,,rodin ,,the ,,man ,,and ,,his ,,art ,,with ,,leaves ,,from ,,his ,,note-,,book ,,compiled ,,by ,,judith ,,cladel ,,and ,,translated ,,by ,s4,k4 ,,star ,,with ,,introduction ,,by ,,james ,,huneker ,,and ,,illustrated ,,with ,,photographs ,,new ,,york ,,the ,,century ,,co4 #aiag ,illustration3 ,,rodin ,,photographed ,,on ,,the ,,steps ,,of ,,the ,,hotel ,,biron4 ,,auguste ,,rodin ,,by ,,james ,,huneker ,i ,of ,auguste ,rodin one thing may be said without fear of contradiction3 among his contemporaries to-day he is preminently the master4 ,born at ,paris1 #ahdj1--the natal year of his friends1 ,claude ,monet and ,zola--in humble circumstances1 without a liberal education1 the young ,rodin had to fight from the beginning2 fight for bread as well as an art schooling4 ,he was not even sure of his vocation4 ,an accident determined it4 ,he became a workman in the atelier of the sculptor1 ,carrier-,belleuse1 though not until he had failed at the ,beaux-,arts 7a stroke of luck for his genius71 and after he had enjoyed some tentative instruction under the animal sculptor1 ,barye 7he was not a steady pupil of ,barye1 nor did he care to remain with him7 he went to ,belgium and ghosted for other sculptors2 it was his privilege or misfortune to have been the anonymous assistant of a half dozen sculptors4 ,he mastered the technique of his art by the sweat of his brow before he began to make music upon his own instrument4 ,how his first work1 ,the ,man with the ,broken ,nose1 was refused by the ,salon jury is history4 ,he designed for the ,svres porcelain works4 ,he executed portrait busts1 architectural ornaments1 caryatids2 all styles that were huddled in the studios and yards of sculptors he essayed4 ,no man knew his trade better1 although it is said that with the chisel of the practicien ,rodin was never proficient2 he could not1 or would not1 work at the marble en bloc4 ,his sculptures to-day are in the museums of the world1 and he is admitted to possess talent by academic men4 ,rivals he has none4 ,his production is too personal4 ,like ,richard ,wagner he has proved a upas tree for lesser artists--he has deflected1 or else absorbed them4 ,his friend ,eugene ,carrire warned young sculptors not to study ,rodin too curiously4 ,carrire was wise1 yet his art of portraiture was influenced by ,rodin2 swimming in shadow his enigmatic heads have more the quality of ,rodin's than the mortuary art of academic sculpture4 ,a profound student of light and movement1 ,rodin by deliberate amplification of the surfaces of his statues1 avoiding dryness and harshness of outline1 secures a zone of radiancy1 a luminosity which creates the illusion of reality4 ,he handles values in clay as a painter does his tones4 ,he gets the design of the outline by movement which continually modifies the anatomy2 the secret of the ,greeks1 he believes4 ,he studies his profiles successively in full light1 obtaining volume--or planes--at once and together2 successive views of one movement4 ,the light plays with more freedom upon his amplified surfaces1 intensified in the modeling by enlarging the lines4 ,the edges of certain parts are amplified1 deformed1 falsified1 and we enjoy light-swept effects1 luminous emanations4 ,this deformation1 he declares1 was always practised by the great sculptors to snare the undulating appearance of life4 ,sculpture1 he asserts1 is the art of the hole and lump1 not of clear1 well-smoothed1 unmodeled figures4 ,finish kills vitality4 ,yet ,rodin can chisel a smooth nymph1 if he so wills1 but her flesh will ripple and run in the sunlight4 ,his art is one of accents4 ,he works by profile in depth1 not by surfaces4 ,he swears by what he calls cubic truth2 his pattern is a mathematical figure2 the pivot of art is balance1 i4e41 the opposition of volumes produced by movement4 ,unity haunts him4 ,he is a believer in the correspondence of things1 of continuity in nature4 ,he is mystic1 as well as a geometrician4 ,yet such a realist is he that he quarrels with any artist who does not recognize the latent heroic in every natural movement4 ,therefore he does not force the pose of his model1 preferring attitudes or gestures voluntarily adopted4 ,his sketch books1 as vivid1 as copious1 as the drawings of ,hokusai--he is studious of ,japanese art--are swift memoranda of the human machine as it dispenses its normal muscular motions4 ,rodin1 draughtsman1 is as surprisingly original as the sculptor ,rodin4 ,he will study a human foot for months1 not to copy it1 but to master the secret of its rhythms4 ,his drawings are the swift notations of a sculptor whose eye is never satisfied1 whose desire to pin to paper the most evanescent vibrations of the human machine is almost a mania4 ,the model may tumble down anywhere1 in any contortion or relaxation he or she wishes4 ,practically instantaneous is the method of ,rodin to register the fleeting attitudes1 the first shivering surface4 ,he rapidly draws with his eye on the model4 ,it is often a mere scrawl1 a silhouette1 a few enveloping lines4 ,but there is vitality in it all1 and for his purpose1 a notation of a motion4 ,but a sculptor has made these extraordinary drawings1 not a painter4 ,it may be well to observe the distinction4 ,and he is the most rhythmic sculptor among the moderns4 ,rhythm means for him the codification of beauty4 ,because1 with a vision quite virginal1 he has observed1 he insists that he has affiliations with the ,greeks4 ,but if his vision is ,greek his models are ,french1 while his forms are more ,gothic than the pseudo-,greek of the academy4 ,as ,mr4 ,w4,c4 ,brownell wrote3 ,rodin reveals rather than constructs beauty 444 no sculptor has carried expression further2 and expression means individual character completely exhibited rather than conventionally suggested4 ,mr4 ,brownell was the first critic to point out that ,rodin's art was more nearly related to ,donatello's than to ,michael ,angelo's4 ,he is in the legitimate line of ,gallic sculpture1 the line of ,goujon1 ,puget1 ,rude1 ,barye4 ,dalou1 the celebrated sculptor1 did not hesitate to assert that the ,dante portal is one of the most1 if not the most1 original and astonishing pieces of sculpture of the nineteenth century4 ,this ,dante gate1 begun thirty years ago1 not finished yet--and probably never to be--is an astoundingly plastic fugue1 with death1 the devil1 hell1 and human passions1 for a complicated four-voiced theme4 ,i first saw the composition at the ,rue de l',universit atelier4 ,it is as terrifying a conception as the ,last ,judgment4 ,nor does it miss the sonorous and sorrowful grandeur of the ,medici ,tombs4 ,yet how different4 ,how feverish1 how tragic4 ,like all great men working in the grip of a unifying idea1 ,rodin modified the technique of sculpture so that it would serve him as sound does a musical composer4 ,a lover of music his inner ear may dictate the vibrating rhythms of his forms2 his marbles are ever musical1 ever in modulation1 not frozen music1 as ,goethe said of ,gothic architecture1 but silent1 swooning music4 ,this ,gate is a ,frieze of ,paris1 as deeply significant of modern inspiration and sorrow as the ,parthenon ,frieze is the symbol of the great clear beauty of ,hellas4 ,dante inspired this monstrous yet ennobled masterpiece1 and ,baudelaire's poetry filled many of its chinks and crannies with ignoble writhing shapes2 shapes of dusky fire that1 as they tremulously stand above the gulf of fear1 wave ineffectual and desperate hands as if imploring destiny4 ,but ,rodin is not all hell-fire and tragedy4 ,of singular delicacy and exquisite proportion are his marbles of youth1 of springtide1 of the joy and desire of life4 ,at ,paris1 #aijj1 in his special exhibition ,salle1 ,europe and ,america awoke to the beauty of these haunting visions4 ,not since ,keats and ,wagner and ,swinburne has love been voiced so sweetly1 so romantically1 so fiercely4 ,though he disclaims understanding the ,celtic spirit one might say that there is ,celtic magic1 ,celtic mystery in his lyrical work4 ,he pierces to the core the frenzy of love1 and translates it into lovely symbols4 ,for him nature is the sole mistress--his sculptures are but variations on her themes4 ,he knows the emerald route1 and all the semitones of sensuousness4 ,fantasy1 passion1 paroxysmal madness are there1 yet what elemental power is in his ,adam1 as the gigantic first man painfully heaves himself up from the earth to the posture that differentiates him forever from the beast4 ,here1 indeed1 two natures are at strife4 ,and ,mother ,eve suggests the sorrows and shames that are to be the lot of her seed2 her very loins crushed by the future generations hidden within them4 ,one may freely walk about the ,burghers of ,calais as ,rodin did when he modeled them2 a reason for the vital quality of the group4 ,around all his statues we may walk2 he is not a sculptor of a single attitude but a hewer of humans4 ,consider the ,balzac4 ,it is not ,balzac the writer1 but ,balzac the prophet1 the seer1 the enormous natural force that was ,balzac4 ,rodin is himself a seer4 ,that is why these two spirits converse across the years1 as do the ,alpine peaks in a certain striking parable of ,turgenev's4 ,doubtless in bronze ,rodin's ,balzac will arouse less wrath from the unimaginative2 in plaster it produces the effect of a snowy surging monolith4 ,as a portraitist ,rodin is the unique master of characters4 ,his women are gracious delicate masks2 his men cover octaves in virility and variety4 ,that he is extremely short-sighted has not been dealt with in proportion to the significance of the fact4 ,it accounts for his love of exaggerated surfaces1 his formless extravagance1 his indefiniteness in structural design2 perhaps1 too1 for his inability1 or let us say1 his lack of sympathy1 for the monumental4 ,he is a sculptor of intimate emotions4 ,and while we think of him as a ,cyclops destructively wielding a huge hammer1 he is more ardent in his search for the supersubtle nuance4 ,but there is always the feeling of breadth1 even when he models an eyelid4 ,we are confronted by the paradox of an artist as torrential as ,rubens or ,wagner1 carving in a wholly charming style a segment of a child's back1 before which we are forced to exclaim3 ,donatello come to life6 ,his myopic vision1 then1 may have been his artistic salvation2 he seems to rely as much on his delicate tactile sense as on his eyes4 ,his fingers are as sensitive as a violinist's4 ,at times he seems to model both tone and color4 ,a poet1 a precise1 sober workman of art1 with a peasant strain in him1 he is like ,millet1 and1 like ,millet1 near to the soil4 ,a natural man1 yet crossed by nature with a perverse strain2 the possessor of a sensibility exalted and dolorous2 morbid1 sick-nerved1 and as introspective as ,heine2 a visionary and a lover of life1 close to the periphery of things2 an interpreter of ,baudelaire2 ,dante's alter ego in his grasp of the wheel of eternity1 in his passionate fling at nature2 withal a sculptor1 profound and tortured1 transposing rhythm into the terms of his art1 ,rodin is a statuary who1 while having affinities with classic and romantic schools1 is the most startling apparition of his century4 ,and to the century which he has summed up so plastically and emotionally he has propounded questions that only unborn years may answer4 ,he has a hundred faults to which he opposes one imperious excellence--a genius1 sombre1 magical and overwhelming4 ,,ii ,rodin deserves well of our young century1 the old did so incontinently batter him4 ,the anguish of his own ,hell's ,portal he endured before he molded its clay between his thick clairvoyant fingers4 ,misunderstood1 therefore misrepresented1 he with his pride and obstinacy aroused--the one buttressing the other--was not to be budged from his formulas or the practice of his sculpture4 ,then the art world swung unamiably1 unwillingly1 toward him1 perhaps more from curiosity than conviction4 ,he became famous4 ,and he is more misunderstood than ever4 ,he has been called rus1 even a fraud1 while the wholesale denunciation of his work as erotic is unluckily still green in our memory4 ,the sculptor1 who in #ahgg was accused of faking his lifelike ,age of ,bronze--now in the ,luxembourg--by taking a mold from the living model1 also experienced the discomfiture of being assured some years later that1 not understanding the art of modeling1 his statue of ,balzac was only an evasion of difficulties4 ,and this to a man who in the interim had wrought so many masterpieces4 ,a year or two ago1 after his magnificent offer to the city of ,paris of his works1 there was much malevolent criticism from certain quarters4 ,rodin takes all this philosophically4 ,he points out that the artist is the only one to-day who creates in joy4 ,mankind as a majority hates its work4 ,workmen no longer consider their various avocations with proper pride--this was a favorite thesis of ,ruskin1 ,william ,morris1 and ,renoir4 ,furthermore1 argues ,rodin1 the artist is indispensable4 ,he reveals the beauty and meaning of life to his fellows4 ,he struggles against the false1 the conventional1 and the used-up2 but the ,french sculptor slyly adds3 ,no one may benefit mankind with impunity4 ,he considers himself as having a religious nature2 all artists are temperamentally religious1 he contends1 though his religion is not precisely of the kind that would appeal to the orthodox4 ,to give ,rodin his due he stands prosperity not quite as well as poverty4 ,in every great artist there is a large area of self-esteem2 it is the reservoir from which he must1 during years of drought or defeat1 draw upon to keep fresh the soul4 ,without the consoling fluid of egotism genius would soon perish in the dust of despair4 ,but fill this source to the brim1 accelerate the speed of its current1 and artistic deterioration may ensue4 ,rodin has been fatuously called a second ,michael ,angelo--as if there could ever be a replica of any human4 ,he has been hailed as a modern ,praxiteles2 which is nonsense4 ,and he is often damned as a myopic decadent whose insensibility to the pure line and lack of architectonic have been elevated by his admirers into sorry virtues4 ,nevertheless1 is ,rodin justly appraised8 ,do his friends not over-glorify him8 ,nothing so stales a demigod's image as the perfumes burned before it by worshipers2 the denser the smoke the sooner crumbles the feet of their idol4 ,however1 in the case of ,rodin the ,fates have so contrived their malicious game that at no point in his career has he been without the company of envy and slander4 ,often when he had attained a summit he would be thrust down into a deeper valley4 ,he has mounted to triumphs and fallen to humiliations2 but his spirit has never been quelled2 and if each acclivity he scales is steeper1 the air atop has grown purer1 more stimulating1 and below the landscape spreads wider before him4 ,with ,dante he can say3 ,la montagna ch'e drizza voi ch'e il mondo fece torti4 ,rodin's mountain has always straightened in him what the world made crooked4 ,the name of his mountain is ,art4 ,a born nonconformist1 ,rodin makes the fourth of that group of nineteenth century artists--,richard ,wagner1 ,henrik ,ibsen1 ,edouard ,manet--who taught a deaf1 dumb1 and blind world to hear1 see1 think1 and feel4 ,is it not dangerous to say of a genius that his work alone should count1 that his personality is negligible8 ,though ,rodin has followed ,flaubert's advice to artists to lead an ascetic life that their art might be the more violent1 nevertheless his career1 colorless as it may seem to those who love better stage players and the comedy of society--this laborious life of a poor sculptor should not be passed over4 ,he always becomes enraged at the prevailing notion that fire descends from heaven upon genius4 ,rodin believes in but one inspiration--nature4 ,nature can do no wrong4 ,he swears that he does not invent1 he copies nature4 ,he despises improvisation1 has contemptuous words for fatal facility1 and1 being a slow-thinking1 slow-moving man1 he only admits to his councils those who have conquered art1 not by assault1 but by stealth and after years of hard work4 ,he sympathizes with ,flaubert's patient1 toiling days4 ,he praises ,holland because after ,paris it seems slow4 ,slowness is beauty1 he declares4 ,in a word1 he has evolved a theory and practice of his art that is the outcome--like all theories1 all techniques--of his own temperament4 ,and that temperament is giant-like1 massive1 ironic1 grave1 strangely perverse2 it is the temperament of a magician of art doubled by a mathematician's4 ,books are written about him4 ,with picturesque precision ,de ,maupassant described him in ,notre ,coeur4 ,rodin is tempting as a psychologic study4 ,he appeals to the literary critic1 though his art is not literary4 ,his modeling arouses tempests1 either of dispraise or idolatry4 ,to see him steadily after a visit to his studios at ,paris or ,meudon is difficult4 ,if the master be present then one feels the impact of a personality that is misty as the clouds about the base of a mountain1 and as impressive as the bulk of the mountain4 ,yet a sane1 pleasant1 unassuming man interested in his clay--that is1 unless you happen to discover him interested in humanity4 ,if you watch him well you may in turn find yourself watched2 those peering eyes possess a vision that plunges into the depths of your soul4 ,and this master of marble sees the soul as nude as he sees the body4 ,it is the union in him of sculptor and psychologist that places ,rodin apart from other artists4 ,these two arts 7psychology is the art of divination7 he practises in a medium that hitherto did not betray potentialities for such performances4 ,walter ,pater is right in maintaining that each art has its separate subject matter2 still1 in the debatable province of ,rodin's sculpture we find strange emotional power1 hints of the pictorial1 and a rare suggestion of music4 ,this1 obviously1 is not playing the game according to the rules of ,lessing and his ,laocon4 ,let us drop the old aesthetic rule of thumb and confess that during the last century a new race of artists sprang up and in their novel element they1 like flying-fishes1 revealed to a wondering world their composite structure4 ,thus we find ,berlioz painting with his instrumentation2 ,franz ,liszt1 ,tschaikowsky1 and ,richard ,strauss filling their symphonic poems with drama and poetry2 while ,richard ,wagner invented an art which he believed embraced all the others4 ,and there was ,ibsen who employed the dramatic form as a vehicle for his anarchistic ideas2 and ,nietzsche1 who was such a poet that he was able to sing a mad philosophy into life2 not to forget ,rossetti1 who painted poems and made poetry of his pictures4 ,sculpture was the only art that resisted this universal disintegration1 this imbroglio of the seven arts4 ,no sculptor before ,rodin had dared to shiver the syntax of stone4 ,for sculpture is a static1 not a dynamic art--is it not8 ,let us observe the rules though we call up the chill spirit of the cemetery4 ,what ,mallarm attempted with ,french poetry ,rodin accomplished in clay4 ,his marbles do not represent1 but present1 emotion2 they are the evocation of emotion itself2 as in music1 form and substance coalesce4 ,if he does not1 as does ,mallarm1 arouse the silent thunder afloat in the leaves1 he can summon from the vasty deep the spirits of love1 hate1 pain1 sin1 despair1 beauty1 ecstasy2 above all1 ecstasy4 ,now1 the primal gift of ecstasy is bestowed upon few artists4 ,keats had it1 and ,shelley2 ,byron1 despite his passion1 missed it4 ,we find it in ,swinburne1 he had it from the first4 ,few ,french poets know it4 ,like the cold devils of ,flicien ,rops1 coiled in frozen ecstasy1 the fiery blasts of hell about them1 ,charles ,baudelaire boasted the dangerous gift4 ,poe and ,heine felt ecstasy1 and ,liszt4 ,wagner was the master-adept of ecstasy3 ,tristan and ,isolde6 ,and in the music of ,chopin ecstasy is pinioned within a bar1 the soul rapt to heaven in a phrase4 ,richard ,strauss has given us a variation on the theme of ecstasy2 voluptuousness troubled by pain1 the soul tormented pathologically4 ,rodin is of this tormented choir4 ,he is revealer of its psychology4 ,it may be decadence1 as any art is in its decadence which stakes the part against the whole4 ,the same was said of ,beethoven by the followers of ,haydn1 and the successors of ,richard ,strauss--,debussy1 ,stravinsky1 and ,schoenberg--are abused quite as violently as the ,wagnerites abused ,richard ,strauss1 turning against him the same critical artillery that was formerly employed against ,wagner4 ,nowadays1 ,rodin is looked on as superannuated1 as a reactionary by the younger men1 the ,cubists and ,futurists1 who spoil marble with their iconoclastic chisels and canvas with their paint-tubes4 ,that this ecstasy should be aroused by pictures of love and death1 as in the case of ,poe and ,baudelaire1 ,wagner and ,strauss and ,rodin1 is not to be judged an artistic crime4 ,in the ,far ,east they hypnotize neophytes with a bit of broken mirror1 for in the kingdom of art there are many mansions4 ,possibly it was a relic of his early admiration for ,baudelaire that set ,wagner to extorting ecstasy from his orchestra by images of love and death4 ,and no doubt the temperament which seeks such synthesis1 a temperament commoner in medieval times than ours1 was inherent in ,wagner1 as it is in ,rodin4 ,both men play with the same counters3 love and death4 ,in ,pisa we may see 7attributed by ,vasari7 ,orcagna's fresco of the ,triumph of ,death4 ,the sting of the flesh and the way of all flesh are inextricably blended in ,rodin's ,gate of ,hell4 ,his principal reading for half a century has been ,dante and ,baudelaire2 the ,divine ,comedy and ,les ,fleurs du ,mal are the keynotes in the grandiose white symphony of the ,french sculptor4 ,love and life1 and bitterness and death rule the themes of his marbles4 ,like ,beethoven and ,wagner1 he breaks academic rules1 for he is ,auguste ,rodin1 and where he magnificently achieves1 lesser men fail or fumble4 ,his large1 tumultuous music is alone for his chisel to ring out and to sing4 ,,contents ,,the ,,career ,,of ,,rodin ,,rodin ,,and ,,the ,,beaux-,,arts ,sojourn in ,belgium--,the ,man ,who ,awakens to ,nature--,realism and ,plaster ,casts4 ,,flemish ,,painting--,,journeys ,,in ,,italy ,,and ,,france4 ,,rodin',s ,,note-,,book ,i ,,ancient ,,workshops ,,and ,,modern ,,schools ,,ii ,,scattered ,,thoughts ,,on ,,flowers ,,iii ,,portraits ,,of ,,women ,,iv ,,an ,,artist',s ,,day ,v ,,the ,,line ,,and ,,the ,,structure ,,of ,,the ,,gothic ,,vi ,,art ,,and ,,nature ,,vii ,,the ,,gothic ,,genius ,,the ,,work ,,of ,,rodin ,i ,,the ,,study ,,of ,,the ,,cathedrals--,,influence ,,of ,,the ,,gothic ,,on ,,the ,,art ,,of ,,rodin--,,saint ,,john ,,the ,,baptist 7#ahhj7--,,the ,,gate ,,of ,,hell ,,ii ,,the ,,burghers ,,of ,,calais 7#ahhi7--,,rodin ,,and ,,victor ,,hugo--,,the ,,statue ,,of ,,balzac 7#ahih7 ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,rodin photographed on the steps of the ,hotel ,biron ,frontispiece ,portrait of a ,young ,girl ,la ,pucelle ,minerva ,psyche ,the ,adieu ,rodin in ,his ,studio at the ,hotel ,biron ,representation of ,france ,the ,man with the ,broken ,nose ,caryatid ,man ,awakening to ,nature ,the ,kiss ,bust of the ,countess of ,w---- ,the ,poet and the ,muse ,the ,thinker ,adolescence ,portrait of ,rodin ,head of ,minerva ,the ,bath ,the ,broken ,lily ,portrait of ,madame ,morla ,vicuha ,la ,pense ,hotel ,biron1 ,view from the ,garden ,rodin ,photographed in the ,court of the ,hotel ,biron ,portrait of ,mrs4 ,x ,rodin in ,his ,garden ,the ,poet and the ,muses ,the ,tower of ,labor ,headless ,figure ,rodin's ,house and ,studio at ,meudon ,the ,tempest ,the ,village ,fiance ,metamorphosis ,according to ,ovid ,eve ,rodin at ,work in the ,marble ,peristyle of the ,studio at ,meudon ,statue of ,bastien-,lepage ,danaiade ,portrait ,bust of ,victor ,hugo ,monument to ,victor ,hugo ,statue of ,balzac ,the ,head of ,balzac ,the ,studio at ,meudon ,romeo and ,juliet ,spring ,bust of ,bernard ,shaw ,a ,fte ,given in ,honor of ,rodin by ,some of ,his ,friends4 ,,the ,,man ,,and ,,his ,,art ,,the ,,career ,,of ,,rodin ,several years have already gone by since the career of ,rodin attained its full growth4 ,from now on1 therefore1 it can be envisaged as a whole1 and we can trace the formation and the unfolding of his complex talent and disentangle the influences that have directed and sustained it4 ,in the course of the chapters that follow1 ,rodin1 with the authority1 the calm strength1 and the lucidity that characterize his thought1 often speaks himself of these influences1 but rather in a casual1 gossipy1 reminiscent vein1 reflecting his personal observations4 ,he does not attempt to disengage the broad lines by which he has reached the summit of art1 or to map out1 so to speak1 that scheme of his intellectual development which so naturally appertains to the man who has reached the apogee of talent and which he contemplates with the satisfaction of a strategist face to face with the plan of the battles he has won4 ,it is to living writers that he seems to address himself4 ,rodin