists and the same aesthetic combat. Absolution, a work blending sculpture

and fabric will be presented to the public for the first time. TEFAF Museum

Restoration Fund generously supported the restoration of Absolution.

Although Kiefer and Rodin play with all mediums and use every type of technique to

understand and absorb the legacies of the past and quench their love of their trade,

they above all glorify their shared cult through a common quest, the quest for truth

with no embellishment.

PRESS CONTACT

Agence [email protected]. +33 (0)1 43 54 87 71

THIS EXHIBITIONwill be shownat the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia fromNovember 17, 2017

Discover the full programmeof the centenaryon the website rodin100.org

Left, Anselm Kiefer, Marmorklippen

,

drRight, picture of Anselm Kiefer, 2015, © G. Poncet


EXHIBITIONS AND PROMINENCE OF THE COLLECTIONSRODIN ELSEWHERE

The Musée Rodin houses the world’s largest collection of Rodin’s works, but other French and international museums also contain a very rich heritage which contributes to the prominence of Rodin’s works. To celebrate the centenary, this network dedicated to Rodin is showcasing the artist’s works in French and international collections with a diverse programme (enhancement of the collections, public mediation, temporary exhibitions, reorganisation of the collections, etc.) to bring the centenary experience to life online, in Paris and worldwide.

FRANCE

→ Portraits et figures. Musée de Morlaix, November 12, 2016 - May 20, 2017

→ Dessins, lithographies, sculptures de la collection Faure, Musée Faure d'Aix-les-

Bains, March 31 - September 3, 2017

→ Le Baiser dans l'art... de Rodin à Wang Du, Musée des beaux-arts de Calais

April 8, September 17, 2017

→ Auguste Rodin, une passion pour Meudon (1893-1917), Musée d'art et d'histoire de

Meudon, September 15 - December 22, 2017

→ L'Oeil de Rodin, Musée des moulages, Université Paul-Valéry, Montpellier

September 20, 2017 - January 20, 2018

→ Auguste Rodin et son mouleur Paul Cruet, Musée français de la carte à jouer &

Galerie d'histoire de la ville d'Issy-les-Moulineaux,

September 20, 2017 - January 20, 2018

WORLDWIDE

→ Rodin, the human experience, selection from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor collections. Portland Art Museum, Portland, January 21 - April 16, 2017 ;

Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, May 6 - July 20, 2017 ;

Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, September 1, 2017 - January 7, 2018

→ Rodin, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Buenos Aires

→ Kiefer Rodin, Barnes Foundation of Philadelphia, starting in

November 17, 2017

→ Impressionism: The Art of Landscape, Museum Barberini, Potsdam,

January 28 - May 28, 2017

→ Rodin, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, starting in

September, 2017

→ New museography of the Rodin Museum, Philadelphia

→ New museography of the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts,

Stanford

→ New installation "Rodin Centenary", Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San

Francisco, January 28 - December 31, 2017

Discover the full programme of the centenary on the website rodin100.org


Étienne Clémentel, Rodin on the stairsof the Hôtel Biron, circa 1915, autochrome, Musée Rodin collection

THE MUSÉE RODIN, RODIN'SSUCCESSOR


1916, RODIN DONATION TO THE FRENCH STATE

"I give the State all my works in plaster, marble, bronze and stone, and my drawings, as well as the collection of antiquities that I had such pleasure in assembling for the education and training of artists and workers. And I ask the State to keep all these collections in the Hôtel Biron, which will be the Musée Rodin, reserving the right to reside there all my life." Auguste Rodin

In 1916, one year before his death, Rodin donated all of his works and belongings to

the French State. In exchange, the State purchased the Hôtel Biron and its estate with

the commitment to transform it into the musée Rodin. The Paris site opened in 1919,

followed by the Meudon site in 1948. This donation was the founding act of the

musée Rodin, forever tying the exceptional site of the Hôtel Biron to the collection of

the most prestigious sculptor of his time. Rodin’s bequest also included copyright

royalties, thus providing the museum with significant operating resources and

financial autonomy. The musée Rodin is the sole national museum to entirely self-

finance its operations.

The musée Rodin is dedicated to the study, promotion and dissemination of Rodin’s

work and sculpture.


ORIGINAL BRONZE CASTSAs the successor to the artist’s copyright royalties, thus ensuring its self-financing for the last one hundred years, the museum, in accordance with Rodin’s wishes, casts and sells original bronzes, notably thanks to the original moulds bequeathed by the sculptor. These casts are produced in strict compliance with legislation (limited to 12 copies) and consideration for Rodin’s moral right, and are carefully controlled.