to-day can be studied like an old master1 ,donatello1 ,michelangelo1 or ,pierre ,puget4 ,one perceives quite in its entirety the distinct1 the rigorously sustained plan that he has followed with unswerving will in order to realize himself2 and the witnesses1 the historians of this heroic life of the sculptor1 have the advantage of being able to trace it with exactitude1 as they could not do in the case of a vanished artist4 ,they are able to interrogate the hero in person2 they are able to consult with ,rodin himself1 who is admirably intuitive and quite aware of what he owes to certain favorable conditions of his life and above all to his illustrious forerunners1 those who have fought before him on the battle-field of high art4 ,the study of nature1 of the antique1 ,greek and ,roman1 of the art of medieval ,france and that of the ,renaissance--these are the springs at which he has constantly refreshed one of the most irrefutable sculptural talents that has ever been known4 ,these are the expressions of the beautiful among which his profound and searching thought has traveled unceasingly1 seeking to attain to a still larger vision1 a more exact understanding of that most magnificent of all the arts1 sculpture4 ,the superior man is always the product of an exceptional gift and of an energy peculiar to himself1 which effectuates itself despite circumstances4 ,he is the highest incarnation of the spirit1 of the struggle for existence4 ,in the case of an artist the struggle is all the more severe1 for he has nothing but himself to impose upon the world and he has1 as weapons of offense and defense1 nothing but his intelligence1 the tiny substance of his brain4 ,it is therefore only by means of the history of his intellectual life that one can understand him4 ,external happenings only very slightly influence the obstinate march of true genius toward the accomplishment of its destiny4 ,at most they delay it but a few hours4 ,it forces its way through the most difficult obstacles2 it even makes use of these obstacles in order to redouble its strength and confirm its superiority4 ,nothing impedes the formidable will of those who are under the spell of beauty1 those who see truth and know it and desire to express what they see4 ,they can no more escape the fruition of their faculties than the giant can escape the attainment of his full stature4 ,rodin has been one of these4 ,certainly he has been assisted by circumstances1 but above everything how has he not compelled circumstances to assist him8 ,what demands preminent recognition in his case is the gift1 a splendid1 a dazzling gift for the plastic arts1 the realization of which has been imposed upon him1 as it were1 by the command of destiny4 ,whence did it come8 ,from whom did he inherit it8 ,from what ancestor1 sensitive to the enchantment of beauty1 suffering1 and in travail from the necessity of proclaiming it1 but imperfectly endowed and powerless to forge for himself a talent in order to express the tremors of his soul8 ,it is a mystery4 ,no one can tell1 ,rodin himself least of all4 ,science has not yet taught us anything about those obscure combinations1 those endless preferences of the vital force1 thanks to which a person possesses the faculties of genius4 ,in this1 as in other things1 we are unable to divine the cause and can only marvel at the effect1 the prodigy4 ,discredited to-day are the theories of ,lombroso and his school1 once so warmly welcomed by mediocre minds athirst for equality1 in which great men were considered as degenerates of a superior variety1 and the most sensitive spirits qualified as candidates for the madhouse6 ,all one can say is that nature abhors equality1 that the indwelling will delights in raising up lofty mountain masses above the uniformity of the plains and the valor of the chosen few above the multitude4 ,the function of the man of genius is1 precisely1 to possess in a supreme degree the sense of inequality and to transcribe its infinite nuances in their ever-changing1 ever-moving1 ever-renewed variety4 ,he alone perceives the diversities whose play is the law of the universe itself1 and he grasps them equally in a fragment of inanimate matter and in the vastest aspects of the world4 ,far from being half mad1 this unique being1 this prodigious mirror of a million facets1 achieves his aim only because he possesses far more intelligence than the most brilliant of his contemporaries1 because he is in touch with a more profound order of things and a more comprehensive method1 because he combines the qualities of continuity in sensation and of discernment which constitute that supreme sensibility of all the senses acting together--taste4 ,but it does not please ordinary mortals to believe things of this kind1 and one can easily understand how the crowd1 repudiating any such humiliating notion1 are all too willing to follow the lead of exotic pseudo-scientists and look upon great men as lunatics1 considering themselves far more rational4 ,as to what ,rodin himself thinks of this privilege that ,providence has conferred on him1 there is no telling2 he has never talked very much about it4 ,the fact is1 he has such faith in the value of hard work and will-power1 he knows so well how extraordinarily much of these even the most exceptional natures have to exert in order to accomplish anything1 that this privilege of divine right1 otherwise just as authentic as that which sovereigns in former times profited by1 amounts to nothing in the end but the account which he draws up in order to calculate the sum of his efforts4 ,when ,i was quite young1 as far back as ,i remember1 ,i drew1 he says2 but the gift is nothing without the will to make it worth while4 ,the artist must have the patience of water that eats away the rock drop by drop4 ,alas6 will and work1 ,master1 are also gifts2 but the supreme spirit maliciously amuses itself by leading us into error1 inspiring us with the illusion that it lies with us to acquire them4 ,rodin's case1 then1 is an example of absolute predestination1 assisted by a will of iron4 ,one must add also the happy influence of the varied environment in which his life has been placed and the excellent artistic education he received in the schools where he studied1 an education that was fruitful1 thanks to the preservation of the true traditions of ,french art1 kept alive in the schools since the eighteenth century4 ,,childhood4 ,,youth4 ,,first ,,studies ,auguste ,rodin is the son of a ,norman father and a ,lorrainese mother4 ,each of these two ,french provinces1 ,normandy and ,lorraine1 produces a race eminently realistic1 but realistic in quite different ways4 ,the ,lorrainer1 opinionated and courageous1 hardy in character1 and vigorous like his country itself1 sees things clearly and precisely in the light of a spirit that has been fashioned by the age-old struggle between ,teuton and ,gaul on our eastern frontier4 ,the things that surround him1 the aspects of his native soil1 like the sullen obstinacy of the enemy that seeks in vain to drag him away1 present themselves to his eye as a reality stripped of illusions4 ,when one has to fight there is no time to dream1 and one must be able to estimate with precision what one is fighting for4 ,when the man of ,lorraine utters his feeling about the things he loves and defends1 it is with a loyalty rather dry in expression and impression1 but also with a force of consciousness that is imposing4 ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,a ,,young ,,girl4 ,a ,,work ,,of ,,rodin',s ,,youth4 ,as for the ,norman1 like his country he overflows with an abundance of life from which he derives a passionate need for the pleasures of sense4 ,far from stifling in him the love of the beautiful1 this appetite for triumphant realities engenders1 on the contrary1 an exaltation of the senses that leads to the most exquisite taste in the production of art4 ,compounded of sensuality and mysticism1 the twin characteristics of these rich spirits1 very like those of ,belgium1 to whom1 by virtue of ancient migrations1 they are closely allied1 the artists of ,normandy necessarily respond to the manifold requirements of their temperament4 ,we know with what a profusion of monuments1 robust and imposing in structure and miraculously clothed in the most delicate lacework of stone1 the ,gothic architects of ,normandy have covered not only the soil of their province1 but also1 beyond the sea1 that of the ,two ,sicilies1 strewn even to this day with beautiful cloisters and sumptuous churches of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries1 which the ,norman ,conquest carried there4 ,the child of ,normandy and ,lorraine was born in ,paris1 ,november #ad1 #ahdj4 ,his father was a simple employee4 ,he dwelt in one of the oldest and most curious quarters of the great city1 the ,quartier ,saint-,victor in the fifth arrondissement4 ,rodin saw the light in the rue de l',arbalte4 ,it is a little1 hilly street1 quite provincial in its aspect and its quietness1 that winds among the rows of old houses1 some low1 as if crouched down1 others narrow and high1 as if they wished to look over their shoulders at what passes below1 very like a crowd of living people4 ,its name1 the rue de l',arbalte1 is full of suggestion of the ,middle ,ages1 like that of the rue des ,patriarches1 in which it comes to an end1 and that of the rue des ,lyonnais and the rue de l',epe-de-,bois1 which are its neighbors4 ,it crosses the famous rue ,mouffetard near the little church of ,st4 ,mdard on the last slopes of the ,montagne-,sainte-,genevive1 which has been1 since the thirteenth century1 the seat of the university and the schools2 below is the plain of the ,gobelins1 where once the river ,bivre ran exposed4 ,even to the present day this corner of the city has not suffered too much from the destructive changes of modernity4 ,at the time of the childhood of ,rodin it was still virtually untouched4 ,crowded1 picturesque1 and in certain parts dirty and squalid1 like an ,oriental city1 with its little interlacing streets1 its countless shops1 its swarms of people given over to a thousand familiar trades carried on in public1--open-air kitchens1 fruit-stands1 grocery shops1 clothing shops1 and shops of ironmongers1 coal-venders1 and1 wine-sellers1--it is an almost perfect fragment1 a human fragment1 of the old ,gothic ,paris4 ,truly ,rodin was fortunate3 he was born in a chapter of ,victor ,hugo's ,notre ,dame de ,paris4 ,destiny preserved the first glances of his artist's eyes from the disenchanting banality of our modern streets4 ,it placed before them1 as if to give them a hatred of uniformity1 as if to disgust him forever with the misdeeds of the straight line1 adopted the world over by the rank and file of contemporary architects1--those congenitally blind and mutilated souls1--a population of houses having a physiognomy and a soul of their own1 which1 with their sloping roofs1 their irregular gables1 etch their amusing profiles against the sky and seem to gossip with the birds and the clouds1 putting to shame the few regular buildings that have intruded and lost themselves amid this congregation so touched with spirituality4 ,all this ,rodin saw2 with a child's innocent eye1 he absorbed all this fantasy of past ages2 he studied the little shops with their low ceilings dating from the period of the gilds2 he noted through the tiny panes of their windows the ,rembrandtesque effects of shadow and golden light1 in which the humblest objects live a life that is full of intimate mystery and familiar charm4 ,about them he saw a people full of life1 alert1 awake1 always in action1 always in dispute1 unconsciously falling into a thousand beautiful1 simple attitudes1 the eternal attitudes associated with drinking1 eating1 sleeping1 working1 and loving4 ,what admirable1 powerful precepts this teaching1 without effort1 without professors1 without pedantry1 thus forever imposed upon the memory of the future sculptor6 ,yes1 ,rodin there enjoyed a priceless good fortune4 ,as child and young man1 his walks and his duties took him incessantly past ,notre ,dame1 the queen of cathedrals1 appearing1 from the heights of ,ste4 ,genevive1 magnificently seated on the bank of the ,seine that devotedly kisses its feet2 in front of it1 ,ste4 ,etienne-du-,mont1 surrounded by convents1 with its nave1 that treasure of grace bequeathed to us by the ,renaissance4 ,there also is the ancient little ,roman church of ,st4 ,julien-le-,pauvre2 and ,st4 ,sverin1 that sweet relic of ,gothic art1 about which lies unrolled the old quartier des truands1 with the rues ,galande de la ,huchette and de la ,parcheminerie1 which the pick-axes of the housebreakers are now giving over to the universal ugliness4 ,the ,panthon and the buildings that surround it taught the young ,rodin that the public monuments of the style of ,louis ,,xv1 although colder and stiffer1 still offer a certain grandeur by virtue of their beauty of proportion and character4 ,close beside the somewhat formal solemnity of these buildings1 the ,gardens of the ,luxembourg that invite the passer-by with all their tender1 smiling charm1 the exquisite parterre1 the elegant little pilastered palace1 the ,medici fountain1 whose charming statues pour out their water that murmurs beneath the branches of the trees spread out above like a tent of lacework1 taught him the enchantment of the architectural harmonies of the ,renaissance1 harmonies of chiseled stone1 noble shadows1 and carpeting flowers4 ,like all artists1 ,rodin adores the ,luxembourg4 ,more than this1 he would not for anything in the world see those statues of the queens of ,france banished1 those enormous stone dolls of a quality1 as regards sculpture1 little calculated to satisfy lovers of rich modeling4 ,no matter1 he loves the gray mass they make under the fragrant summits of the limes and the hawthorns2 they are part of the scenery of his youth2 he remains faithful to them as to old playthings4 ,was it not these that he sketched in those first attempts of his8 ,his aptitude quickly revealed itself4 ,this man1 whom ignorant critics were to reproach one day with not knowing how to draw1 handled the pencil from his earliest childhood4 ,his mother bought her provisions from a grocer in the neighborhood4 ,the grocer wrapped up his rice1 vermicelli1 and dried prunes in bags made from cut-up illustrated papers and engravings that had been thrown away4 ,rodin got hold of these bags1 and they were his first models4 ,he copied these wretched images passionately4 ,toward the age of twelve1 he was sent to ,beauvais1 to the house of an uncle who undertook to bring him up4 ,beauvais and its unfinished cathedral was another silent lesson1 never to be forgotten--that cathedral which is nothing but a choir1 but how marvelous a choir6 ,of course at the time he did not appreciate its splendor4 ,with the indifference of his age1 he studied its architecture and its sculpture1 which1 for that matter1 all his contemporaries1 even the cultivated1 despised from the depth of their ignorance4 ,that was the time when art critics and professors of esthetics denied ,gothic art without comprehending it1 the ,roman school being in the ascendant in the admiration of the public4 ,nevertheless1 the jewel in stone did not fail to speak in the language of beauty and truth to this predestined young man4 ,his sensibility registered its impressions1 noted down those points of comparison which he was to find later in the depths of his memory and which were to enable him to judge and appreciate4 ,under the vault of the majestic nave he listened to the mass1 he took part in the grand1 sacred drama1 whose phrases touched his imagination profoundly1 sometimes exalting it to the point of mysticism and impregnating it with the nobility of the symbols and of the ,catholic ritual tempered by eighteen centuries of usage4 ,rodin was placed in a boarding-school4 ,he found the scholar's life dreary and dull2 his comrades seemed to him noisy young barbarians1 absorbed in brutal and too often vicious pastimes4 ,certain studies were repugnant to him1 mathematics and solfeggio4 ,near-sighted1 without being aware of it1 he could not make out the figures and the notes the masters wrote on the blackboard2 he understood nothing and was almost bored to death4 ,this myopia was destined to have the most vital influence on his art4 ,because of his difficulty in perceiving total effects1 his instinct has only rarely led him to the composition of monuments on a very large scale1 in which the architectural construction is of nearly as great importance as the sculpture proper4 ,the most considerable that we owe to him is that of ,the ,burghers of ,calais2 and there is also ,the ,gate of ,hell1 which1 almost inexplicably1 remained incomplete even in the very hour when it was given over as finished4 ,the great sculptor1 at the time when he turned it over to the founders1 perhaps unconsciously experienced a lapse of vision1 an insurmountable fatigue of the eyes1 over-strained by the prolonged effort to grasp the ensemble of the edifice and the harmony of the countless details of this superb composition4 ,but if he has been turned aside1 by his physical constitution1 from monumental art1 it has only served to concentrate him with all the more ardor upon the minute work of modeling1 for which1 by a sort of compensation1 he is endowed with an eye whose penetration has had no equal since the time of the ,renaissance4 ,at the age of fourteen he returned to ,paris4 ,his parents judged that the moment had come for him to choose a career4 ,observing his astonishing gifts1 they decided to let him take up drawing1 but1 having small means1 they were unable to provide him with special masters4 ,they entered him at the ,school of ,decorative ,arts1 another piece of good fortune4 ,this school1 called by abbreviation the ,petite ,ecole1 in distinction from the great school1 that of the ,beaux-,arts1 is situated in the old rue de l',ecole de ,mdecine1 close to the ,facult de ,mdecine and the ,sorbonne4 ,it was founded in #agfe1 under the name of the ,free ,school of ,design1 by the painter ,jean-,jacques ,bachelier1 a clever artist and student of styles in art no longer practised or little known1 who had been well thought of by ,madame de ,pompadour1 the favorite of ,louis ,,xv1 the charming and virtually official minister of fine arts during the reign of that monarch4 ,it was she who placed ,bachelier in charge of the ateliers de dcoration at the ,svres manufactory4 ,in creating the ,petite ,ecole1 the painter seemed to be following out1 after the death of his gracious protectress1 the impulse she had communicated to ,french art during her lifetime4 ,illustration3 ,,la ,,pucelle4 ,thus we see ,rodin at the school of the ,marquise de ,pompadour1 placed once more in a milieu full of originality and life4 ,he found himself there surrounded by a little world of beginners in every line1 budding artists2 almost everybody of his generation has passed through this course4 ,they came there to learn to draw1 paint1 and model4 ,in the evening the halls were filled with amateurs who1 after their day's work was over1 sought to acquire a certain artistic skill as tapestry-workers1 ornament-makers1 workers in iron1 marble1 etc4 ,they were energetic1 turbulent1 poor4 ,rodin1 like them1 was energetic and poor1 but silent1 laborious1 and pertinacious4 ,he applied himself to the copying of models of all sorts1 most frequently red chalks by ,boucher and plaster casts of animals1 plants1 and flowers4 ,the school had possessed these things since the eighteenth century and1 like almost everything that was created in that bountiful epoch1 they were very well done1 composed after nature1 their elegance full of warm truth2 they were models in bold ronde-bosse4 ,that is to say1 they presented that quality of relief to which drawing1 like sculpture1 owes its rich oppositions of light and shadow4 ,to those who copied them they communicated the science of relief1 the fundamental basis of art1 and the living suppleness of the best periods1 which has almost entirely disappeared to-day4 ,one day ,rodin entered the modeling class4 ,he worked there after the antique4 ,he had his first experience of working in clay2 it was a revelation1 an enchantment4 ,he fell in love with this mtier1 which seemed to him the most seductive of all2 he became obsessed with the desire to mold this soft material himself1 to search in it for the form of things4 ,his first attempts overjoyed him2 he was not fifteen years old and he had found his path6 ,we see him executing a fragment2 he models the head1 the hands1 the arms1 the legs1 the feet2 then he sets about the whole figure2 there is no deception2 there are no insurmountable difficulties for him2 he understands at once the structure of the human body2 in the phrase of the atelier1 ses bonshommes tiennent2 the arms and the legs adjust themselves naturally to the body3 he is a born sculptor4 ,every day he arrives at the class at eight o'clock in the morning2 he works without faltering till noon1 in company with five or six pupils4 ,at that hour they stop work2 they are happy2 they leave their seats and take a turn about the model4 ,in the evening things are different2 from seven to nine1 the class is over-full2 one can study the model then only from a distance2 a superficial1 wretched method that is practised on a large scale at the ,ecole des ,beaux-,arts and against which ,rodin has protested all his life4 ,thus we find him entered on his artistic career not as a dilettante1 as an amateur1 as happens too often1 but as a veritable workman4 ,like ,general ,klber1 he could long say1 ,my poverty has served me well2 ,i am attached to it4 ,it placed him1 from his childhood1 in the presence of realities4 ,it steeped him in life itself4 ,it safeguarded him from the artificial education that debilitates the young middle-class ,frenchman and destroys in him the spirit of initiative and personality4 ,it deprived him luckily of the pleasures that rich young men too easily offer themselves1 the abuse of which renders them unsteady1 capricious1 and indifferent4 ,rigorously held to his path by necessity1 he consecrated all his time and all his energies to study4 ,he became diligent1 serious1 and prudent4 ,he had the opportunity of seeing his modeling corrected by ,carpeaux4 ,the great sculptor1 in fact1 taught at the ,petite ,ecole4 ,upon his return from ,rome1 he had asked for a modest post as an assistant master that would help to assure his equally modest existence2 they had granted his request1 but without seeking to give him anything more6 ,his young pupils scarcely understood his high worth1 the substantial and delicate grace of his talent1 his voluptuous elegance1 inherited from the eighteenth century and united with a certain nervous seductiveness that was altogether modern1 a certain palpitating quality of the soul and of the flesh that had not been known before1 manifesting itself through the ductility of his modeling4 ,but instinctively they admired him2 they marveled1 among other things1 at the precision and the rapidity of the corrections the master executed under their eyes4 ,later1 when experience had come to him1 ,rodin greatly honored ,jean-,baptiste ,carpeaux2 he was one of those for whom the appearance of the famous group ,the ,dance1 in the parvis of the ,opra1 was a veritable event4 ,at that moment he discovered again in himself the influence of this beautiful spirit which had been slumbering in him since he left the ,petite ,ecole2 then he became almost the disciple of ,carpeaux4 ,i know a figure of a bacchante of ,rodin's1 a marble that is almost unknown1 the flesh of which is so supple and so light that one would say it was molded of wheat and honey and the work of the sculptor of ,the ,dance4 ,there floats also in its countenance that spirituality1 that expression as of a sort of angelic malice which ,carpeaux seems to have borrowed occasionally from the figures of ,leonardo da ,vinci4 ,illustration3 ,,minerva4 ,when the clocks of the ,sorbonne quarter struck noon1 ,rodin left the ,petite ,ecole2 he walked to the ,louvre1 eating1 as he went1 a roll and a cake of chocolate which was all he had for lunch4 ,he sketched the antiques4 ,from there he went on to the ,galerie des ,estampes at the ,bibliothque ,nationale1 where they loaned out1 without any too much good will1 misplaced as that is with students1 the albums of plates after ,michelangelo and ,raphael and the great illustrated work1 ,l',histoire de ,costume ,romain4 ,because of this miserliness of theirs1 he did not always obtain the volumes he wished for1 which were reserved for habitus who were better known4 ,this did not prevent him from becoming initiated into the science of draperies4 ,he executed hundreds of sketches from memory1 at last developing in himself the faculty of remembering forms4 ,from the rue de ,richelieu1 always on foot1 he would repair to the ,gobelin manufactory4 ,there each day1 from five to eight o'clock1 he followed the course in design4 ,placed before nature itself1 before the nude1 he absorbed more excellent principles4 ,the teaching of the eighteenth century was practised there also1 and his work became permanently impregnated