The collections established by Thomas Fortune Ryan for the Metropolitan Museum

in New York and by Gerald B. Cantor for Stanford, the Rodin Museum in Shizuoka,

Japan, and in Seoul in South Korea, are the result of the international prominence of

the institution and have been amassed thanks to the relationships forged during

Rodin’s lifetime and with successive curators of the museum.

In 2016, the musée Rodin cast a copy of Aphrodite, large model to add to its

collections. Indeed, the museum did not previously have a bronze cast of the large

model of Aphrodite since it was not until 2014 that the complete moulds of the work

were brought together, thus allowing for the production of the bronze cast. This

unique sculpture in the museum’s collections is the third bronze copy, with the first

two produced for sale in 2015. This work thus joined the national collections in 2016,

and can be seen by public in the Garden of Sculptures at the musée Rodin.

Three original works will be cast for the centenary event:

PUNISHMENT, 1906

Punishment is a particularly complex group composition. 12 moulds are required to

produce all of the elements in this group. Once assembled, it becomes clear that the

work represents a man bent forward, carrying the body of a woman, surrounded by

two female figures who appear suspended in the air. The title “Punishment” would

seem to indicate that they are representations of Greek Erinyes: the role of these

deities, known by the Romans as the Furies, was to persecute criminals.

In 1913, Rodin exhibited the large male figure from this group at the Salon under the

title The Running Man. The casting of this group will be a first as the elements that

compose it are conserved in collections, but not in the form of a group assemblage:

the elements are dismembered, cut, separated from one another as part of an

enlargement process. A work to be discovered.

PROJECT FOR THE MONUMENT TO EUGÈNE CARRIÈRE, CIRCA 1906

The painter Eugène Carrière (1840-1906) was a friend of Rodin, and one of the artists

the sculptor admired greatly. The set of Carrière’s canvases forms the largest share

of his collection of paintings. The painter’s death in March 1906 was particularly

hard for Rodin, who resolved to help the artist’s family by raising funds to buy the

large format Tenderness and give it to the Musée du Luxembourg.

It would appear that the sculptor had planned to create a monument to his friend not

long after the latter’s death. An allegorical group, formed of a winged figure (Fama?),

a male figure (image of the deceased) and another figure whose role is less obvious,

stands on a cubic base. Rodin does not seem to have gone ahead with this project,

most likely due to a lack of commission.


top LeftAuguste Rodin, Study for The Punishment, plaster, H 30,5 W 18,8 D 19,4 cm, S.02121

top rightAuguste Rodin, Project for the Monumentto Eugène Carrière, 1912, plaster, H 52,6 W26,5 D 32,5 cm, S.02067

bottomAuguste Rodin, Medea, 1865-1870, plâtre, H 59,3 L 33 P 28 cm, S.2099

© musée Rodin, ph. H. Lewandowski


MEDEA, CIRCA 1890

This group represents Medea seated and partially draped, her arms falling at either

side of her body. Two children can be seen, although their contours are indistinct.

The theme of Medea, killing her children in a fit of jealousy and desperation after

being abandoned by Jason who she followed into exile, was popular among many

artists in the 19th century. Rodin’s group seems to echo Delacroix’s painting (1838,

musée des Beaux-arts de Lille) through its pyramid-shaped composition and the

twist of Medea’s body which seems to turn away from her children. However, in

Rodin’s work no knife can be seen in Medea’s hand, and her arms are empty: perhaps

she has already killed her children, whose bodies have fallen out of her grasp?

The drawings conserved show that the two tragedies of Ugolino and Medea

matured during the same period of the sculptor’s work, around 1870-1880. The

musée Rodin has two plaster moulds of this subject, one taken from a waste mould

of a clay model (S.02241). The finesse of the mould also demonstrates Rodin’s use of

a textile for the folds of the fabric on the main figure.

These three works will be cast in spring 2017.


PRESS CONTACT

For the Musée Rodinand the exhibitionKiefer RodinAgence Observatoire

T. +33 (0)1 43 54 87 71

[email protected]

MUSÉE RODIN COMMUNICATION CONTACT

Clémence Goldberger

[email protected]

Coordination of French and international museumsAnaïs Izard

[email protected]

Centenary websiteand social networksAlexis Bross

[email protected]

MUSÉE RODIN PARIS77 rue de Varenne 75007 ParisT. +33 (0)1 44 18 61 10

MUSÉE RODIN MEUDON19 avenue Auguste Rodin92190 MeudonT. +33 (0)1 41 14 35 00

TICKET OFFICEAND ONLINE SHOPmusee-rodin.fr

GROUP [email protected]

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Discover the full programmeof the centenaryon the website rodin100.org

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