by it4 ,in the morning1 at daybreak1 before going to the ,petite ,ecole1 he found the time to walk to an old painter's he knew1 where he kept a number of canvases going4 ,in the evening he made careful copies of the sketches he had jotted down at noon in the galleries of the ,louvre and the ,bibliothque4 ,he drew far into the night2 he drew even during supper1 at the frugal board of his family1 surrounded by his father1 his mother1 and his young sister1 bending over his paper utterly regardless of his health1 a course of things that soon brought on gastric disorders from which he suffered cruelly4 ,in short1 he toiled incessantly1 ardent and patient1 obstinate1 and full of self-confidence4 ,assuredly he never in the world imagined that he was to become in time one of the most illustrious representatives of the ,french art of the nineteenth century1 that he was to be the equal in renown of celebrities like ,lamartine1 ,alfred de ,musset1 or ,michelet whom he saw occasionally in the ,luxembourg ,gardens1 without even daring to bow to them2 but he possessed a fixed and a precise idea of what was required to be a good sculptor and the resolution to realize it4 ,little did he care how long it would take1 how tardy success might prove1 how slow fortune might be in coming2 little did he care for obstacles1 even for misery4 ,he was going the right way1 unhesitating1 untroubled1 not compromising with himself or with anybody4 ,he possessed the irresistible will of a force4 ,i have had occasion to examine one of the note-books of ,rodin's youth4 ,it is quite filled with sketches after engravings from the antique1 animals or human figures4 ,the drawing is strangely compact1 wilful1 for the boy of sixteen or seventeen that he was then4 ,already1 in its accumulation of strokes and hatchings which1 during an entire period of his artistic development1 render the drawing of ,rodin restless and personal like a piece of writing1 it exhibits an obstinate search for relief1 it speaks to us like hieroglyphics1 revealing the power of his grasp4 ,his progress was rapid4 ,at seventeen1 he finished his first studies4 ,the moment came for him to pass from the school of decorative arts to that of the ,beaux-,arts and to prepare himself1 like his companions1 for the examinations and for the competition for the prix de ,rome1 the famous prix de ,rome that seemed to ,rodin1 inexperienced student as he was1 the crown of the most rigorous artistic studies4 ,,rodin ,,and ,,the ,,beaux-,,arts ,rodin presented himself at an examination for entrance into the ,ecole des ,beaux-,arts4 ,he was rejected4 ,he presented himself a second time1 but with the same result4 ,what was the reason for it8 ,neither he nor his fellow-students could discover4 ,they used to form a circle about him when he worked4 ,they admired the keenness and precision of his glance1 the already astonishing skill of his hand4 ,they told him that he would be accepted4 ,he failed a third time4 ,finally a fellow-student who was shrewder than the others gave the solution of the enigma4 ,it requires a somewhat long explanation4 ,the great school is under the direction of the members of the ,academy of ,fine ,arts4 ,these professors correct the work of the students1 set the examinations1 and award the prizes4 ,they are recruited from members of the society1 are1 in short1 the representatives of official1 or conservative1 art4 ,official art is a product of the ,revolution of #aghi4 ,up to that time there were not two kinds of art in ,france4 ,at the most1 until the time of ,louis ,,xiv only one secession disported itself under the influence of ,lebrun1 painter to the king4 ,art was a unit1 and its divine florescence spread from ,france over all ,europe4 ,the church1 the kings1 and their court of great lords and cultivated ladies were the protectors and1 indeed1 the inspirers1 of that flowering of beauty that had grown from the time of the first ,capets1 indeed from the time of the ,merovingians1 down to the end of the eighteenth century4 ,the ,first ,empire marked in effect the beginning of the artistic decadence of ,europe and1 one may say1 of the world4 ,artists at that time divided themselves into two camps1 the conservatives1 with1 at their head1 ,david and his school1 who pictured an art of convention and approved formulas1 and the independents1 who continued1 although in a somewhat revolutionary and extravagant spirit1 the true traditions of ,french art4 ,among those fine rebellious men of talent of the first order were ,rude1 ,barye1 and ,carpeaux in sculpture1 and ,baron ,gros1 ,eugne ,delacroix1 ,courbet1 and ,manet in painting4 ,illustration3 ,,psyche4 ,by a singular contradiction1 ,louis ,david was as baneful a theorist as he was a great painter and1 above all1 an excellent draftsman4 ,that explains itself4 ,the quality of his drawing he owed to the eighteenth century1 in which he had appeared and a pupil of which he was2 but he derived his esthetic doctrine from the ,revolution1 which made use of the same sectarian zeal to obtain the triumph of certain false ideas that it used to advance the right principles that were its glory4 ,through one1 ,david produced works of great worth and some admirable portraits2 through the other1 he wrought great havoc among artists4 ,the world was1 moreover1 well disposed to submit to these principles4 ,when art restricts itself to repeating attitudes1 gestures1 approved receipts1 without having studied or observed them in nature in her constant changes1 it means decadence4 ,if ,david was able to have his theories accepted1 it was because the time was ripe to receive them1 to be contented with them2 and to say that the time was ripe is only to say that it was a degenerate time1 satisfied to be relieved of the task of reflecting1 of discovering for itself the laws of beauty1 or1 in short1 of working from the foundation4 ,official painter of the ,revolution and the ,empire1 ,louis ,david proclaimed his doctrine with the authority of a pontiff4 ,he made a set of narrow rules which advocated a superficial imitation of the antique1 a copying of the works of ,greece and ,rome1 not in spirit1 but in letter2 not in that accurate knowledge of construction and of the model1 which made up their supreme worth1 but in their conventional attitudes and expressions4 ,even from beyond the grave ,david continued to rule the academy of the ,beaux-,arts in the name of the artificial idealism which he had proclaimed1 and whoever rejected his sorry instruction saw himself without mercy shown to the door of the national schools arid academies4 ,they had shown the door to ,rude1 the author of the masterpiece of the ,arc de ,triomphe1 ,the ,departure of the ,volunteers of #agib4 ,they had shown it to the unhappy ,carpeaux1 treated all his life as a heretic and persecuted by the official class1 defenders of the so-called heroic achievements and stereotyped forms4 ,they went to every extreme in their contest with free and determined genius4 ,as a last resort they employed every weapon of treachery against the undisciplined great1 those fallen angels of the false paradise of the ,institute--weapons that later they did not scruple to use against ,rodin4 ,they accused ,carpeaux of indecency1 and in order to strengthen the miserable falsehood1 a perverse idiot flung a can of ink on the adorable group of ,the ,dance1 that song of the nymphs1 clamorous with youth1 laughter1 and music4 ,this digression in the story of ,rodin's life explains his whole life4 ,by his manly independence1 his persistent refusal to follow the dictates of the school1 he naturally found himself placed at the head of those who antagonized the official class4 ,against an opponent of his strength and obstinacy the struggle naturally took on new energy4 ,it recalled to mind the violence of the famous intellectual quarrels of other days --the quarrel of the ,ancients and the ,moderns in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries1 and that of the ,classicists and the ,romanticists in #ahcj4 ,when ,rodin presented himself at the great school1 how1 in his inexperience1 could he foresee the war of wild beasts that rages in the thickets of art8 ,it needed indeed a better-informed comrade to disclose the situation to him4 ,then his eyes were opened4 ,he understood then that he would only be wasting his time in striving to force the bronze doors that are closed against the influences of great nature and her triumphant light1 the implacable denouncer of the false in art4 ,perceiving it at last1 he renounced the thought of entering the school4 ,later he gloried1 in the fact that he had done so4 ,possibly he saw the danger that he would have run of parching his spirit and chilling his eye4 ,ah1 his friend1 the sculptor ,dalou1 exclaimed long after1 ,rodin had the luck not to have been at the ,ecole des ,beaux-,arts6 ,dalou himself had not had that luck1 and despite beautiful gifts and love for the eighteenth century1 he had not recovered from the false teaching4 ,rodin1 then1 without knowing it1 had fought his first battle1 the slight skirmish to the incessant fight that was to open4 ,after that time the name ,institute1 by which he understood the group of protagonists of a bad form of art1 took in his speech a formidable meaning4 ,when he says1 ,the ,institute1 he seems to call up some mythological monster1 the hydra of a hundred heads1 from the malignant wounds of which the brave usually die slowly4 ,for him the ,institute has come to mean a company of able men who substitute dexterity for conscience1 who1 for long toil in obscurity and poverty1 substitute a premature eagerness for all that it may bring--profitable relations1 orders from the state1 fortune1 and honors4 ,in his opinion all that ought to come slowly in order not to distract the artist from the study that alone can give him strength4 ,to him the rewards are secondary2 true happiness lies in untrammeled and passionate toil1 in the exercise of growing intelligence that is determined not to be stopped on the road to discovery4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,adieu4 ,although the struggle is less clamorous to-day1 it has not ended1 and it never will be ended1 despite the wide fame of the master1 now known throughout the world as the greatest living artist4 ,this ,rodin understands4 ,what the contestants now seek to conquer is the public1 some for the purpose of obtaining from it consideration and profit1 and others an appreciation of true art4 ,one class strives to flatter its taste1 which is bad2 the other seeks to inculcate a knowledge of true art in its own work4 ,at the outset the contest is frightfully unequal1 for the ignorance of the public is abysmal4 ,incapable of discerning true beauty1 it relies only on the labels placed by the ,institute on its own works and on those of its partizans4 ,they say to a man1 ,this is the sort of thing that should be admired1 and straightway he admires it1 if one can apply this expression of the highest pleasure of the spirit to the vapid and dull contemplation that the public accords to the works marked for its approval4 ,no1 at best the public does not know how to admire2 it does not understand the language of beauty4 ,at eighteen or nineteen1 ,rodin1 being wholly without fortune1 could not continue his studies without quickly finding some means of support4 ,it was therefore necessary for him to earn his own living1 and at once he bravely entered upon his work as an ornament-maker1 and became a journeyman at a few francs a week4 ,we need not regret it4 ,this son of the people1 by remaining in the ranks of the working-class1 consolidated in himself the virtues of the class--their courage and industry1 which are the strong qualities of the humble1 and1 in the aggregate1 those of the whole nation4 ,and the curiosity of a superior man for all the rewards of the exercise of his intelligence led him to cultivate himself unceasingly4 ,his limited studies as a school-boy had not been extensive enough to surfeit him2 he now brought to the study of letters a mind keenly alert1 and with a joy as alive as love itself he devoted himself to a study of great minds4 ,he read the poets and the historians2 he became acquainted with the ,greece of ,homer and schylus1 the ,italy of ,dante1 the ,england of ,shakspere1 and the ,france of ,jean-,jacques ,rousseau2 but up to that time he had concerned himself with only one thing--his trade4 ,he worked as a real artisan1 with no wider vision1 with no thought of formidable power4 ,he saw only his model and his clay2 he thought only of these1 he loved only these4 ,thus he had become a journeyman ornament-worker in clay4 ,that did not prevent him from perfecting himself in sculpture4 ,on the contrary1 it aided him4 ,the art of ornamentation was then considered1 as it is still to-day1 an inferior art4 ,people said1 still say1 of the sculpture of architecture1 as of the frescos and mosaic work of a building1 that it is only decoration4 ,they declare it in a tone of indulgence that finds an excuse for any mediocrity4 ,all this is a profound mistake4 ,sculptured ornament springs naturally from architecture2 it is the flowering of its fundamental elements4 ,it is an inherent part of the whole1 as the mass of flowers and foliage that crowns a tree is in a way the culminating point of the whole vegetable organism4 ,ornament demands the same qualities that the fundamental architectural structure demands1 and fully as much talent and perhaps even more2 because1 as ,rodin says1 one sees in it more clearly1 without distracting features1 the form of genius4 ,if it is not well done in itself1 its function1 which is rigorously subordinated to the whole1 and consists in molding the contours of the structure by underlining and marking them off1 is reversed4 ,it is then only an excrescence1 an arbitrary addition4 ,only mediocre artisans1 when employed on a building or a jewel1 use ornament capriciously1 without proportioning and subordinating it to the mass2 they weary and disgust the beholder4 ,rodin and his companions did not content themselves with copying1 and more or less distorting1 their ,greek1 ,roman1 and ,renaissance models1 which were repeated to satiety in all the workshops of the world1 and done over and over again so many times1 out of place and out of proportion1 that they had lost all significance4 ,their employer possessed a beautiful1 but neglected1 garden1 where a profusion of plants ran riot4 ,here were models in abundance4 ,here1 in reproducing these1 the young craftsmen refreshed their vocation2 they copied their ornaments from nature2 they studied foliage and flowers from life4 ,to do new work1 they had only to borrow from the vegetable world its inexhaustible combinations of beauty4 ,here ,rodin1 by his cleverness and rapidity1 became without a peer among them all1 and drew to himself the admiration of his fellow-workers4 ,it was here that he met ,constant ,simon1 his elder by many years1 who was the first man to teach him to model in profile4 ,it was one of the great epochs in his life4 ,one may say that from that time the two great laws that have given his sculpture its power--the study of nature and the right method of modeling--passed into his blood1 as it were4 ,the secret that ,simon imparted to him was like a philter that inflamed his soul with enthusiasm4 ,he became intoxicated with the idea of seeing clearly and of holding his hand strictly accountable to what his eyes disclosed4 ,and he possessed1 too1 both youth and an indefatigable vigor4 ,he sketched everything he could1 wherever he could4 ,one saw him making sketches on the street1 in the horse-market1 jostled by the beasts1 repulsed by men1 yet indifferent to all difficulties in his enchantment in his discovered prize1 at the ,jardin des ,plantes1 where he passed hours before the cages and in the parks1 studying the poses of the deer and the grace of the moving antelopes4 ,illustration3 ,,rodin ,,in ,,his ,,studio ,,at ,,the ,,hotel ,,biron4 ,at that period ,barye taught at the ,museum4 ,rodin had become acquainted with the son of the celebrated sculptor4 ,the two had discovered a corner of the basement1 a sort of cave1 damp and gloomy1 where they installed some seats made of old boxes and delighted themselves in modeling from clay4 ,from the ,museum they borrowed a few anatomical specimens1 fragments of the parts of animals1 and these they carried to their cavern and pored over in their efforts to copy them4 ,sometimes ,barye himself would come to cast his eye over their work and give them a word of advice1 and then would go away1 buried in a silent reverie4 ,he was a man of simple habits1 with the appearance of a college tutor1 in his well-worn coat1 but giving an impressive suggestion of great force and worth4 ,his son and ,rodin little understood him2 they feared him somewhat and only half profited by his suggestions4 ,later the author of ,the ,burghers of ,calais1 kindled by the genius of the gloomy1 severe man whom he had misunderstood1 felt a deep remorse at not having rendered to ,barye1 while living1 the homage of admiration which the master merited1 and which perhaps would have been sweet to his solitary heart4 ,rodin has had only rarely the chance to model animals4 ,he has never received an order for an equestrian statue1 and he has regretted it4 ,we have from him only one small rough model of a statue of ,general ,lynch on horseback1 which was never executed1 and the beautiful relief of the chariot of ,apollo which forms the pedestal of the monument of ,claude ,lorrain at ,nancy4 ,but though he has not modeled animals1 he has many times sketched them1 and he has studied profoundly their anatomy and poses4 ,it is not so much in the powerful sketches that all his life he has continued to make with the same daily care with which a pianist practises his scales that ,rodin shows the chief characteristic of his nature1 as it is in accumulating these that he has been enabled to understand relationship between different forms1 and to establish the unity between the forms of man and the animals1 between the mountains and the vegetable world4 ,it is by understanding this unity that he can occasionally interpret with a scientific exactness this common relationship4 ,in modeling a centaur or the chimera or a spirit with powerful wings1 the mythological creature that appears from his hands does not appear less a transcript from reality than each bust or each statue that has been vigorously wrought from the living model4 ,there is no weakening in the points where the bust of the man or of the woman attaches itself to the body of the animal1 no doubt that the beautiful1 strong wings of the angels are as perfectly united to their bodies and are as necessary as their arms or legs4 ,when about twenty-two or twenty-three ,rodin entered the atelier of ,carrier-,belleuse4 ,at that time the vogue of this charming artist was great4 ,he well represented the spirit and workmanship of the eighteenth century in the knickknack art of the ,second ,empire4 ,he was a ,clodion of the boulevard4 ,besides the spirited busts1 some of which1 like those of ,ernest ,renan1 ,jules ,simon1 and the actress ,marie ,laurent1 were celebrated1 he sent out from his atelier1 in the rue de la ,tour d',auvergne at ,montmartre1 hundreds of designs to be used in industrial art3 mantelpieces1 centerpieces for tables1 vases1 ornamental clocks1 and decorative figures and groups4 ,rodin1 then1 applied himself to executing for ,carrier-,belleuse a variety of statuettes and figures4 ,there was in the task a great danger1 for he saw the risk of limiting himself to a facile use of his art that was both remunerative and attractive2 but his sturdy ,northern temperament was able to protect him against every danger1 whether of success or poverty4 ,carrier had an astonishing skill1 and not only worked without a model1 but compelled his employees to work without one4 ,his rough sketches were admirable1 but he weakened in working them out4 ,rodin never trifled with his art4 ,before going to the atelier he always took care to study his subject in the nude and to fix it in his memory as firmly as possible4 ,as soon as he reached his bench he transferred to the clay the result of his remembered observations4 ,on returning to his home in the evening he consulted his model anew in order to correct his work of the day4 ,it was for him an excellent exercise of memory4 ,the true workman is quick to turn to advantage all the inconveniences of a situation4 ,i have heard ,rodin relate that often in the course of a quarrel with a friend or a relative he would completely forget the subject of the contention and the anger of his opponent in his absorption1 from the point of view of a sculptor1 in the play of the muscles and their influence on the expression of the face of the angry speaker4 ,illustration3 ,,representation ,,of ,,france--,,in ,,the ,,monument ,,to ,,champlain4 ,rodin remained about five years with ,carrier-,belleuse4 ,what works his active hands accomplished there in a day6 ,one still finds them in the shops of the sellers of bronzes1 in the shops of the dealers of the ,marais and the ,faubourg ,st4 ,antoine4 ,certainly hundreds of examples were brought there1 to the great profit of tradesmen1 but to the injury of the artist2 for he drew from them only such wages as the least competent workers are to-day content with4 ,one may see in the gallery of ,mrs4 ---- of ,new ,york certain little terra-cotta busts which date from that period4 ,they represent pretty ,parisian women in hats1 whose wild locks veil glances full of spirit and roguishness4 ,creatures of youth and frivolity1 they are sisters of the elegant ladies that ,alfred ,stevens drew with his delightful brush1 and which were the charm of ,paris under ,napoleon ,,iii4 ,who could believe that they had sprung from the hands of ,rodin1 the austere creator of ,the ,burghers of ,calais and of the ,victor ,hugo8 ,but before becoming the audaciously personal genius that he now is1 he was subjected to the most varied influences--influences that have been felt by the modern sculptors with whom he has worked and those that guided the old masters4 ,he has none the less shielded himself from the world4 ,he declares indeed1 with the authority that permits the freedom1 that originality signifies nothing2 that that which counts is the quality of the intrinsic sculpture2 that if the temperament of the artist is truly steadfast1 he always finds himself after the necessary study2 and finally that it is of little importance whether a statue bears the name of ,praxiteles or that of one of his pupils4 ,the essential thing is that it is well done1 that it appears in a great epoch4 ,anonymous1 it proclaims none the less to the eyes of the man of taste the signature of genius4 ,in order to live ,rodin applied himself to the most varied occupations2 thus he gained the liberty to labor at his own work for a few hours4 ,he chipped at stone and marble for the benefit of sculpture to-day unknown1 but then in vogue2 he made sketches for trinkets for certain fashionable jewelers1 and fashioned objects of decorative art ordered of him by manufacturers4 ,despite a considerable loss of time1 he obtained thus a true apprenticeship in art wholly like that which in earlier days was obtained by ,ghiberti1 ,donatello1 and most of the great artists of1 the ,renaissance1 who were proud to be good artisans before they were accounted great sculptors4 ,thus finally he was enabled to realize his first dream--to have an atelier of his own4 ,his atelier6 ,it was a stable1 at a rental of twenty-four dollars a year1 in the rue ,lebrun1 in the quarter of the ,gobelins1 near which he was born4 ,it was a cold hovel1 a cave indeed1 with a well sunk in an angle of one wall that at every season exhaled its chilling breath4 ,it did not matter4 ,the place was sufficiently large and well lighted4 ,the artist1 young and strong1 and as happy as possible in his stable1 felt his talent increasing4 ,there he accumulated a quantity of studies and works until the place was so crowded that he could scarcely turn himself about2 but being too poor to have them cast1 he lost the greater part of them4 ,every day he spent hours moistening the cloths that enveloped them1 yet not without suffering frightful disasters4 ,sometimes the clay1 through being too soft1 would settle and fall asunder2 sometimes it would become dry1 crack1 and crumble4 ,one day1 in moving1 the great figure of a bacchante that had been tenderly molded for months was seized by the rough hands of the furniture-movers1 and broke1 crashing to the ground4 ,what lost efforts6 ,what destroyed beauty6 ,even to-day when the artist speaks of it his heart bleeds anew4 ,at that time he carried about the ateliers of ,paris a design to which he gave the name of ,the ,man with the ,broken ,nose4 ,struck by the curious face of an old shepherd1 flat-nosed1 with every appearance of a slave that had been crushed under heel1 ,rodin made a bust of the man and strove to portray the energy and imposing simplicity that had astonished him in the antique busts and the statue of ,the ,knife-,grinder that he had seen in the galleries of the ,louvre4 ,the solidity of the design1 the patience shown in the composition1 and the strength of the details coperated in producing an admirable whole4 ,the wrinkles of the forehead1 the creased eyelids1 the deep furrows of the face converged toward the base of the broken nose in an expression of old age and hardship1 presenting an admirable head of a ,thessalian shepherd4 ,alas6 one frosty day the clay contracted1 and the skull of ,the ,man with the ,broken ,nose fell to the ground1 leaving only the face4 ,rodin did not make over the composition4 ,too honest to restore the skull by approximation1 he contented himself with modeling the face1 to-day become famous4 ,he cast it in plaster1 and sent it to the ,salon of #ahfd4 ,there it was rejected4 ,thus the opposition that had closed the door of the ,beaux-,arts against him was renewed at his first attempt to take rank among contemporary artists4 ,the reason was the same2 it will always and invariably be the same3 this sculptor of the naked truth1 this fervent lover of nature1 offends1 shocks1 and wounds the majority of the followers of formulas1 the imitators of the past1 the makers of smooth and pretty wares1 things without conscience or significance4 ,the artist remains alone with his deception4 ,the day has not yet come when enlightened amateurs can understand in which school true talent is to be found1 when they are able to renounce the moldings on nature1 the theatrical postures1 the irritating silliness of figures a thousand times repeated4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,man ,,with ,,the ,,broken ,,nose4 ,they will some day learn to perceive truth1 observation1 strength1 and grace4 ,when that day comes they will throw out of the window all the trumpery art of which they will have become tired1 in order to collect that of ,rude1 ,barye1 ,carpeaux1 ,rodin1 ,jules ,desbois1 ,camille ,claudel1 those glories of the nineteenth century4 ,the year of the ,salon of #ahfd may serve to close the first period of ,rodin's career4 ,it is difficult1 indeed impossible1 to place between fixed dates the events of a life that has been an example of uniform continuity2 but nevertheless it is permitted to one to say that the year #ahfd marks the end of the first youth of the master4 ,his preliminary studies1 those which one may call the studies of his mere profession1 were ended4 ,he was then at the beginning of larger studies2 he was about to visit ,belgium1 ,italy1 and ,france2 he was about to come face to face with the most varied geniuses and examine their work4 ,he was about to question them rigorously1 to demand of them their technical methods4 ,he was also about to exalt himself in the presence of these immortal thoughts1 to become intoxicated with the desire to equal them in science and greatness4 ,from that time on he approached them as a disciple1 as a man who had already thought much and comprehended much1 and who was worthy to study them and follow in their footsteps3 in a word1 as an artist of their own lineage4 ,,sojourn ,,in ,,belgium--,,the ,,man ,,who ,,awakens ,,to ,,nature--,,realism ,,and ,,plaster ,,casts ,rodin worked under ,carrier-,belleuse from #ahfe to #ahgj4 ,he remained in ,paris during the ,franco-,german ,war4 ,what influence did this event have upon him8 ,he has said little about it4 ,although he has a strong attachment for his native land1 he has none of the extravagant patriotism of a ,rude1 whose great soul was caught up in the flames of the national epopee4 ,rodin has too contemplative a temperament2 he is too devoted to reflective work to allow himself to be long disturbed by external facts1 even the gravest4 ,at the signing of the peace1 he went to ,belgium1 drawn by the promise of work in decorative art4 ,he remained there five years1 staying first in ,brussels1 then in ,antwerp4 ,this period of his life left with him a delightful memory4 ,he was poor and unknown1 but full of the vigor of youth1 and free in how splendid a freedom6 ,he had all his time to himself1 without any of those thousand obligations that eat up the days of a celebrated man and break down his ardor4 ,life in ,belgium was at that time simple1 easy-going1 family-like4 ,many small pleasures made it attractive2 the cleanliness of the streets and the houses was a constant delight to the eye2 the bread1 the beer1 the coffee were excellent and cost almost nothing4 ,on ,sundays bands of children1 fair-haired1 robust1 healthy1 dressed in aprons very white and very well starched1 ran about laughing and singing2 the women went to church2 the men assembled in the sanded gardens of the public houses to play at ball1 sipping glasses of faro and lambic4 ,the whole scene was full of the charm of intimacy and happiness which for the artist served as a sort of frame1 so to say1 for the old pictures4 ,the works of the ,flemish painters are so impressive in all their power1 in the splendor of their fresh coloring and their gem-like finish1 that ,brussels1 ,ghent1 ,bruges1 ,antwerp1 ,mechlin seem to have been built and decorated by the ,brueghels1 the ,jan ,steens1 the ,tenierses1 whose dazzling canvases strike one almost as if they had been the plans for the construction of these queenly cities instead of being simply mirrors of them4 ,as for nature1 its grandeur and its nobility are disconcerting in such a little country4 ,rodin rented a modest room in the chausse de ,brendael1 in one of the quarters of the capital quite close to the ,bois de la ,cambre4 ,he worked there during the whole of the day2 his young wife did the housework1 went out marketing1 sewed beside him1 posed for him1 helped him to moisten his clay1 made herself1 as she said proudly1 his garon d'atelier4 ,he modeled caryatids for the ,palais de la ,bourse at ,brussels2 for the ,palais des ,acadmies he made a frieze representing children and the attributes of the arts and sciences2 he was charged also with the execution of decorative pieces for different municipal buildings of the city of ,antwerp4 ,nowadays the ,belgians display with pride these works1 in which1 without flattering them1 one can recognize the touch of a future master4 ,intent as he was upon his modeling work1 ,rodin did not abandon drawing2 he added to it landscape-painting in oils4 ,the ,brabant country-side is one of the most beautiful in ,europe4 ,the ,forest of ,soigne1 which surrounds ,brussels1 is full of the lofty trees of the ,northern countries1 splendid beeches1 healthy as the bodies of athletes1 reaching up into the sky like columns of light bronze1 planted in regular rows1 giving the impression of an immense and solemn temple4 ,narrow avenues1 alleys1 pierce the long naves2 one's soul seems to glide lingeringly along these shadowy paths drawn on to the end by the far-away glimmer like stained glass4 ,the light that falls from above through the tree-tops slips down the long green trunks1 gray or silvery1 bringing with it a touch of the sky4 ,there is no exuberant vegetation1 none of that undergrowth trembling with delicate little leaves1 such as that which makes the spiritual grace of the ,ile-de-,france1 arranged for the frolic of nymphs and fawns4 ,this is the ,gothic forest1 the tree-cathedral1 a fitting place for the miracles of ,christianity and the devout walk of solitaries4 ,rodin fell in love with this forest4 ,his grave soul1 his youth1 which knew nothing of frivolity1 found itself here4 ,his nature1 so full of self-contained enthusiasm and the profound and slowly moved spirit of admiration1 not yet capable of expressing itself1 found its true element under the protection of these age-old beeches4 ,but one corner enchanted him1 a verdurous hollow filled with running water that breaks the austerity of the wood1 the valley of ,groenendael4 ,there the majestic colonnade of trunks opens out1 with the condescension of giants1 before the caprices of an undulating glade4 ,it is covered with a down of grass1 like an immense green cloud1 always pure1 always fresh1 which spring and autumn embroider with delicate shoots of a multitude of flowers1 like the tapestries of the ,flemish masters4 ,little ponds shyly spread out their mirrors1 full of the sky1 full of reflections4 ,an old low-built house1 entirely white1 speaks of security1 of calm shelter1 of good nourishment1 in the midst of this verdurous solitude1 where one hears only the song of the birds and where squirrels cross in their flight like sudden flames4 ,the valley of ,groenendael is far enough away from ,brussels to be almost always deserted and silent4 ,it was the site the famous ,brabanon mystic1 ,ruysbroeck the ,admirable1 chose in the fourteenth century for a monastery4 ,at that time the ,forest of ,soigne sheltered no less than eleven monastic houses in its fragrant1 shadowy depths4 ,at the north of the valley the ground rises and the path leads one to the modest chapel of ,notre ,dame de ,bonne-,odeur4 ,at this period ,rodin certainly knew nothing of the great contemplatives of the fourteenth century or of this same ,ruysbroeck whom later a glorious compatriot1 ,maurice ,maeterlinck1 kinsman by election of the hermit1 was to translate and interpret2 but in the peaceful glade1 the vallon vert1 as under the vaults of the great forest1 the soul of the sculptor rejoined those of the old monks who perhaps still wander there at times2 it shared with them the religion of this beauty which their dumb love of nature had come thither to seek4 ,at dawn he would start out1 loaded down with his box of colors4 ,his companion followed him1 proud to carry part of the artist's paraphernalia4 ,he was on his way to make sketches1 to take notes of the landscape1 to jot down his impressions2 but often the day passed without his touching his brushes4 ,it was not indifference or indolence on the part of this great worker1 but simply that he had not the strength to interrupt his delightful contemplations4 ,time lost8 ,in the case of another1 perhaps4 ,not for him4 ,his excursion had no immediate result2 that was all3 but how he would observe1 how he would compare1 how he would reflect6 ,he was initiating himself in the sense of proportion1 grandeur of style1 and the nobility of simplicity4 ,he was studying the laws of the light and shade distributed by the columns the true work of the architect4 ,it was no longer school lessons that he was prosecuting here2 it was the mighty exercise of personal talent1 the ripening of his taste that was taking place1 thanks to the technical knowledge he already possessed4 ,the sense of the eternal laws comes only to those who can contrail them through long experience4 ,later1 when the time came for ,rodin to visit the cathedrals1 he was to understand better than any other this art which has sprung from the forests of ,france1 engendered by their mysterious grandeur1 once full of terrors and marvels4 ,the benefit which he derived immediately from his acquaintance with ,belgium was the experience of those intellectual joys and that happiness which await any one who is serious1 loyal1 reverent in the presence of the divine work that offers itself as an object of study to the assiduous4 ,another besides himself had already received this teaching of nature in exactly this place4 ,rude1 whom the ,bourbons had exiled on their return to ,france because of his worship of ,napoleon1 passed several years in ,brussels and executed there a number of works1 among others the famous bas-reliefs of the ,chteau de ,tervueren1 since destroyed by fire2 ,la ,chasse de ,mlagre1 of which the authorities of the ,belgian department of fine arts were fortunately able to take casts4 ,on his way between ,brussels and ,tervueren1 ,rude went every day several leagues on foot1 crossing the ,forest of ,soignes1 where he1 too1 endeavored to forget the lessons of the ,ecole des ,beaux-,arts1 on the benches of which he had1 according to his own confession1 lost many years4 ,illustration3 ,,caryatid--,,taken ,,at ,,meudon ,,in ,,rodin',s ,,garden4 ,in addition to these works of decorative art1 ,rodin executed a number of busts and sketches4 ,he even found time to make a large figure modeled after his wife1 a figure draped like a ,gothic statue1 which he worked over lovingly4 ,it had the same disastrous fate as that which befell the other one at ,paris1 and for the same reason2 poverty prevented the artist from having a cast taken of his work in time3 like the ,bacchante1 it was completely destroyed4 ,despite this loss1 the sculptor was not discouraged2 work for him was a happiness which was begun anew each day2 he at once began on another subject4 ,this time he took for his model a young man whose acquaintance he had made and who willingly consented to pose for him4 ,this young man was not a model by trade1 spoiled by the conventional attitudes which the ,parisian sculptors impose on professionals4 ,he was a soldier1 living in barracks near ,rodin's house4 ,as soon as the sculptor saw1 disengaging itself from the clothes1 the graceful figure of this boy of twenty-five who was not aware of his beauty and did quite simply whatever his companion asked him1 he promised himself not to abandon this work before he had carried it as far as his skill permitted him to go4 ,his model disposed himself in simple attitudes1 which were not vitiated by any pretentious forethoughts4 ,one day he came toward him1 his arms upraised1 his head thrown back1 with an air of youthfully voluptuous lassitude that filled the artist with enthusiasm4 ,one would have said that he was a young hero staggering under the shock of a wound4 ,and ,rodin set himself to execute the statue of the wounded hero4 ,but nature lends itself to infinite interpretations4 ,the sense of an attitude that is well rendered creates of itself more comprehensive ideas4 ,when we contemplate one who is wounded or ill1 obscure impressions agitate our spirit1 impelling it toward ideas higher than those of wounds and illness4 ,it skirts the frontiers of death1 the enigma of annihilation or of the world to come1 and all those unformulated sentiments1 which in their confused flight haunt the profound regions of the soul4 ,before his beautiful model ,rodin experienced these emotions and transcribed them upon his sculpture4 ,in its unblemished nudity1 it bears the sign of no one epoch2 it is the eternal man touched in his innermost sensibility by something of which he knows not the cause4 ,is it his soul1 is it his flesh that trembles8 ,one does not know4 ,no knowledge comes without suffering4 ,rodin1 aware immediately of this effect of transposition1 in the delicious surprise of the artist who sometimes sees himself surpassed by his own work1 christened the statue1 ,the ,man of the ,age of ,bronze1 that is to say1 one who is passing from the unconsciousness of primitive man into the age of understanding and of love4 ,a few years later he gave it this still happier final name1 ,the ,man who ,awakens to ,nature4 ,he worked over it eighteen months4 ,there is no part of this harmonious figure that has not been passionately thought out4 ,he had to render1 beneath the supple covering of the skin1 those firm1 fine muscles which possess the elasticity of youth and its sobriety4 ,in giving the sense of the presence of these things1 one creates the illusion of their activity4 ,this is the secret of great sculpture and of all the arts1 to evoke that which we do not see by the quality of that which we do see4 ,carefully examine the ,venus de ,medici1 ,rude used to advise his pupils1 and under the polish of the skin you will see the whole muscular system appear4 ,rodin did not spare either his own strength or that of his model4 ,an implacable goddess led him on1 his conscience4 ,he did not content himself with rendering only the masses that his direct vision gave him4 ,in this way he would have possessed only two dimensions1 the length and width of the human body4 ,he needed the exact relief of masses1 which is the basis of ronde-bosse1 of cubic sculpture4 ,he studied his profiles not only from below1 but from above4 ,he mounted a painting ladder and looked down over his model2 he measured the surface of the skull1 which1 seen from above1 has an ovoid form2 he took and compared with his clay model the dimensions of the shoulders1 the chest1 the hips1 the feet as they appeared with the floor as a background4 ,he observed the points where the arm muscles were inserted1 and those of the thighs and the legs4 ,how1 after such a rigorously minute process of noting his masses1 could his work be flat8 ,that became impossible4 ,but the geometric labor1 the taking of measurements1 was not all4 ,the next question was to reassemble the different profiles by careful transcription4 ,there is an entire school of conscientious sculptors who believe that they can obtain reality by the simple method of making identical points correspond4 ,they multiply the measurements taken from the model with the aid of a plumb-line and a compass2 it is only a mechanical process which does not even give good practical effects4 ,to unify the manifold surface of the human body1 to endow the whole with the suppleness of life1 with its harmonious continuity and poise1 the personal judgment of the artist must unceasingly intervene4 ,his own special taste is supremely what adjusts the elements which are waiting to be unified by him in order to take on animation and to live one beside another4 ,it is during this last effort that the expression1 summoned up by the truth of the ensemble1 comes almost of itself to the fingers of the sculptor4 ,if the preceding principles have not been scrupulously observed1 it seems to refuse to come2 it is the reward only of conscience joined with intelligence2 it is the fruit of this indissoluble union that works in the spirit of the true artist4 ,the true expression is that to which we give the indefinable name of poetry4 ,illustration3 ,,man ,,awakening ,,to ,,nature4 ,since the creation of ,the ,man who ,awakens to ,nature1 in which during two years he had eagerly sought it1 this became the characteristic of ,rodin's talent4 ,he had conquered it for all time2 and so while his insatiable will applies itself with no less energy to other researches1 that of movement1 of character1 of lighting1 and sometimes over-emphasizes them1 the work that comes from his hand may appear strange1 excessive2 it will never be mediocre1 never indifferent4 ,and now let us glance at the image of this young man1 this proud1 unblemished human plant4 ,all we have just been saying is forgotten in the force of our impression4 ,the most powerful impression1 first of all1 is indolence4 ,it is absorbed in itself2 it exhausts like a great draught of life the veins of those who respond to it4 ,hence the silence1 the long1 dumb contemplation1 the sense of incertitude one experiences in the presence of its beauty4 ,it is not to our spirit that it first addresses itself4 ,its voluptuousness1 whencesoever come1 enchants our senses2 then the intellect demands an explanation1 studies it1 traces back the sensation to its sources through one of those rapid and manifold changes which are the law of such natural phenomena as light1 sound1 electricity4 ,the man who awakens to nature1 said ,rodin1 in the presence of his statue4 ,indeed the body bends over1 as if under the exquisite caress of the breezes of spring4 ,the hand rests itself upon the head1 flung back as if to hold in the somewhat mournful splendor of some too beautiful vision4 ,the whole torso is gently stirred by the emotion springing up from the depths of the flesh to die out upon the surface of the imperceptibly agitated muscles4 ,he leans lightly backward1 bending like a bow and at the same time like a traveler walking toward the dawn2 he is drawn on by the desire to renew this inner emotion that swells his human heart almost to the bursting-point4 ,by this double movement reconstituting life1 the action does not interrupt itself4 ,it evokes the past and the future2 the obscure shadows out of which this soul is endeavoring to emerge and the bright regions toward which it advances4 ,auguste ,rodin was at this time thirty-five years old4 ,in the career of the artist1 this admirable figure has a special significance1 that of something symbolic4 ,it marks one of the happiest phases of the sculptor's life1 the period of revelation through which he had just been living during his sojourn by the forest of ,groenendael4 ,he1 too1 had awakened to ,nature in the heart of the sacred wood2 he1 too1 had come to know the somewhat dazzling torment of a being fully awake to the beauty of the world4 ,this beauty he had at last penetrated2 he felt it with all the strength of a ripened heart1 he adored it2 he made it his religion4 ,such is the inner history of this statue4 ,there is another1 a history of the anecdotal sort1 which is well known to-day1 but which it is proper to recall in a complete biography of the master4 ,the adventure of ,the ,age of ,bronze was the first resounding battle that ,rodin fought in his struggle for the cause of art4 ,it was a victory1 but only after great combats4 ,the plaster model appeared in the ,salon of #ahgg4 ,before this proud and spirited figure a number of visitors paused1 ravished by a sensation that was absolutely new4 ,in itself there was nothing clamorous1 no attempt to attract attention by extravagance of gesture or exaggerated expression--quite the contrary2 the fragrance of a shy beauty1 an idyllic freshness1 mingled with the passionate poetry of a virile1 artistic conscience1 an exquisite sense of measure1 a delightful elegance characteristically ,french1 of the north of ,france1 grave and restrained1 and with a something hitherto unseen1 a vigor till then unknown diffused through this adolescent flesh1 irradiating it with tenderness1 with a noble charm1 a caressing sadness4 ,immediately the rumor began to circulate1 welcomed here1 spurned there1 by the world of professionals1 amateurs1 and journalists3 the anatomy of the new work was too exact1 its modeling too precise for it to be an interpretation of the model2 it was a cast from nature1 and the sculptor who gave out as the result of his own labor this mechanical copy of a human body was nothing but an impostor4 ,what does it matter8 thought the public in its up-and-down common sense4 ,there are plenty of fine casts from nature2 so much the better for the name of ,rodin if he has been particularly successful in this line4 ,but ,rodin was indignant4 ,this nude1 so obstinately worked over1 a cast6 ,that he should have committed such a deception1 he the scrupulous molder of clay6 ,oh1 he knew well enough that most of the great modern sculptors do not burden themselves with so many scruples and lend themselves too often to the hasty method of taking casts2 he condemned it with all the force of his own probity4 ,he knew well that in this very ,salon of #ahgg more than fifty pieces of sculpture about which nothing was said owed their existence to this malpractice of which he was accused and of which he would never be guilty1 because he considered it the very negation of art4 ,for of course taking casts is nothing but the reproduction of nature in its immobility4 ,by means of it one is able to take the impression of forms1 but one cannot grasp movement or expression4 ,it is possible to take the mold of an arm1 a leg1 an inert body2 one can take a good cast of the stiffened mask of the dead2 one cannot calculate through the medium of the plaster the attitude and the modifications of form of a man walking or falling or the eloquence of a face lighted up by the reflection of the inner mind4 ,this transcription of the whole is the exclusive privilege of the artist4 ,he alone seizes and fixes the general impression2 for it is made up not only of the immediate movement1 but of that which precedes and that which follows4 ,his eye alone registers the rapid succession1 and his skill reproduces it4 ,while the cast1 like the photograph1 only constitutes a unity detached from the whole1 sculpture from nature restablishes the whole itself and represents the uninterrupted vibration which is life4 ,that explains how there happen to be1 on the one hand1 so many hard figures1 weak and cold images1 turned out hastily by lazy and conscienceless sculptors1 and1 on the other1 those works that possess a charm that is mysterious to those who know nothing of its source1 who are unaware of this method of observation and labor which a supreme effort veils in the easy grace and the apparent facility that enchants us in the things of nature4 ,the accusation brought against ,rodin became more definite4 ,there was a veritable upheaval of opinion in the world of the ,salons4 ,he protested1 with the firmness of an artist resolved to suffer no blot upon his honor4 ,he insisted upon receiving justice4 ,unknown1 without means of support1 without fortune1 he might well have waited a long time for it4 ,he turned toward ,belgium1 seeking defenders in the country where he had made ,the ,age of ,bronze2 but the academic virus did not spare him2 the official sculptors remained deaf to the appeal of their confrre4 ,for that matter1 where did he come from1 this ambitious stone-cutter who claimed the title of sculptor without waiting on the good pleasure of the pontiffs8 ,rodin's model alone1 the young soldier of ,brussels1 became indignant at the affront to his sculptor4 ,he wanted to hasten to ,paris and exhibit himself naked before the eye of the jury of honor which had just been constituted and cry out to them that he had posed nearly two years for the artist who had been so unjustly attacked4 ,but nothing is simple4 ,he had posed1 thanks to the special good will of the captain commanding the company to which he belonged1 and in defiance of military regulations4 ,to reveal this fact would be to compromise the officer1 and so he had to remain silent4 ,rodin had photographs and casts taken from his model and sent them to the experts4 ,all this was costly and uncertain4 ,it was only after months of waiting that they were examined4 ,on the jury were several art critics1 including ,charles ,iriarte1 a learned writer and distinguished mind1 and ,paul de ,saint-,victor1 author of the ,deux-,masques1 the sumptuous writer of so much brilliant prose4 ,alas6 the most insignificant sculptor1 provided he had only been sincere1 could have settled ,rodin's case a hundred times better4 ,a man of his own trade1 possessing the elements of justice1 would have immediately decided the question according to the facts1 while the critics and writers relied wholly upon personal impressions1 and1 to the great bitterness of the sculptor1 when they delivered an opinion they did not altogether reject the accusation that he had taken casts1 allowing doubt to rest upon the honesty of ,rodin4 ,he himself did not know what to do next4 ,chance was more favorable to him than men4 ,at that time he was executing for a great decorator some ornamental motives destined for one of the buildings of the ,universal ,exposition of #ahgh4 ,the sculptor1 ,alfred ,boucher1 a pupil of ,paul ,dubois1 came one day on a business errand to see the decorator4 ,in the studios he noticed ,rodin at work on the model of a group of children intended for a cartouche4 ,boucher1 who knew about the accusation that hung over him1 observed him with the liveliest interest4 ,he witnessed the rapid1 skilful1 amazingly dexterous execution producing under his very eye a tender efflorescence of childish flesh on the firm and perfectly constructed little bodies4 ,and ,rodin was working without models6 ,alfred ,boucher was a product of the ,ecole2 he had taken the grand prix de ,rome2 he was ten years younger than ,rodin2 but he was an honest man2 he hastened to relate to his master1 ,paul ,dubois1 what he had seen4 ,the creator of the ,florentine ,singer and ,charity in his turn wished to see things for himself4 ,with ,claude ,chapu he went to the decorator's and both of them decided then and there that the hand that molded so skilfully from memory the figures of the cherubs was certainly capable1 in its extraordinary knowledge of human anatomy1 of having executed that of ,the ,age of ,bronze4 ,thereupon they convinced their confrres and decided to write the under-secretary of state a solemn letter in which all of them1 answering for the good faith of ,rodin1 declared that he had made a beautiful statue and that he would become a great sculptor4 ,the letter was signed by ,carrier-,belleuse1 ,paul ,dubois1 ,chapu1 ,thomas ,delaplanche1 ,chaplin ,falguire4 ,illustration3 ,,bust ,,of ,,the ,,countess ,,of ,w----4 ,this tempered considerably the rancor of the artist4 ,it is a strange fact that for years he underrated this statue4 ,in #ahii he gave his first great exhibition of all his work4 ,it was to the ,maison d',art of ,brussels that the honor of this project was due1 and it was carried out in a style and with a good taste which no later exhibition of the master has surpassed1 or even attained4 ,as he had charged me with the supervision of the sending off of his works1 to the number of fifty1 ,i begged him to include among them ,the ,age of ,bronze4 ,i hoped that the public1 and especially the artists of ,belgium1 might be able to study the evolution of his technique through his typical works1 executed at different periods of his career4 ,nothing could induce him to consent to it4 ,he declared that in twenty years his modeling had undergone a complete transformation1 that it had become more spacious and more supple1 and that the exhibition of this statue could serve no purpose and be of good to nobody4 ,i urged him to go and look at it again4 ,the bronze1 sent to the ,salon of #ahhj1 with the plaster figure of ,st4 ,john the ,baptist in ,prayer1 awarded1 oh splendor of official miserliness6 a medal of the third class1 had been bought by the state a few years later and set up in a corner of the ,luxembourg ,gardens1 an out-of-the-way corner1 but one that the light shadows of the young trees made charming4 ,the master refused4 ,two or three years afterward1 one morning while we were talking1 ,i led him unsuspecting toward this little grove4 ,thinking of something else he lifted his ,head1 casting an indifferent glance at the solitary bronze4 ,surprised1 he examined it1 while a happy emotion lighted up his face2 then he walked slowly around it4 ,finally he admitted quietly that he had been mistaken1 that the statue seemed to him really beautiful1 well constructed1 and carefully sculptured4 ,in order to comprehend it he had had to forget it1 to see it again suddenly1 and to judge it as if it had been the work of another hand4 ,after this readoption1 his affection for it was restored2 he had several copies cast in bronze and cut in stone1 and it has become perhaps one of his most popular and most sought-after works4 ,museums of ,europe and ,america1 lovers of art in both hemispheres1 consider it an honor to possess replicas4 ,it was the first of ,rodin's great statues1 or1 rather1 the first that has been preserved4 ,several other works of capital importance serve as landmarks in the progress of his talent4 ,around them are grouped fragments1 busts1 innumerable delightful little compositions1 all treated with the same care and equally reflecting the result of his studies2 but1 as ever1 it is the major works that mark most visibly the points of departure and arrival of the different periods of his artistic development4 ,these works are3 ,the ,age of ,bronze 7#ahgg72 ,saint ,john the ,baptist 7#ahhj72 ,the ,gate of ,hell 7#ahhj-ai--1 not finished72 ,the ,creation of ,man 7#ahha72 ,the ,burghers of ,calais 7#ahhi72 ,victor ,hugo 7#ahif72 ,balzac 7#ahih72 ,the ,seasons 7pediments of stone1 #aije72 ,ariadne 7in course of execution74 ,these works will be described and characterized1 in the course of this book1 at the dates of their appearance4 ,,flemish ,,painting--,,journeys ,,in ,,italy ,,and ,,france ,during his stay in ,belgium1 ,rodin studied the ,flemish painters4 ,free from the prejudices of the schools1 unaware of the theories of the critics1 sensitive to the beautiful in every form1 following only his personal taste supported by the study of the masters1 he ranged over the vast domain of art through regions the most dissimilar and superficially the most opposed4 ,of course he had his preferences2 he returned unceasingly to the antique and the ,gothic2 but his preferences did not blind him4 ,his admiration passed rapidly from the splendors of ,greek and ,roman architecture to the voluptuous graces of the seventeenth century4 ,his love for ,donatello and ,michelangelo did not prevent him from appreciating ,bernini4 ,attracted first by the marvelous ,flemish ,gothic artists1 ,memling1 ,massys1 the ,van ,eycks1 he was later delighted with the homely scenes of ,jan ,steen1 of ,brueghel1 of ,teniers2 he enjoyed them as an artist and as a simple man who knew the value of domestic joys4 ,then he was haunted by the sensual pomp of ,jordaens and above all ,rubens4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,poet ,,and ,,the ,,muse4 ,the triumphant brush of ,rubens sculptured as much as it painted4 ,the science of foreshortening and that of ceiling painting1 his way of modeling forms in the light and by means of light--all this brought his art into the realm of sculpture2 and when ,rodin came to seek effects of light and shadow that were new to sculpture1 he remembered the lessons of the ,antwerp master4 ,from that time on ,rubens was for him a splendid subject for study and would have fortified him1 had that been necessary1 in the love of drawing2 for beautiful drawing leads1 to everything1 to color1 in sculpture as well as in painting4 ,flemish art was not enough to satisfy this thirst for understanding that devoured the soul of the artist now in the full swing of the fermenting force of his faculties4 ,he wished to see ,italy or at least to catch a glimpse of it4 ,his resources were so slender indeed that his journey could not have been long4 ,it did not matter4 ,he would form an idea of the immensity of its treasure and confirm in himself the desire to return4 ,he wished also to see ,france1 as alluring to him as ,greece1 and whose cathedrals are perhaps not less beautiful than the ,parthenon4 ,he started for ,italy in #ahge1 and he accomplished his first tour of ,france in #ahgg4 ,he set forth4 ,he was young and strong2 he made the pass of ,mont ,cenis on foot4 ,he was unknown and without connections4 ,what did it matter8 ,in the midst of these scenes so radiant with memories of history and art1 did he not feel an intoxication such as the soldiers of ,bonaparte alone must have experienced1 catching sight of the plains of ,lombardy1 where they were to forget the hardships of the campaign8 ,for ,rodin1 ,italy meant the antique2 it meant ,donatello and ,michelangelo4 ,the antique he had already to a considerable extent studied in the ,louvre4 ,donatello and ,michelangelo conquered him at the first glance--a tumultuous conquest4 ,the severity of ,donatello's style impassioned him2 the rigid honesty of his realism1 the desire of this younger brother of ,dante to see things grandly1 the equal desire to see things simply1 this ,gothic genius deeply moved in the mid-way of this our mortal life by pagan beauty and touched by the breath of the ,renaissance1 impressed the ,french artist and became a dominating memory4 ,from that time on in the most beautiful of his busts1 those of ,jean-,paul ,laurens1 ,puvis de ,chavannes1 ,lord ,wyndham1 ,lord ,horace ,walden1 ,mr4 ,ryan1 he was to appear as a disciple of the ,florentine master1 not by a literal imitation of his methods1 which he thoroughly grasped1 but by similar qualities of observation and synthesis4 ,still1 this was not until after he had made other studies1 while ,michelangelo took hold upon him immediately and completely and became an actual obsession that might have proved dangerous to a sculptor less severe with himself1 less determined to discover his own path4 ,the dazzling richness of modeling1 the majesty of the great figures of the prodigious ,florentine1 and their fullness of movement--for their immobility is charged with movement--the somber melancholy of his thought1 his flaming and shadowy soul1 his literary romanticism1 a romanticism like that of ,shakspere1 overwhelmed ,rodin with that formidable sense of an almost sorrowful admiration that all experience who visit the ,medici tombs in the new sacristy4 ,he studied also the later marbles of ,michelangelo1 which stood at that time in the gardens of the ,pitti ,palace and have since been removed to the ,municipal ,museum of ,florence4 ,every one knows these powerful blocks1 these vast human forms1 only half disengaged from the marble1 from which they seem to be endeavoring to escape in order to give birth to themselves by a rending effort that is characteristic with all the force of a symbol of the tragic genius of ,buonarroti4 ,unfinished works2 it is thus the catalogues designate them4 ,unfinished works1 indeed1 but why8 ,was it age that stilled1 before the end1 the hand of the giant of sculpture8 ,or was it not rather that he judged them too strangely beautiful in their incompleteness1 that they seemed to him more powerful thus1 still captive to the material that bound them groaning1 as it were1 in their tremulous flesh8 ,the public pays little attention to these sublime masses because it is told that they are not finished4 ,not finished8 ,or infinite8 ,that is the question4 ,far from weighing them down1 the marble that envelops them throws about them the charm of the indeterminate and by means of this unites them with the atmosphere4 ,the parts that are wholly disengaged enable one to divine those that remain hidden2 they are veiled without being obliterated1 like mountain-tops among the clouds2 and this half-mystery1 instead of diminishing1 increases the harmony of the bodies trembling with life under their mantle of stone4 ,in the presence of an effect so marvelous1 so calculated1 one cannot cease from asking if it was really death or if it was not rather the sovereign taste of the workman that arrested the chisel4 ,while he was fashioning his statues out of the marble itself1 with that fury that has passed into legend1 did he not find himself1 face to face with these unexpected effects which the material offered him of itself1 in the midst of one of those happy situations by which the talent of the masters alone enables them to profit8 ,however that may be1 ,rodin was struck as if by a revelation4 ,what the progress of his work had tardily disclosed to ,michelangelo was soon to become for his disciple a principle of decorative art4 ,instead of disengaging his figures entirely1 he was to leave them half submerged in the transparent marble4 ,this method1 which has become famous to-day1 seemed an unheard-of thing to those who were unfamiliar with the ,florentine blocks2 but ,rodin has never failed to acknowledge the paternity of the sculptor of ,the ,thinker4 ,following in his steps1 many artists have employed this method at random1 without possessing the essential qualities that enable one to control these effects1 and under their powerless chisels the enchanting device no longer possesses any meaning4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,thinker4 ,rodin himself waited until he possessed a thorough knowledge of marble and the manner of treating it2 it was a stroke of fate by which he rediscovered the phenomena of envelopment that had so transported him in the ,municipal ,museum4 ,he had by that time the wisdom to guard himself from doing anything inconsistent with his material4 ,he followed out the suggestions it gave him1 and developed an infinite variety in the methods of handling it4 ,on his return from ,italy he continued to be haunted by the unsurpassable vigor of ,michelangelo's workmanship4 ,he sought to discover what was the outstanding gift that conferred upon him this power and this mysterious empire over the spirit4 ,until then1 with the majority of artists of the modern school1 he had believed that the chief quality of sculpture lay in seizing the character of the model2 but he came to see how many works concerned only with expressing character fail of real significance4 ,since #ahcj how many romanticists have sacrificed to character without leaving any works that are lasting6 ,after his journey ,rodin decided that the strength of ,michelangelo lay undoubtedly in his movement4 ,returning to his studio1 he executed a quantity of sketches and even large figures like ,the ,creation of ,man1 the title of which1 although he had not been to ,rome1 is a souvenir of the frescos of the ,sistine ,chapel2 he made busts like that of ,bellona1 after having directed his models to assume ,michelangelesque poses4 ,for all this1 he did not attain to the grandeur1 the soul-disturbing authority of the ,florentine master4 ,without becoming discouraged1 he went on observing ceaselessly4 ,far from imposing upon his model positions thought out in advance1 he left him free to wander about the studio at the pleasure of his own caprice1 ready to arrest him at a word when a beautiful movement passed before his eyes4 ,then1 six months after his return from ,italy1 he found that the model assumed of his own accord the very poses of which ,michelangelo alone had seemed to him to possess the secret2 he realized that the sublime sculptor had taken them direct from nature1 from the rhythm of the human body in action1 and that he had done nothing but seize and immortalize them4 ,michelangelo1 he says1 revealed me to myself1 revealed to me the truth of forms4 ,i went to ,florence to find what ,i possessed in ,paris and elsewhere1 but it is he who taught me this4 ,this does not prevent certain critics from asserting out of the depth of their incompetence that he has never felt the influence of this master and that he has never even given his work serious consideration4 ,those who know ,rodin well know that1 on the contrary1 he never fails to give serious consideration to anything which is worth considering at all and that his power of observation is the basis of his genius4 ,always seeking a final method1 he came back to the idea with which his earliest education had already inspired him and which his self-communings had only confirmed3 that the value of sculpture lies entirely in the modeling4 ,this is the secret of ,michelangelo2 it is also that of the ancients and of all the great artists of the past and of modern times4 ,for the rest1 through his spacious movements1 his balancing of equal masses1 the sculptor of the tombs taught him that the supreme quality consists in seeking in the modeling the living1 determining line of the scheme1 the supple axis of the human body4 ,he himself held this principle of the ancients1 of whom he was a disciple1 as far as modeling is concerned1 while in his composition and his handling of light he is a ,gothic4 ,soon after his return from ,italy1 ,rodin executed the great study entitled ,the ,creation of ,man4 ,in it he exaggerated the rhythm so characteristic of the ,florentine1 the balancing of masses1 the melancholy contraction of the body under the weight of an inexpressible inner suffering4 ,when one examines the figure1 this exaggeration certainly suggests something overworked1 something forced1 which ,michelangelo knew how to avoid and which here creates a somewhat painful impression4 ,but later1 when ,rodin conceived the idea of placing his statue at the summit of ,the ,gate of ,hell1 this strained appearance disappeared4 ,seen thus1 a lofty shape lighted up from below1 it takes on true beauty2 it is in its right place2 it dominates the work and1 as it were1 blesses it4 ,it has the affecting gesture of ,christian charity4 ,illustration3 ,,adolescence4 ,,rodin',s ,,note-,,book ,,introductions ,,by ,,judith ,,cladel ,i ,,ancient ,,workshops ,,and ,,modern ,,schools ,at a period in which1 among the many manifestations of intellectual activity in the nations1 art is placed in the background1 the advent of a great artist invariably calls forth the same phenomena3 a few men of taste become enthusiasts1 the majority become indignant1 and the public1 not being possessed of sufficient esthetic education1 and intolerant because of their lack of understanding1 ridicule the intruder who has overthrown the accepted standards of the century4 ,friends and foes alike consider him a revolutionist2 as a matter of fact1 he is in open revolt against ignorance and general incompetence4 ,little by little the great truth embodied in such a man is revealed4 ,comprehension1 like a contagion1 seems to take hold of the minds of people1 and impels them to study his art at first hand4 ,a study not only of his own significance1 but of the principles which he represents1 quickly reveals that the work of this innovator1 this revolutionist1 is1 in fact1 deeply allied to tradition1 and1 far from being a mysterious1 isolated manifestation1 is1 on the contrary1 closely linked to general artistic ideals4 ,our aim is to penetrate the doctrines of this master1 his method1 his manner of working--all that which at other times would have been called his secrets4 ,auguste ,rodin's career has passed through the inevitable phases4 ,he1 who has been so generally discussed and attacked1 is to-day the most regarded of all artists4 ,he likes to talk of his art2 for he knows that his observations have a priceless value1 that of experience--the experience of sixty years of uninterrupted work--and of a conscience perhaps even more exacting to-day than at the time of his impetuous youth4 ,he says1 ,my principles are the laws of experience4 ,the combination of these principles embodies his greatest precept2 namely1 that of thinking and executing a thing simultaneously4 ,we must listen to ,rodin as we would listen to ,michelangelo or ,rembrandt if they were living4 ,for his method may be the starting-point of an artistic renaissance in ,europe1 perhaps throughout the whole world4 ,definite signs of a decided resurrection in taste are already manifesting themselves1 and it is a splendid satisfaction for the illustrious sculptor to receive such acknowledgment in his glorious old age4 ,for1 like every great genius1 he has a profound love for the race from which he springs1 and feels a strong instinctive confidence in it4 ,indeed1 how should this be otherwise8 ,in the course of centuries1 has not this wonderful ,celtic race on various occasions reconstructed its understanding and interpretation of beauty8 ,auguste ,rodin expresses himself by preference on subjects from which he can draw an actual lesson4 ,he is no theorist2 he has an eminently positive mind1 one might even say a practical mind4 ,his teachings1 unlike the abstract teachings of books1 can be characterized by two words1 observation and deduction4 ,his are not more or less arbitrary meditations in which personal imagination plays the principal part2 they are rather the account of a sagacious1 truthful traveler1 of a soldier who relates the story of his campaigns1 or of a scholar who records the result of an analysis4 ,reality is his only basis1 and with justice to himself he can say1 ,i am not a rhetorician1 but a man of action4 ,we hear him chat1 it may be in his atelier about some piece of antique sculpture which has just come into his possession or about a work he has in hand1 or during his rambles through his garden1 which is situated in the most delightful country in the suburbs of the capital1 or on a walk through the museums1 or through the old quarter of ,paris4 ,for in his opinion the streets of ,paris1 with their shops of old furniture1 etchings1 and works of art1 are a veritable museum1 far less tiring than official museums1 and from which one imbibes just as much as one can4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i use the words of the people1 of the man in the street2 for thoughts should be clear and easily comprehended4 ,i desire to be understood by the great majority1 and ,i leave scholarly words and unusual phrasing to specialists in estheticism4 ,moreover1 what ,i say is very simple4 ,it is within the grasp of ordinary intelligence4 ,up to now it has been of hardly any value4 ,it is something quite new1 and will remain so as long as the ideas which ,i stand for are not actively carried out4 ,if these ideas were understood and applied1 the destruction of ancient works of art would cease immediately4 ,by bad restoration we are ruining our most beautiful works of art1 our marvelous architecture1 our ,gothic cathedrals1 ,renaissance city halls1 all those old houses that transformed ,france into a garden of beauty of which it was impossible to grow weary1 for everything was a delight to the eye and intelligence4 ,our workmen would have to be as capable as those of former times to restore those works of art without changing them1 they would have to possess the same wonderfully trained eye and hand4 ,but to-day we have lost that conception and execution4 ,we live in a period of ignorance1 and when we put our hand to a masterpiece1 we spoil it4 ,restoring1 in our way1 is almost like jewelers replacing pearls with false diamonds1 which the ignorant accept with complacency4 ,the ,americans who buy our paintings1 our antique furniture1 our old engravings1 our materials1 pay very dearly for them4 ,at least we think so4 ,as a matter of fact they buy them very cheaply1 for they obtain originals which can never be duplicated4 ,we mock at the ,american collectors2 in reality we ought to laugh at ourselves4 ,for we permit our most precious treasures to be taken out of the country1 and it is they who have the intelligence to acquire them4 ,my ideas1 once understood and applied1 would immediately revive art1 all arts1 not only sculpture1 painting1 and architecture1 but also those arts which are called minor1 such as decoration1 tapestry1 furniture1 the designing of jewelry and medals1 etc4 ,the artisan would revert to fundamental truth1 to the principles of the ancients--principles which are the eternal basis of all art1 regardless of differences of race and temperament4 ,,construction ,,and ,,modeling ,in the first place1 art is only a close study of nature4 ,without that we can have no salvation and no artists4 ,those who pretend that they can improve on the living model1 that glorious creation of which we know so little1 of which we in our ignorance barely grasp the admirable proportions1 are insignificant persons1 and they will never produce anything but mediocre work4 ,we must strive to understand nature not only with our heart1 but above all with our intellect4 ,he who is impressionable1 but not intelligent1 is incapable of expressing his emotion4 ,the world is full of men who worship the beauty of women2 but how many can make beautiful portraits or beautiful busts of the woman they adore8 ,intelligence alone1 after lengthy research1 has discovered the general principles without which there can be no real art4 ,in sculpture the first of these principles is that of construction4 ,construction is the first problem that faces an artist studying his model1 whether that model be a human being1 animal1 tree1 or flower4 ,the question arises regarding the model as a whole1 and regarding it in its separate parts4 ,all form that is to be reproduced ought to be reproduced in its true dimensions1 in its complete volume4 ,and what is this volume8 ,it is the space that an object occupies in the atmosphere4 ,the essential basis of art is to determine that exact space2 this is the alpha and omega1 this is the general law4 ,to model these volumes in depth is to model in the round1 while modeling on the surface is bas-relief4 ,in a reproduction of nature such as a work of art attempts1 sculpture in the round approaches reality more closely than does bas-relief4 ,to-day we are constantly working in bas-relief1 and that is why our products are so cold and meager4 ,sculpture in the round alone produces the qualities of life4 ,for instance1 to make a bust does not consist in executing the different surfaces and their details one after another1 successively making the forehead1 the cheeks1 the chin1 and then the eyes1 nose1 and mouth4 ,on the contrary1 from the first sitting the whole mass must be conceived and constructed in its varying circumferences2 that is to say1 in each of its profiles4 ,a head may appear ovoid1 or like a sphere in its variations4 ,if we slowly encircle this sphere1 we shall see it in its successive profiles4 ,as it presents itself1 each profile differs from the one preceding4 ,it is this succession of profiles that must be reproduced1 and that is the means of establishing the true volume of a head4 ,each profile is actually the outer evidence of the interior mass2 each is the perceptible surface of a deep section1 like the slices of a melon1 so that if one is faithful to the accuracy of these profiles1 the reality of the model1 instead of being a superficial reproduction1 seems to emanate from within4 ,the solidity of the whole1 the accuracy of plan1 and the veritable life of a work of art1 proceed therefrom4 ,the same method applies to details which must all be modeled in conformity with the whole4 ,deference to plan necessitates accuracy of modeling4 ,the one is derived from the other4 ,the first engenders the second4 ,these are the main principles of construction and modeling--principles to which we owe the force and charm of works of art4 ,they are the key not only to the handicraft of sculpture1 but to all the handicrafts of art4 ,for that which is true of a bust applies equally to the human form1 to a tree1 to a flower1 or to an ornament4 ,this is neither mysterious nor hard to understand4 ,it is thoroughly commonplace1 very prosaic4 ,others may say that art is emotion1 inspiration4 ,those are only phrases1 tales with which to amuse the ignorant4 ,sculpture is quite simply the art of depression and protuberance4 ,there is no getting away from that4 ,without a doubt the sensibility of an artist and his particular temperament play a part in the creation of a work of art1 but the essential thing is to command that science which can be acquired only by work and daily experience4 ,the essential thing is to respect the law1 and the characteristic of that fruitful law is to be the same for all things4 ,moreover1 such was the method employed by the ancients1 the method which we ourselves employed till the end of the eighteenth century1 and by which the spirit of the ,gothic genius and that of the ,renaissance and of the periods of culture and elegance of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were transmitted to us4 ,only in our day have we completely lost that technic4 ,these rules do not constitute a system peculiar to myself4 ,they are general principles which govern the world of art1 just as other immutable laws govern the celestial world4 ,they are mathematical principles which ,i found again because my work inevitably led me to follow in the footsteps of the great masters1 my ancestors4 ,,the ,,traditional ,,laws ,,of ,,ancient ,,art ,in days of old1 precise laws were handed down from generation to generation1 from master to student1 in all the workshops of the workers in art--sculptors1 painters1 decorators1 cabinet-makers1 jewelers4 ,but at that time workshops existed where one actually taught1 where the master worked in view of the pupil4 ,in our day by what have we replaced that marvelously productive school1 the workshop8 ,by academies in which one learns nothing1 because one sets out from such a contrary point of view4 ,these principles of art were first pointed out to me not by a celebrated sculptor1 or by an authorized teacher1 but by a comrade in the workshop1 a humble artisan1 a little plasterer from the neighborhood of ,blois called ,constant ,simon4 ,we worked together at a decorator's4 ,i was quite at the beginning of my career1 earning six francs a day4 ,our models were leaves and flowers1 which we picked in the garden4 ,i was carving a capital when ,constant ,simon said to me3 ,you don't go about that correctly4 ,you make all your leaves flatwise4 ,turn them1 on the contrary1 with the point facing you4 ,execute them in depth and not in relief4 ,always work in that manner1 so that a surface will never seem other than the termination of a mass4 ,only thus can you achieve success in sculpture4 ,i understood at once4 ,since then ,i have discovered many other things1 but that rule has remained my absolute basis4 ,constant ,simon was only an obscure workman1 but he possessed the principles and a little of the genius of the great ornamentists who worked at the chteaux of the ,loire4 ,on the ,st4 ,michel fountain in ,paris there are very beautifully carved decorations1 rich and at the same time graceful1 which were made by the hand of this little modeler1 who knew far more than all the professors of esthetics4 ,such was the purpose the workshops of old served4 ,the apprentice passed successively through all the stages and became acquainted with all the secrets of his handicraft4 ,he began by sweeping the studio1 and that first taught him care and patience1 which are the essential virtues of a workman4 ,he posed1 he served as model for his comrades4 ,the master in turn worked before him among his students4 ,he heard his companions discuss their art1 he benefited by the discoveries that they communicated to one another4 ,he found himself faced every day by those unforeseen difficulties which go to make an artist till the moment when the artist is sufficiently capable to master his difficulties4 ,alternately1 they were both teacher and companion1 and they conveyed to one another the science of the ancients4 ,what have we to-day in place of those splendid institutions which developed character and intelligence simultaneously8 ,schools at which the students think only of obtaining a prize1 not attained by close study1 but by flattering the professors4 ,the professors themselves1 without any deep attachment for their academies1 come hurriedly1 overburdened by official duties and all sorts of work2 weighed down by perfunctory obligations1 they correct the students' papers hastily1 and hurriedly return to their regular occupation4 ,as to the students1 twenty or thirty work from a single model1 which is some distance from them and around which they can hardly turn4 ,they ignore all those inevitable laws which are learned in the course of work1 and which escape the attention of an artist working alone4 ,they attend courses1 or read books on esthetics written in technical language with obscure1 abstract terms1 lacking all connection with concrete reality--books in which the same mistakes are repeated because frequently they are copied from one another4 ,what sort of students can develop under such disastrous conditions8 ,if one among them is seriously desirous of learning1 he breaks loose from his destructive surroundings1 is obliged to lose several years first in ridding himself of a poor method1 and then in searching for a method which formerly one had mastered on leaving the atelier4 ,that is the method that ,i preach to-day as emphatically as ,i can1 calling attention to the numerous benefits and advantages of taking up a variety of handicrafts4 ,aside from sculpture and drawing1 ,i have worked at all sorts of things--ornamentation1 ceramics1 jewelry4 ,i have learned my lesson from matter itself and have adapted myself accordingly4 ,only in being faithful to this principle can one understand and know how to work4 ,i am an artisan4 ,will my experience be of benefit to others8 ,i hope so4 ,at all events1 we have a bit to relearn4 ,it will take years of patience and application to rise from the abyss of ignorance into which we have fallen4 ,however1 ,i believe in a renaissance4 ,a number of our artists have already seen the light--the light of intellectual truth4 ,acts of barbarism against masterpieces cannot be committed any more without arousing the indignation of cultivated people4 ,that in itself is an inestimable gain1 for those works of art are the relics of our traditions1 and if we have the strength to become an artistic people again1 to reincarnate an era of beauty1 then those are the works of art that will serve as our models1 expressions of a national conscience that will be the milestones on our path4 99 99 99 99 99 ,judged by his work1 ,auguste ,rodin is the most modern of artists2 judged by his life and character1 he is unquestionably a man of bygone days4 ,as a sculptor1 he is such as were ,phidias1 ,praxiteles1 and the master architects of the ,middle ,ages2 that is to say1 he is of all times4 ,one single idea guides his thoughts1 one single aim arouses his energies--art1 art through the study of nature4 ,it is by the concentration of his unusual mind on a single purpose that he attains his remarkable understanding of man1 physical and moral1 his contemporary1 and of the spirit of our age4 ,in the lifelike features of his statues he inscribes the history of the day4 ,they seem to live1 and the potency of their life enters into us and dominates us4 ,for the moment we are only a silent spring1 merely reflecting their authority4 ,through this secret of genius1 his statues and groups have an individual charm4 ,they have taken their place in the history of sculpture4 ,there is the charm of the antique1 the charm of the ,gothic1 and the charm of ,michelangelo4 ,there is also the charm of ,rodin4 ,illustration3 ,,head ,,of ,,minerva4 ,,ii ,,scattered ,,thoughts ,,on ,,flowers ,in ,rodin's statues we find his conception of eternal man--man as he really is4 ,they are molded on modern thought1 with all its variations4 ,one might suppose that these beautiful beings of marble and bronze had been named by the characteristic poets of the century1 ,victor ,hugo1 ,musset1 ,baudelaire4 ,beginning with the ,renaissance and particularly during the seventeenth century1 the royal courts were the great salons in which the taste of the day was developed4 ,necessity made courtiers of the artists1 for to obtain orders1 they had to win the good-will of the sovereigns1 the great lords1 and the financiers4 ,art then lost its collective character1 the artist his independence and strength4 ,there was no longer the united effort of artists1 inspired by love of beauty1 to create great masterpieces such as cathedrals1 city halls1 and castles4 ,the artist wasted his abilities in fragmentary bits1 his time in worldly duties4 ,to-day it is even worse4 ,keeping house1 traveling1 receiving1 exhibiting in a hundred different places1 living in great style1 carrying on his life-work--all these crowd out the first1 and formerly the essential1 object of the artist1 his work4 ,it is these that lower art to the last degree of decadence4 ,rodin has kept aloof from this manner of living1 has avoided these innumerable occasions for wasting time1 or1 rather1 has never allowed them to take possession of him4 ,modest1 unpretentious1 traveling little or within a limited radius1 the unremitting study of the divine model and of the masterpiece1 man1 forms his whole ambition1 while it is also the source of endless delight to him4 ,admiration1 he says1 is a joy daily kindled afresh1 and again1 ,i talk out of the fullness of life2 it belongs to me in a sense larger than that of ownership4 ,in his villa at ,meudon1 in the midst of his collections of antiques1 he pursues this study incessantly4 ,he who is admitted to the modest garden of the great master first beholds with delight a ,greek marble in an arbor4 ,at the turn of a path there is the torso of a goddess resting on an antique column2 in a niche in the wall1 a ,roman bust4 ,beneath the high arch of the peristyle of the studio1 the architecture of which blends into the surrounding background as in the paintings of ,claude ,lorrain1 there is a magnificent torso4 ,finally dominating the garden and the valley it overlooks1 standing on a knoll and projected against the clear sky1 there is an isolated faade from a castle of the seventeenth century1 its delicate balustrades and casements outlined against the blue sky as in the decorative paintings of ,paul ,veronese4 ,these ruins are the remains of the ,chteau d',issy1 the work of ,mansart4 ,rodin saved them at the moment when their destruction at the hands of ignorant workmen was imminent1 and at great expense reconstructed them near his residence4 ,these fragments1 this noble portico1 seem as though placed by chance1 but the keen observer quickly perceives the correctness of taste that has determined their disposition4 ,each fragment forms part of an ensemble with the trees1 the grass1 the light1 and the shadows1 and to change any of these in the slightest degree would sacrifice some of its beauty4 ,sculpture at its finest is architecture1 and architecture is perhaps the greatest art1 because it collaborates directly with nature4 ,architecture lives through the life of things1 and every hour of the day lends it a new expression4 ,innumerable reflections were aroused in the mind of the master ,rodin when he essayed to place his treasures3 the effect of the changing light on the object1 the balancing of values1 the relation of proper proportions1 the appearance of the object in full light4 ,all these he examined and studied1 and he searched into the depths of the language of forms1 to him as clear and as mysterious as beautiful music4 ,this remarkable gift for determining the value of the object in its setting--a gift the secret of which is beyond the knowledge of the ignorant--has brought forth that peculiar poetic charm which permeates this little garden in a suburb of ,paris1 a refuge of persecuted beauty4 ,here the master confers with the artists of ,greece and ,france of other days4 ,these are his ,elysian ,fields4 ,in ,paris1 where he is daily and where he works every afternoon1 he lives in an exquisite1 but ruinous1 mansion of the eighteenth century1 situated in a rustic1 neglected park4 ,there he finds his delight in the study of flowers and applies himself to it with his intense1 never-dormant desire for understanding4 ,his antique pottery is filled with anemones1 carnations1 and tulips4 ,during his frugal meals they are before him1 and his reverent love of them arouses his desire to understand them as completely as he does human beings4 ,he analyzes and searches out their details without becoming insensible to the beauty of the whole4 ,he jots down his discoveries1 his words picture them2 like ,la ,rochefoucauld1 he searches into their character2 but watching over their life admiringly and tenderly until they wither1 he does not dissect them1 does not destroy them4 ,is not the flower the queen of ornaments1 the inspiration of all races and ages1 the very soul of artistic decoration8 ,have not the hands of genius contrived to employ the most durable as well as the most fragile material to express this delicate beauty in ,greek and ,gothic capitals1 in the stone lacework of cathedrals1 the fabrics of gold and silk1 brocades1 tapestries1 wrought iron-work1 old bindings8 ,is the splendor of stained-glass windows aught else than the splendor of a mass of beautiful flowers8 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,bath4 ,were this thoroughly understood1 says ,rodin1 industrial art would be entirely revolutionized--industrial art1 that barbarous term1 an art which concerns itself with commerce and profit4 ,the young artists of to-day understand nothing2 they copy to satiety the classic ornaments and designs1 and reproduce them in so cold a manner that they lose all meaning4 ,the ancients obtained their designs from nature4 ,they found their models in the garden1 even in the vegetable garden4 ,they drew their inspiration from its source4 ,the cabbage-leaf1 the oak-leaf1 the clover1 the thistle1 and the brier are the motives of the ,gothic capital4 ,it is not photographic truth1 but living truth1 that we must seek in art4 ,rodin writes his observations4 ,he notes them down at the moment as they occur to him in all their freshness1 and in this form they will be given here4 ,at first glance1 the reader may be surprised at their apparently fragmentary form4 ,they may seem devoid of general continuity1 but when one comprehends the great master's method1 one sees that a bond much firmer than that of the mere word binds them together4 ,they seem disjointed because here1 as in his sculpture1 the artist accepts only the essential1 and rejects all superfluous detail4 ,in reality they have the continuity of life1 which is felt1 but not seen1 and which renders arbitrary transition unnecessary4 ,this is the prerogative of genius1 while all else is within the grasp of any one4 ,his authority strikes us dumb2 it puts to rout mere commonplace cleverness4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i have had primroses put in this little flower-pot4 ,they are a bit crowded1 and their poor little stems are prisoners2 they are no longer in their garden4 ,i look at them on my table like a vivisector4 ,i admire their beautiful leaves1 round-headed1 vigorous1 like peasants4 ,they point toward me1 and between them is the flower4 ,the one on this side is resigned1 and as beautiful as a caryatid4 ,in profile it seems to hold up the leaf against which it leans and which gives it shade4 ,these little flowers are not beautiful1 nor are they radiant4 ,they live peaceably1 gently contented in their misery2 and yet they offer something to one who is ill1 as ,i am to-day1 and cause him to write to ward off weariness4 ,i always have flowers in the morning1 and make no distinction between them and my models4 ,many flowers together are like women with heads bowed down4 ,there is no longer the sap of life in flowers in a vase4 ,the lace work of the flower of the elder-tree--,venice4 ,the anemone is only an eye1 cruelly melancholy4 ,it is the eye of a woman who has been badly used4 ,these anemones are flowers that have stayed up too late at night2 flowers that are resplendent1 with their colors as though spread over them superficially and wiped away4 ,even in the spring1 in the hour of anticipation1 they are already in the fullness of enjoyment4 ,like the flower of seduction1 the anemones slowly change their form outlined in various ways1 always restrained1 however1 and inclosed within their sphere4 ,their petals have not a common destiny3 some curl up1 others are like a becoming collaret1 still others seem to be running away4 ,the delicate droop of the petals1 standing out in relief1 is like the eyelid of a child4 ,although old1 that one does not shed its petals4 ,poor little flower with bent head1 you are not ridiculous2 you are pensive now that you are dying4 ,you suffer from the cruelty of the stem which holds you back4 ,flowers give their lives to us2 they should be placed in ,persian vases4 ,near them1 gold and silver seem of no value4 ,ah1 dear friends1 we must love you if we would have you speak to us6 ,we must watch you or you fall from the vase1 despairing1 your leaves withered4 ,the flowers and the vase harmonize by contrast4 ,in this bouquet there are some with flexible stems which seem to leap up gracefully4 ,the flower1 surrounded by its frail1 straight leaves1 is as if suspended from the ledge of a wrought-iron balcony4 ,ah1 the adorable heart of ,adonis is incased within these flowers6 ,the hyacinth is like a balustrade placed upside down4 ,a bed of hyacinths resembles a mass of balusters4 ,thus that great invention of the ,renaissance1 the balustrade1 allows us to gain through it a glimpse of nature4 ,this ray of art1 the flower1 this delicate inspiration1 unknowingly requires the intelligence of man to develop its possibilities4 ,superb is this little rose-like flower among its spreading leaves4 ,it is like an assumption4 ,the double narcissus is a bird's-nest viewed from above4 ,strange flowers1 like so many throats6 ,what a frail marvel they are6 ,these three little narcissi group themselves like a cluster of electric lights4 ,the dignity of nature impresses us on every hand4 ,it is greatly apparent in flowers2 and yet so small are they that some look on them merely as the decoration at a banquet4 ,i will cast a narcissus in bronze2 it shall serve as my seal4 ,a maiden on a lake1 that is the narcissus4 ,little red marguerite1 not yet open1 sister to the strawberry1 huddled in the shade which caresses you4 ,the full-blown marguerite seems to play at pigeon-vole4 ,it has rained for four hours2 this is the hour when flowers quench their thirst4 ,a marguerite in profile1 a serpent's head with open jaws1 stretching out its tongues6 ,petals1 white1 like a little collar4 ,seen in full face1 its yellow-tinted heart is a little sun2 its long petals are like fingers playing the piano4 ,these white flowers are gulls with wings outstretched4 ,they fly one after the other2 this one1 in adoration1 has its petals thrown backward1 like wings4 ,whoever understands life loves flowers and their innocent caresses4 ,these marguerites seem to retreat like a spider that finds itself discovered in the road4 ,their buds stretch out their serpent-heads at the end of long stems1 divided by intercepting leaves and entangling knots4 ,does not love travel in a similar path rather than straight as an arrow8 ,there is so much regularity in these dark-green leaves1 extending at fixed intervals to right and left1 and in the eternal dryness of the bouquet1 that it calls to mind a ,persian miniature4 ,no man has a heart pure enough to interpret the freshness of flowers4 ,we cannot give expression to this freshness2 it is beyond us4 ,when it sheds its petals1 the flower seems to disrobe and go to sleep on the earth4 ,this is its last act of grace1 showing its submission to ,god4 ,what spirit possesses these flowers that die in silence6 ,we should listen to them and give thanks4 ,this red and black ranunculus proclaims the carnival2 it is the carnival itself4 ,the carnival is the very emblem of flowers4 ,like them it1 also1 wears masks and costumes4 ,it wears their colors1 bright yellow1 red--an imitation of the flowers of the sun4 ,delightful carnival6 ,delightful interpretation of flowers6 ,for a long time in my youth ,i undervalued them4 ,i am happy now to see them under another aspect1 as the splendor of ,rome and the lavish intelligence of a bygone time4 ,some one gave me tulips4 ,they fascinate me variously4 ,how great an artist is chance1 knowing the last secret by which to win us6 ,these yellow tulips1 dipped in blood6 ,what a treat to see true colors--reds1 blues1 greens1 the art of stained glass6 ,one is quite taken aback before these flowers1 in which nature has expressed more than one can comprehend4 ,it imparts that great mystery which is beyond us and signifies the presence of ,god4 ,how magnificent the flower becomes as its youth passes6 ,even the flowers have their setting sun4 ,my bouquet is always the same1 yet ,i never cease to look at it4 ,a whirlwind1 a very cyclone1 this tulip has perished in the storm4 ,like the wife of ,lot1 it is possessed of fear4 ,this one is open1 all aflame like a burning bush4 ,that one1 all disheveled1 comes toward me4 ,full of ardor1 it springs up1 its petals strong and expanding1 like a mouth curling forward4 ,the violence of passion in flowers is pronounced4 ,ah1 the softness of love is found only in women6 ,great artists1 curb your curiosity1 neglect the pleasures which offer themselves to you1 so that you may better understand the secrets of ,god4 ,,iii ,,portraits ,,of ,,women ,rodin's busts of women are perhaps the most charming part of his work4 ,but to say this is almost a sacrilege1 an affront to the grace of the small groups that1 in this giant's work1 swarm about the superior figures4 ,but we need not search too far into this or yield to the pedantic mania for classifying to death4 ,let us rather look at them without transforming the joy of admiration into the labor of cataloguing1 and give ourselves up wholly to the pleasure of seeing and understanding4 ,yes1 these portraits of women are the graceful aspect of this work of power4 ,they are the achievements of a force which knows its own strength1 and here relaxes in caresses4 ,if some among them disturb the spirit1 most of them shed upon us a calm enjoyment1 the delightful security that one breathes among all-powerful beings that wish to be gracious4 ,they allay the sense of unrest aroused in us by those dramas in marble and bronze which a powerful intellect has conceived--that mind from which sprang ,the ,burghers of ,calais1 the two monuments to ,victor ,hugo1 ,the ,tower of ,labor1 that imagination1 glowing like a forge1 which produced ,the ,gate of ,hell1 the ,sarmiento monument1 the statue of ,balzac4 ,here ,rodin's art extends to the utmost confines of grace4 ,he has contrived to discover the most delicate secrets of nature4 ,he models the petals of the lips just as nature curls the frail substance of the rose-leaf4 ,by imperceptible gradations he attaches the delicate membranes of the eyelids to the angle of the temples just as nature in springtime attaches the leaves to the rough bark of trees4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,broken ,,lily4 ,great thinkers never cease to be moved by the charm of weakness4 ,the eternal feminine is just that1 the power of grace over the manly soul4 ,the strongest feel this attraction most1 are most possessed with the desire of expressing it4 ,i am thinking of ,homer1 ,leonardo da ,vinci1 ,shakspere1 ,balzac1 ,wagner1 and ,rodin in saying this4 ,they have created a feminine world1 the figures of which1 lovingly copied from living models1 become models in turn4 ,they haunt thousands of souls1 fashion them in their image4 ,in her complicated ways1 ,nature avails herself of the artist to modify the human type4 ,we have some terra-cotta figures of ,rodin1 modeled when he was between twenty-five and thirty1 while working at the manufactory at ,svres1 in the studio of ,carrier-,belleuse1 that accomplished sculptor4 ,they are charming little busts1 with the perfume of the eighteenth century breathing from them1 treated a little in the manner of ,carpeaux1 with the velvety shadow of their black eyes on their sparkling faces4 ,one of them1 now in a private gallery in ,new ,york1 has a hat on its head1 coquettish1 tender1 innocently provocative2 it is full of ,parisian allurement because it is characteristically ,french4 ,one can find its kindred among certain ,renaissance figures1 and even among the mischievous faces of ,gothic angels4 ,with all this there is that ephemeral prettiness which is called fashion1 that caprice of styles which does for the adornment of cities what the flowers of the field do for the country4 ,if ,rodin had pursued his path in this direction1 he would have been a portrait-sculptor of great taste1 and would doubtless have attained celebrity sooner1 but a celebrity which is not glory4 ,at that time he was chiefly concerned with copying the features of his models with all the sensitiveness of his admiration2 he did not yet attempt those large effects of light and shade which were to become the object of his whole career1 and are so still4 ,he has made the religion of progress his own by reflective study4 ,progress is for him the chief condition of happiness4 ,present-day philosophies commonly put it in doubt2 but if happiness exists1 it is surely in the soul of the artist4 ,but it is recognized with difficulty because it is called by an equivocal name1 the ideal4 ,let us look at the ,portrait of the ,artist's ,wife4 ,here1 in this noble effigy1 this severe image with its lowered eyelids1 the artist passes beyond the promise of his first period4 ,the face1 rather wide at the cheek-bones1 lengthens toward the chin1 where the sorrowful mouth reigns4 ,it expresses melancholy1 gravity1 dignity1 ,christian charity4 ,it is rather masculine1 and seems less youthful than the original was at the time4 ,it is as if the artist had sought to bring out the character by conscientious modeling1 without any softening2 all the features are underlined1 as on a face that has attained a ripe age4 ,he had not yet discovered the art of softening his surfaces1 of blending them in a general tonality1 and of obtaining that softness1 that flesh quality1 with all the shades of youth1 which touches the heart in his more recent busts4 ,even then he did know1 however1 how to gather under the boldly molded superciliary arch of the brows the diffused shadows which1 in the future1 were to lend mystery and distance to most of his portraits4 ,this mask is all that remains of a standing figure dressed in the manner of ,gothic figures4 ,rodin was then living in ,brussels1 still young1 poor1 and unknown1 but happy4 ,he tasted the perfect happiness of long days of absorbing labor1 of that enthusiasm for work which nothing disturbs4 ,to-day he sometimes yearns for those years free from the never-ceasing bustle of a celebrated man's existence1 a giant assailed by a thousand pin-pricks4 ,yet his poverty was excessive1 for the beautiful statue1 modeled during successive months with much love1 fell to pieces4 ,for want of money1 the sculptor had not been able to have it cast4 ,among his women's busts1 one of the most famous and one which remains among the most beautiful is that of ,madame ,morla ,vicuha4 ,it dates back about twenty-five years1 but it is resplendent in eternal youth4 ,since then ,rodin has added to his knowledge and experience4 ,he has made personal discoveries in the plastic art4 ,he has become the master of color in sculpture4 ,nevertheless1 this portrait1 as it stands1 remains an adorable masterpiece4 ,who that has looked at its softly gleaming marble in the ,luxembourg has not been overcome by a long dream of tenderness1 of uneasy curiosity8 ,who has not hoped to make this woman speak1 to press her heart in order to draw from her a confession of her desires1 the secret of her happiness and her melancholy8 ,it is more than a bust1 it is woman herself4 ,because the beautiful shoulder slips tremulously from the heavy mouth1 which lies against the smooth1 polished flesh2 because this shoulder rises again toward the head1 slightly bent and inclined1 as if to draw toward it some loved one2 because the neck swells like that of a dove1 and the head is stretched forward to offer a kiss1 we seem to catch a glimpse of the whole body and its delicate curves4 ,it is a beautiful bust4 ,i should like to see it alone in a room hung with dim tapestries1 drawing forth its charm like a long sigh1 which nothing should disturb4 ,this masterpiece demands the distinction of solitude4 ,how beautifully modeled the head is in its firm delicacy6 ,the framework of the narrow skull appears under the texture of hair fastened over it like a rich handkerchief4 ,we can almost see the impatient hand1 trembling with feeling1 that has twisted the firm knot under the nape of the neck4 ,everywhere1 level with the temples1 at the bridge of the nose1--the aquiline nose marking the ,spaniard of race1--this bony framework stands out4 ,the face catches a feverish character from it1 tortured by the longing for intimate expression1 and reveals a being with whom happiness borders closely upon sorrow4 ,the nostrils tremble as if to the perfume of the flowers pressed voluptuously against the warm bosom4 ,the mouth is at once mobile and firm1 and all the curves of the features converge toward it--toward the kiss which causes it to swell softly4 ,the light steals gently into every line and fold of the face4 ,it borders the eyelids1 glides under the brows1 outlines the bridge of the nose and the nostrils1 emphasizes the opposed arches of the lips4 ,it spreads like a spring1 separating into a thousand streams4 ,it is a network1 like the tracery of the woman's nerves made visible4 ,it is as if the sculptor and the light had begun a dialogue--a dialogue kept up with endless graces and coquetries4 ,he contradicts it1 refutes it2 it escapes1 returns4 ,he gathers it up1 as if to force it into the sinuous folds of the figure4 ,again it flees1 and then1 summoned back1 it returns cautiously1 and at last bathes the statue in generous caresses4 ,this bust will live4 ,in its enigmatic grace it will become more and more the expression of the woman who loves1 just as ,la ,gioconda 7,mona ,lisa7 is the expression of the woman who is loved4 ,the one is all instinct1 the other all spirit4 ,the one offers herself2 the other promises herself4 ,the one is tenderness directed toward the past2 the other smiles toward the future4 ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,,madame ,,moria ,,vicu,,ha4 ,in the same gallery of the ,luxembourg1 there is that other famous head called ,la ,pense4 ,what a contrast6 ,it is strangely bound within a block of marble1 placed like a living head on a block4 ,and yet it tells only of the slightly resigned calm of meditation1 or of melancholy1 without bitterness1 of long autumn days1 with their diffused brilliancy4 ,the outlines are firm1 regular1 placid1 of remarkable moderation in their distinction4 ,the head leans forward1 because thought is a weighty matter4 ,the brow and the eyes are the dominant features4 ,on them the sculptor has focused all the light not only in the high lights1 but in the still surface as well4 ,the caprice of the artist has covered this head with a light peasant-cap4 ,this hides the details of the hair1 and concentrates the glance on the face4 ,caprice expresses the idea badly1 for it is taste and the will of the artist that have directed all4 ,these dreamy features express the practical mysticism of women1 the effort of intelligent devotion4 ,it makes one think of ,st4 ,genevive1 of ,jeanne d',arc1 of the overwhelming courage of a weak being carried beyond and out of herself by a great purpose4 ,la ,pense has the striking character that almost all the busts of ,rodin assume in the future1 and which they owe on the one hand to their intense lifelikeness1 and on the other to the atmosphere with which the sculptor surrounds them4 ,there are no hard-and-fast limits which separate them from the circumambient air2 on the contrary1 they are bathed in it4 ,the blacks1 which give a hard1 dry look when used to excess1 are handled marvelously4 ,the women's busts1 especially1 almost start up before us with this slightly fantastic look of life increased tenfold1 with the charm of phantoms of marble1 monumental1 and yet as light as beautiful mists4 ,these effects of light and shadow perhaps harmonize best with the softness and delicacy of the feminine flesh4 ,they convey to us naturally the mystery of an inner life more secret1 more intimate than that of man4 ,even with works that are similar1 the public does not recognize their common origin4 ,it sees the result of an extraordinary amount of observation and intelligence1 yet it does not reflect more than a child4 ,for the public the sculptor1 whoever he may be1 is a creature of instinct1 with a trained eye and hand1 but without mind and culture4 ,he is a sculptor1 that is all4 ,a common proverb strengthens the belief in this lasting folly4 ,it may be told1 then1 that the master with whom we are here dealing studies his models not only as a sculptor1 but as a writer studies2 that often his hand drops the chisel for the pencil1 in order to set down his observation more exactly1 to search even further into nature4 ,perhaps the public will at last grasp the fact that the true artist1 under penalty of ceasing to be one1 must1 above all1 expend an amount of attention of which other men are incapable1 and that it is by this power of attention that the strength of intelligence is measured4 ,for example1 ,rodin is facing his model1 a young woman stretched out in an attitude of repose4 ,he writes1 and in his style we find all the power of the great draftsman4 ,he marks the outlines1 he specifies the details1 slowly1 patiently1 with pertinacity4 ,he never confuses the impression1 always so ready to elude one--the impression1 the divine reward of the artist4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the dazzling splendor revealed to the artist by the model that divests herself of her clothes has the effect of the sun piercing the clouds4 ,venus1 ,eve1 these are feeble terms to express the beauty of women4 ,the head leans to one side1 the torso to the other1 both inclining indolently1 gracefully4 ,this body has been glorified4 ,the contours flow1 descend1 repose1 like immortality personified4 ,the breasts follow the same curve4 ,the flowing lines are all in the same direction4 ,unchangeable1 heaving above the half-opened screen of the dress1 the breath scarcely lifts them4 ,it does not stir or agitate them4 ,the beautiful human monument is balanced in repose4 ,it is unassailable4 ,it is the gradation of contours4 ,i do not draw them1 but ,i see them in place1 and my spirit is content1 accustoms itself to the impression4 ,in memory ,i still make drawings of this model1 and these moving lines are repetitions1 done over again a hundred times2 for ,i repeat the drawing constantly1 like a caress4 ,this torso resigns itself1 like an ,ariadne whose contours melt away in the evening1 in the dark4 ,but the lightning of day has flashed there4 ,it is there always4 ,it is now the pale gleam of flesh4 ,my mind1 carried along1 takes this form as its model4 ,the hand1 the arm1 support the head1 the sidelong glance from which is so full of sweetness4 ,one might call it a ,mona ,lisa reposing4 ,this head feels the need of resting on the supporting hand1 a delicate support like the handle of a vase4 ,like an urn about to pour out its water1 its thought1 it inclines4 ,lying back on the cushion1 the head is in high relief4 ,the features are placed according to their due regard1 which is the very soul of balance4 ,it has made the eyes symmetrical2 the eyebrows straight2 the nose1 where beauty and symmetry meet1 expressive of a wholesome conformity4 ,when a woman is very beautiful1 she has the head of a lion4 ,from the lion is copied that splendid regularity of the eyes1 which the oval of the face accentuates4 ,the tawny mane is also lion-like in its regularity and majesty1 without any other expression4 ,arches are formed without effort of all the parts of the eye4 ,the hinges of the eyes open and close4 ,the open mouth keeps back neither the thoughts nor the words that have been spoken4 ,there is no need for her to speak4 ,her age1 her thoughts1 all is a confession here--the features1 the arch of the frank1 noble mouth1 as well as the form of the nose and the sensitive nostrils4 ,and this infantile glance under a woman's eyelid6 ,our soul demands that1 by an agreement with the heavens1 the feminine glance should be celestial4 ,illustration3 ,,la ,,pens,e4 ,how ,i bathe in the calm beauty of these eyes1 with their regular drawing6 ,how they themselves declare their tranquil joy6 ,sometimes eyes like these seem to be inhabited by spirits4 ,they close1 and ,i see the horizontal lashes1 the lower lid1 which just rests against the upper4 ,i see as a whole the soft oval of these long eyes1 the double circle of the lids themselves1 and the circle beneath1 so modest now1 but which one calls the circle of love4 ,the eyeball in moving shows the clear pupil1 and all about it press the circles of the delicate lids4 ,the soul finds a refuge in these secret hiding-places1 and throws out its circles of attraction like a lasso4 ,this sensuous soul is the soul of beautiful portraits4 ,the cheeks curve against the socket of the eye2 the double arch of the brows prolongs itself behind them4 ,the surface of the cheeks extends to the extremity of the nose1 forms a double depression by the sinking of the cheek1 which grows hollow toward the convex lip1 and surrounds the mouth and the two lips4 ,these facial lines and surfaces all stop at the chin1 toward which all the curves converge4 ,the facial expressions proceed from1 spread1 and move in another circle4 ,they all disappear in the cheeks1 just as do the movements of the mouth4 ,one curve passes down from the ear to the mouth2 a small curve draws back the mouth and also the nose a little4 ,a circle passes under the nose1 the chin1 to the cheekbones2 a deep curve1 which starts back to the cheekbone1 cuts in a small hollow to the eyebrow4 ,the features are distinct2 but when they move1 they merge into one another4 ,the smile passes over the face by a circle defining the mouth4 ,the edge of the mouth is defined by a mezzotint at the point of union4 ,the loose hair surrounds the cheek1 and the head seems like a golden fleece on a distaff4 ,it hangs like loosened garlands4 ,how beautifully these garlands of hair are arranged1 with the profile in a three-quarter view1 standing out against the fine1 tawny hair6 ,the impressive harmony between the flesh and the hair6 ,they seem altogether in accord2 they lend each other languor and charm2 they are united and separated at the same time4 ,these drooping clusters of chestnut-blond hair are a frame4 ,one might call them long flowers hanging from the edge of a vase4 ,the neck no longer holds erect the head1 which moves in ecstasy4 ,it drowns itself in the wavy flow of hair1 which becomes undone at the moment4 ,this inundation of hair1 so to speak1 what a generalized expression of opulence it is6 ,before its beauty ,i feel imbued with love4 ,i am seized with enthusiasm1 aflame with it4 ,this gold1 this dull copper1 is like a field of grain1 a field of corn1 where the sheaves are of gold bound together4 ,these sheaves1 slightly disordered in their lengthening curves1 turning in all directions1 imitate the tone of subdued flesh tints4 ,in this veil1 transparent and colored like a dead leaf1 the ear is hidden in shadow1 where the hair flies back at random in strands1 twists about1 and returns4 ,o head1 beautiful ornament1 drooping against the edge of the couch like a lovely motive in architecture at the edge of a console1 you express the prolonged weakness of a lovely languor6 ,the shoulder extends its beautiful curve before the face1 resting on its side2 the line rises1 passes near the nose1 descends1 and shows the red line of the mouth1 just as the bees continually enter and go out of the opening of the hive4 ,the face turns1 but the eye returns to me1 passes by me1 and again gazes upon me4 ,in it there is the softness of the dog's eye1 a spirit which becomes motionless when the tyranny of passion has disappeared4 ,when passion is in control1 she sucks like a vampire that delicate flesh1 which is the model of calm1 the exquisite remainder of calm4 ,this crown of beauty is not made for one woman alone1 but for all women4 ,they do not know it1 and yet all in turn attain this beauty1 as a fruit ripens4 ,this calm is more potent in them than in the most beautiful statues4 ,they are unaware of it1 and the men who are near them are unaware of it also4 ,they have not been taught to admire4 ,they have not been educated in the science of admiration4 ,when1 in the galleries of the ,louvre1 magnificent rooms where are gathered the collections of antiques1 day enters through the windows and lightly touches these beautiful sculptures which are the adornment of great palaces1 do they understand any better8 ,do they realize the collaboration between the sculptor and the light8 ,illustration3 ,,hotel ,,biron4 ,,view ,,from ,,the ,,garden4 ,,iv ,,an ,,artist',s ,,day ,the residence of ,rodin1 the ,htel ,biron1 is situated at the extreme end of the rue de ,varenne1 in the ,faubourg ,st4 ,germain4 ,the long straight street is lined on both sides with old mansions that lend a distinctive nobility to this district of ,paris4 ,the street is solemn1 the quiet austere4 ,only rarely a carriage rumbles by4 ,like the tide of a river1 the air sweeps down this street from the ,boulevard des ,invalides1 which at its other end opens upon the ,esplanade des ,invalides1 like a great lake4 ,now and then one catches glimpses of the spacious courts1 the steps1 the peristyles1 and the ornate1 but at the same time simple1 pediments4 ,most of these mansions were1 and many of them still are1 inhabited by families associated with the history of ,france4 ,the northern faade of the ,htel ,biron and the courtyard through which one enters are hidden behind a high convent wall1 for in the nineteenth century the old residence of the ,duc de ,biron was transformed into a religious school of the ,sacred ,heart4 ,there the daughters of the aristocracy were educated4 ,in consequence of the law of #aijd relating to the religious orders1 the mansion was vacated1 and taken possession of by the state1 which rented it in apartments4 ,rodin1 ever in search of old buildings1 in which alone he can think and work in comfort1 soon became the main tenant4 ,to ring the bell one must reach high4 ,with difficulty one turns the handle of the door1 which swings slowly4 ,it is a portal made for coaches to pass through4 ,under its monumental arch one seems as insignificant as an insect4 ,to the right of the court is the old chapel of the religious community4 ,its somber character stands out against the neighboring secular buildings4 ,the cold style of ,charles ,x1 in which it is built1 forms a strange contrast to the charming structure of ,jacques ,gabriel1 the celebrated artist who in the eighteenth century endowed ,paris with many works of art1 among others this pavilion of the rue de ,varenne1 the ,htel ,biron4 ,nevertheless1 had it not been for ,rodin1 this building would have been torn down4 ,it is a vast mansion1 extremely simple1 and built on the lines of an elongated square4 ,its great charm is due wholly to its correct proportions and to the grace and variety of its beautiful1 tall windows1 some straight1 others rounded1 and surmounted by an inconspicuous ornament1 the signature of the artist4 ,all of them are enlivened by little squares of glass1 which are to a window what the facets are to a diamond4 ,the spacious vestibule is paved with black and white marble1 its ceiling supported by six strong columns4 ,a charming stone staircase rises here4 ,all is in the style of ,louis ,,xv1 a style that is dignified when it is not delightfully elegant and coquettish4 ,the house was to be torn down1 and sold as junk2 but ,rodin was on guard4 ,ever since he had learned that this masterpiece was condemned his heart had bled1 and for the first and only time in the course of his long existence an outside interest took him from his work4 ,he wrote letters1 took legal steps1 called to his assistance artists1 people of culture1 and men in politics4 ,m4 ,clmenceau1 then president of the cabinet2 ,m4 ,briand1 who succeeded him2 ,m4 ,gabriel ,hanotaux1 one of his great friends2 ,m4 ,dujardin-,beaumetz1 under-secretary of state of fine arts1 all listened to his indefatigable pleading4 ,finally his plea was heard1 and the ,htel ,biron was classified as a historical monument1 henceforth inviolate4 ,then the speculators had to abandon their idea of filling the park with hideous modern structures1 and of disfiguring in six months this unique ,quartier des ,invalides1 to construct which the architects had given years of work and all their intelligence4 ,rodin's admirers soon conceived the idea of converting the ,htel ,biron into a museum for the master's works1 which they pledged themselves to defend with a tenacity equal to that which ,rodin had just displayed4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i knock at the door of the studio and rapidly pass through two large rooms containing no furniture1 only busts of bronze and groups of marble4 ,when ,i enter the study1 ,rodin is not here2 ,i glance about4 ,all the details of this room are familiar to me1 but they always seem new1 because everything is in harmony here1 with a harmony which varies according to the day and the hour4 ,it is a morning in spring4 ,the bright light sheds its rays on the various antiquities that the master has assembled here3 ,empire chairs1 with faded velvet coverings2 a ,louis ,,xiv arm-chair of gilded wood and cherry-colored silk1 in which one might fancy ,molire seating himself to chat with ,rodin1 who1 ever ready as he is with a bit of raillery1 would surely not have failed in repartee4 ,on a round table there is a ,persian material1 and some ,japanese vases filled with tulips and anemones4 ,on the mantelpiece are bronzes from the far ,east and a statuette of porcelain in marvelous blues that ,rodin calls his ,chinese ,virgin4 ,on the walls1 close together like the stones in a mosaic1 are many of the master's water-colors4 ,their well-chosen tones harmonize with and intensify those of the flowers1 the fabrics1 and the ceramics of bygone days4 ,scattered pedestals support huge bronze busts1 which call to mind warriors of the ,middle ,ages1 and some unfinished pieces4 ,they consist of small groups that1 under the eye of the master1 seem to grow out of the white marble1 and in the golden sunlight look as soft as snow4 ,on this table1 where ,rodin takes his meals and writes1 is a ,greek marble1 a little torso without arms or legs2 ,i know it well1 for he showed it to me while murmuring words of admiration4 ,this is his latest passion4 ,i enter the garden1 where he is enjoying a moment of rest1 for he has been working a long while4 ,owing to his habits as a good workman1 he rises at five every morning4 ,i pass through one of the big doors which open upon the park4 ,the beautiful view always captivates me anew4 ,the light1 the air1 the expanse of sky1 the magnificent groups of trees1 this rustic solitude in the heart of ,paris1 take one by surprise1 inspire and elevate the spirit4 ,rodin is here1 smiling and in good humor4 ,we are on the terrace that overlooks the expanse of green and forms a sort of slanting pedestal for the pavilion4 ,below stretches a broad alley1 almost an avenue1 overgrown with a rich carpet of grass and moss1 which loses itself in the distant wood4 ,fruit-trees1 growing wild1 form impenetrable screens on both sides of this alley4 ,the grandeur of this park is largely due to the age of the trees4 ,stepping to the edge of the balustrade1 ,i can see toward the right the dome of the ,invalides1 standing alone1 outlined against the sky1 like a burgrave on guard under a helmet of gold4 ,illustration3 ,,rodin ,,photographed ,,in ,,the ,,court ,,of ,,the ,,hotel ,,biron4 ,the northern faade of the pavilion has a severe character4 ,it is the faade which visitors and passers-by see1 and for this an elegant simplicity suffices4 ,but this other side1 bathed in the midday sun1 is meant for friends4 ,all the delicate splendor that the architect conceived is expressed in these stones4 ,this sculptured pediment1 this balcony with its console of flowers1 and the graceful windows1 with their semicircular transoms1 are models of elegance4 ,the ,htel ,biron is not large1 but it is imposing4 ,the blockheads who inhabited it during the last century1 blind to its beauty1 deaf to its appeal1 demolished and sold the wrought-iron balustrades of the windows1 balconies1 and staircases1 but they were not able1 thank ,heaven6 to destroy its innate beauty4 ,let us go to work1 said ,rodin4 ,i go back to the statues2 ,rodin begins to draw4 ,in a little while he will model4 ,during his hasty luncheon he has the little ,greek torso placed before him1 and he makes notes all the while4 ,true genius is as changeable as nature4 ,it finds as many ways of expressing its ideals as it finds subjects4 ,but what always remains the same is the desire to be sincere4 ,yet the artist1 with the best of intentions1 is often the victim of his own sincerity4 ,rodin is no exception to this rule1 for even he has had his portraits rejected4 ,there is no resemblance6 people declare1 while1 on the contrary1 the resemblance is too true4 ,with his keen insight he penetrates too far beyond the mere flesh of the model4 ,people are frightened at seeing their hidden personality brought to the light of day1 are taken aback at being compelled to know themselves4 ,they consider the sculptor indiscreet and dangerous4 ,if1 in his portraits of men1 he pries to their very souls1 if he reveals without pity those of his own sex1 his equals1 his companions in life's struggle1 in his portraits of women he is discreet and respectful4 ,with delicacy he unfolds their delicate mystery4 ,he does not say anything which is not true1 but frequently he does not express the whole truth4 ,genius is ever in quiet complicity with womanhood1 and leaves it in that half-obscurity which is its greatest power4 ,in the bust before us of ,mrs4 ,x---- 1 one wonders what he refrained from expressing4 ,surely neither the unusual beauty of the woman nor her air as of an archduchess4 ,i remember the day when ,i saw this bust for the first time4 ,it was in the ,salon1 placed at the head of a high staircase4 ,the marble was brilliant4 ,something regal and also lovable attracted those who came toward it4 ,resplendent in beauty1 the shoulders emerge from the folds of a wrap with the proud grace of one who is to the manor born4 ,the small1 well-shaped head1 supported by the plump1 though delicate1 neck1 is half turned to the slightly raised left shoulder4 ,the hair is drawn up high to form a crown1 throwing forward some light strands that shed their soft shadows over the forehead1 like a thatching of moss4 ,the beautiful eyebrows1 too1 lend mystery to the glance of the eyes1 so full of sweetness and understanding4 ,the small ear is partly hidden under the waves of the well-groomed hair4 ,the lines of delicate symmetry which run from the chin to the ear1 and from the ear to the shoulder1 and the coronet of hair1 give the bust its distinguished look of race4 ,here we see1 too1 the firmness of beautiful flesh1 hardened by exercise1 radiating that spirit of joyous life that springs from a thoroughly healthy body1 as we feel it in some of the ,tanagra figurines4 ,the quiet reserve which stamps the refined ,anglo-,saxon is revealed1 but not overaccentuated4 ,the nose is straight and slightly raised at the tip1 the mouth frank and regular4 ,those same changing shadows which beautify flowers1 when the sun strikes them through the leaves of a tree1 play over this countenance1 and bathe it in a variety of delicate tones from the eyes to the chin4 ,but beneath this placid beauty there is a restless soul eager to act1 to express its goodness4 ,the chin and the throat retain their look of youth1 even of something childlike for those whom she loves2 but the thoughtful brow is slightly wrinkled1 as if from the intelligent search for happiness4 ,this bust1 almost ,greek in its simplicity1 is one of the most purely beautiful that has come from ,rodin's hands4 ,when we note the facility with which these works are produced1 seemingly a natural growth1 like vintage and harvest2 when we contemplate these fruits of knowledge1 we are too apt to overlook the laborious efforts involved1 and to forget that a life has been given1 drop by drop1 to achieve this result in small steps of progress4 ,even when we know all this1 we often prefer to give the credit to external causes1 which appeal more strongly to our superficial minds1 rather than to that endless patience that is1 and always will be1 the secret of genius4 ,i watched ,rodin model the head of ,hanako1 the ,japanese actress4 ,he rapidly modeled the whole in the rough1 as he does all his busts4 ,his keen eye and his experienced thumb enable him to establish the exact dimensions at the first sitting4 ,then the detailed work of modeling begins4 ,the sculptor is not satisfied to mold the mass in its apparent outlines only4 ,with absolute accuracy he slices off some clay1 cuts off the head of the bust1 and lays it upside down on a cushion4 ,he then makes his model lie on a couch4 ,bent like a vivisector over his subject1 he studies the structure of the skull seen from above1 the jaws viewed from below1 and the lines which join the head to the throat1 and the nape of the neck to the spine4 ,then he chisels the features with the point of a pen-knife1 bringing out the recesses of the eyelids1 the nostrils1 the curves of the mouth4 ,yet for forty years ,rodin was accused of not knowing how to finish6 ,with great joy he said one day1 ,i achieved a thing to-day which ,i had not previously attained so perfectly--the commissure of the lips4 ,in making a bust ,rodin takes numerous clay impressions1 according to the rate of progress4 ,in this way he can revert to the impression of the previous day1 if the last pose was not good1 or if1 in the language of the trade1 he has overworked his material4 ,thus one may see five1 six1 or even eight similar heads in his studio1 each with a different expression4 ,hanako did not pose like other people4 ,her features were contracted in an expression of cold1 terrible rage4 ,she had the look of a tiger1 an expression thoroughly foreign to our ,occidental countenances4 ,with the force of will which the ,japanese display in the face of death1 ,hanako was enabled to hold this look for hours4 ,little by little1 under the sculptor's fingers1 the mask of clay reflected all this4 ,it cried out revenge without mercy1 the thirst1 for blood4 ,a baffling contrast this--the spirit of a wild beast appearing on the human countenance4 ,i have one of these studies before me now4 ,it has been cast in a composition of colored glass1 and the vivid flesh coloring lends reality to the work4 ,this mask is not disfigured by rage4 ,the bloodless head1 with its fixed stare1 lies on a white cushion1 and no one escapes its disquieting influence4 ,some people shudder when they see it4 ,one might think it the head of a dead person1 they say4 ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,,mrs4 ,x----4 ,whenever ,i enter the spacious room ,i am irresistibly drawn toward it4 ,my feelings are different every time1 but always there is a feeling of uneasiness4 ,i cannot say that it resembles death2 on the contrary1 it is so lifelike that it is almost supernatural4 ,one might call it a condemned person1 a being so terrified by the approach of death that all the blood has rushed to the heart4 ,it is a spirit frozen with fear1 the eyes looking toward the unknown1 the large nostrils scenting death4 ,the bulging forehead1 the high1 ,mongolian cheek-bones1 and the flat nose make the face still more singular4 ,all the lines of the face run toward the mouth1 with its remarkable expression4 ,obstinate1 although conquered1 it will draw its last breath without a cry4 ,meanwhile life seems to throb in every cell4 ,this head1 so like a being that has been put to death1 has the soft1 pliant flesh of a ripe fruit4 ,at night ,i return to look at it by the light of a candle4 ,it looks entirely different4 ,the shadows vary as ,i move the candle1 and the features grow mobile4 ,how gentle and touching it seems now6 ,it is no longer bloodthirsty and savage2 that exotic expression which repelled me has quite disappeared4 ,these features1 expressing the innermost self under a stress of emotions1 reveal a poor creature that has loved and suffered4 ,it is a pitiable face that has been molded by life4 ,i have seen that same sad1 tired expression of anguish in one whose whole strength is gone1 but who still makes an effort to understand misfortune in order to strive against it4 ,i have seen it on my mother's face when one of us was ill4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a ,,morning ,,in ,,the ,,garden ,it is still night2 the dawn is just breaking4 ,i open my window to let the refreshing air drive away my drowsiness4 ,from the end of the garden1 in the underbrush1 and now all about me1 ,i hear much lively chirping4 ,it tells of the blessing of love1 of springtime4 ,it is almost day4 ,the blackbird has ended his scene of love2 no one was about when he sang his song of spring and harmony4 ,the flowers listened1 and blossomed at the call of this unseen ,orpheus4 ,the air is laden with misty melodies4 ,these songs do not disturb the silence2 they are part of it4 ,later we shall still hear the happy call of birds1 but no longer these songs of love that proclaim the eternal reign of our mother earth4 ,now is the time for sighs of happiness2 the flowers consecrate themselves to the beautifying of ,demeter1 goddess of the under-world4 ,orpheus searches for ,eurydice2 he calls her1 and his notes break the harmonious silence4 ,i must bathe my brows in the vague mist1 in the fragrance of the earth1 in the light of the dawning day4 ,spacious room1 ,i leave you4 ,i shall return to you to work1 for here only have ,i known complete silence4 ,i hurry into the garden1 where ,i find inspiring freshness4 ,i had looked forward to it2 my whole body was awaiting it4 ,a sprouting twig proclaims the fullness of life4 ,i am freed from the memory of yesterday1 born anew for all the seasons to come4 ,in the palais thoughts are more subdued and modest1 content to be bounded by the splendid proportions of the apartments--proportions that are correct1 but nothing more4 ,the flight of time is marked by the song of the blackbird1 and1 as in ,mozart's music1 one cannot quite define whence its charm springs4 ,it is everywhere1 to the right1 to the left4 ,that voice seems to pierce through the gaps and hollows of the wood1 for now one hears it as an echo1 now as a solo1 at the farthest end of the wood4 ,my flight of steps is my place for reflection1 my salle de pas perdus4#a ,at the foot of the steps the verdant carpet1 sown with little stars of green1 stretches out4 ,it might be an old ,arabian material or a rich marble4 ,bits of earth are to be seen in delicate gray patches4 ,the shadow of night still enshrouds the garden in a cloudy veil4 ,in the distance1 outlined against the horizon1 are the bleak walls of houses1 like huge stones4 ,about me stretches that enormous ,babylon1 that ,paris where my tired nerves relax1 where the substance of my life is woven1 where my heart has found appreciation and no reproach1 and where my mind1 imbued with the true knowledge of life1 has taught my soul the gracious lesson of submission4 ,this broad1 beautiful lane is like a ,corot1 and recalls his nymphs4 ,the bare trees look like limbs4 ,a bright carpet of turf moistens their roots4 ,now a rabbit runs by4 ,in the distance the carriages rumble like artillery4 ,this is a fitting haunt for fauns1 their rustic arbor4 ,the trees serve as a roof1 their green shoots melting into the sky4 ,the freshness of new life is everywhere1 and little exclamations of admiration spring from every creature4 ,with this universal youth new thoughts are born4 ,in this delightful retreat one feels that only an antique statue could add to its beauty4 ,the trees expand with vigor1 their buds outlined against the sky4 ,the rest of the lane seems an avenue of enchantment4 ,far down at the end ,i seem to see happiness4 ,but no1 ,i am wrong3 it is not only in the distance2 it is here1 all about me1 now4 ,the slanting rays of the sun strike the trees and the grass2 over the lane bluish shadows play4 ,the spreading shade of the trees falls softly on the fresh green4 ,those little dashes of blue among the grass are forget-me-nots4 ,those beautiful trees1 garbed only since a week ago1 trail their lovely green draperies on the ground1 while detached garlands cling to the shrubs4 ,the majesty of youth in nature is unique2 it is charm itself1 an inimitable thing4 ,yet some men of genius have been able to express the spirit of spring4 ,illustration3 ,,rodin ,,in ,,his ,,garden4 ,the very soul of meditation dwells in this garden1 in this alley of trees4 ,polyhymnia1 the ,muse1 in her graceful draperies1 walks with me1 and ,i follow her reverently4 ,away from the turmoil1 ,i can forget the constant hurry of our days4 ,how we allow ourselves to be harassed6 ,reaching out for everything without possessing anything truly1 we do not even realize what treasures we have lost4 ,a few puffs of empty air are not poetry1 and seeing happiness in the distance is not enjoying it4 ,what hurries you8 ,ah1 your life is out there1 elsewhere8 ,go1 then2 but ,i shall remain here with the antique in my charming garden4 ,i will sit down on this old stone bench1 surrounded by dense shrubs4 ,the dead wood is piled in little heaps4 ,the tree-tops form a semicircle1 and stand out like a pantheon against the sky4 ,the branches bear the marks of lightning and grow in zigzag4 ,the sap of the earth rises in the arteries of the trees1 ever ready to take part in the great festival of spring4 ,now the charm of the alley consists in the differences of light and shade4 ,as the one strives to advance1 the other recedes toward the dale4 ,the shadows disperse for the morning1 leaving behind their beneficent moisture for their friends1 the flowers of this dale4 ,before me1 on a knoll1 stands a beautiful column1 as if in prayer4 ,it seems to have sprung from the kingdom of ,pluto1 and now1 like us1 it stands in the bright sunlight1 a part of the out-of-doors4 ,stone1 pure and beautiful material1 destined for the work of men1 just as flax is destined for the work of women4 ,a gift scarcely hidden under the earth1 man has seized upon stones with rapture1 carefully drawing them from their dark hiding-place1 to raise them on high as in church towers1 making them tractable1 transforming the crude rocks1 and appropriating them for masterpieces4 ,under the protection of man's sacrilegious hand1 these stones lend beauty to our cities4 ,they have a tender sympathy with the trees1 the roots of which join their own4 ,both hard and soft stones have a place in man's esteem4 ,sculpture has glorified them4 ,the column is like a tree1 but simpler than a tree1 with a silent life of its own4 ,and like the plants which cling about it1 it also has its foliage and leaves4 ,the artist who conceived the ,sphinx made her to be the guardian of temples and secrets4 ,that column there rises up like a druid-stone1 as though to converse with the moon at night4 ,it awaits the appearance of man in the solemn ritual of night1 for in its immensity it bears witness that man has created it4 ,man1 too1 has had his part1 an ephemeral part1 in the creation2 his idea strives with the works of ,god1 as ,israel strove with the angel4 ,his illuminating thought1 expressed in stone1 arouses those who otherwise might be insensible to beauty4 ,the hand of man1 like the hand of ,god1 can transform a soul and make it new4 ,mystery in which ,i have lived1 but which ,i understand only now that ,i am about to depart4 ,the marvel of it all6 ,and to think that one must leave it6 ,well1 that is the lot of all other living creatures4 ,and now the blue of the sky has grown darker1 without a shadow1 while beauty itself has taken its abode in these avenues of trees4 ,now and then passing clouds dim the glory of this splendid youth of nature1 but the green is brilliant even in the shadow4 ,high up among the trees1 ,i see a blue river1 the sky1 while the great clouds1 mountains of water1 are hanging above to quench the thirst of the flowers4 ,footnote #a3 ,salle de pas perdus is the name given to the large hall of the ,gare ,st4 ,lazare1 ,paris4 ,,an ,,antique ,,fragment ,twenty times a day ,i walk in front of this little torso4 ,i bring all my friends to see it1 for ,greek sculpture is the very source of beauty4 ,why am ,i surprised whenever ,i look upon this torso8 ,i think it is because nature1 which is behind this work of art1 always calls forth new1 unlooked-for sensations4 ,venus1 glorious ,venus1 model of all women1 your purity survives even after two thousand years4 ,your charm charms me--me who have admirers for my own sculpture4 ,before you they remain cold2 but ,i1 with a spirit that sees further--,i admit my defeat as an artist1 my poor ability vanishes before your grace4 ,form1 as ,i used to express it1 seems a mere illusion before the harmonious strength of your lines1 which embody the very truth of life4 ,divine fragment1 ,i shall live by you6 ,what days you recall to me6 ,perhaps the last moments of the soul of ,greek sculpture1 ever-increasingly my ,muse4 ,this torso shows the suppleness and strength of the joints4 ,it is a summing-up of former masterpieces of the artist4 ,those endless studies that grow into experience and all the qualities of balance are here concealed beneath the beauty and the gracious inspiration of the figure4 ,the inspired sculptor has just discovered all these qualities1 and in appreciation has given expression to them with his very soul4 ,an antique piece of sculpture cannot be imitated4 ,this torso seems to have a soul4 ,are not the shadows trembling on it there8 ,one can see them move4 ,what a progress toward truth we find in the advance from ,assyrian and ,egyptian to ,greek art6 ,antique things1 if we knew how to look at them1 would bring about a new renaissance for us1 we who stagnate in the ,parisian spirit4 ,the ,parisian spirit1 young though it is1 is already too old to serve us4 ,it is like those pretentious monuments1 those constructions in plaster1 which are hollow and horrible under their crumbling stucco4 ,greece was the land of sculpture beyond all others4 ,the subject of their sculpture was life4 ,the people concealed it under names and symbols1--,jupiter1 ,apollo1 ,venus1 the fauns1--but behind all these was the eternal truth of life4 ,this torso on my table looks as though it had been washed to the shore by the loving waves1 as boats are stranded on the beach at low tide4 ,what more beautiful offering could be made to men and gods8 ,for is this fragment not an eternal prayer8 ,the thoughts expressed in this torso are numerous1 infinite4 ,i could write about it forever4 ,do ,i bring these thoughts with me8 ,is it ,i who put them into the marble8 ,no1 for when it is out of my sight1 this divinity of life vanishes from me at the same time4 ,since it ceases to be in me1 it must be the fragment which possesses it4 ,it teaches a sculptor more than any professor could4 ,it whispers secrets to me1 and if ,i am true to it1 it will tell me more and more2 it will transform me in harmony with the soul of its friend1 the ,greek sculptor4 ,for are not the thoughts of ,god expressed all the world over8 ,are they not the fruitful germs1 now growing within a brain1 now in a beautiful grouping of stone1 and now captured by those magicians1 the poets8 ,and are sculptors1 too1 not like poets8 ,where can one find more perfect harmony than in this fragment8 ,it is a monument4 ,and is it not providential8 ,it is only a fragment1 yet it seems to embody the whole ,acropolis4 ,truth1 that lasting joy1 fills in all that is missing4 ,it is a fact that this torso1 which weighs one hundred and sixty pounds1 seems as light as the woman herself would be1 as light as her gracious1 swelling flesh4 ,i know contours1 but the contours of a masterpiece always surprise me anew4 ,whenever ,i see you1 beautiful little torso1 my eyes and my soul feast on you4 ,masterpiece1 you are my master1 too4 ,if1 as they say1 stones have fallen from heaven1 this surely must be one of them4 ,i leave it in the condition in which ,i found it1 as it first appealed to me1 with all its charm1 as ,i carried it in my arms to this table4 ,the changing lights of day mold it2 but ,i shall not touch it1 ,i shall not change it4 ,it is truth itself1 and it shines in no matter what surroundings4 ,this torso has within it the seductiveness of woman1 that garden of pleasure the secret charms of which imbue old and young alike with a terrible power4 ,feminine charm which crushes our destiny1 mysterious feminine power that retards the thinker1 the worker1 and the artist1 while at the same time it inspires them--a compensation for those who play with fire6 ,it is not by analysis that you will learn to understand art1 you who are ignorant4 ,greek art eludes the imbeciles and ignorant who have always undervalued it4 ,how can one comprehend this beauty by mere analysis8 ,where lies the secret of force8 ,it is ever shifting4 ,and the shadow1 so genially arranged1 varies with the way the light strikes it4 ,in art1 what do we call life8 ,that which speaks to you through all your senses4 ,if this torso were to bleed1 it could not be more lifelike4 ,the harmony of its lines dominates my soul4 ,the soul lives and grows on masterpieces4 ,that is why we have a soul4 ,is it surprising1 then1 that ,i live with these antiques of mine1 poets far more inspiring than any of our day8 ,they have created beings that will live to survive us4 ,,an ,,evening ,,in ,,the ,,garden ,i leave my exacting work always more and more its slave4 ,walking1 because of its regularity1 always refreshes me4 ,such a walk means a great deal to me4 ,it puts my nerves into a state of delightful tranquillity4 ,the trees are still bare of leaves and have a wintry look4 ,at their base there are dainty sprouts1 clouds of green4 ,the lawns are ponds of emerald green4 ,the charm of this alley is partly due to the twigs and shoots that sprout out of the ground and spring up like a cloud of lace4 ,there is a faint decline in this soft brightness1 for now the sun is setting4 ,the sun-god is moderating his power for the benefit of the little flowers which otherwise would dry up and fade4 ,this is the hour when the sun lends full value to the works of man1 so that architecture stands out in all its beauty1 while at the same time the sun softly colors the lovely clouds4 ,the pediment of the ,palais ,biron is brilliant in the sunlight4 ,the balcony casts shadows on the grimacing consoles1 and the shell-work is luminous in this glorious light4 ,the window-panes glow in glory4 ,the great staircase seems arranged for ladies to descend on their way to the garden1 graciously trailing their long robes1 which rustle over the steps4 ,like a pilgrim1 full of hope1 who rests a moment at the gates of a town1 and breathes the balmy evening air1 so ,i seat myself in this garden4 ,the hour passes quickly1 but it could not be better employed than in absorbing these marvels4 ,when the sun drops behind the horizon1 with its glowing colors like the flaming fires of a forge1 our hearts are filled with wonder and awe4 ,it gilds all in a last golden glory of triumph1 the sky so brilliant that one cannot define the line of the horizon4 ,there1 where the sun disappeared1 the sky is now orange4 ,everything is fading away2 another immensity spreads out before us4 ,the glory of night is about to extend over the firmament its melancholy charm4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,poet ,,and ,,the ,,muses4 ,the corner of this garden is a corner of happiness1 a corner of eternity4 ,here thoughts can thrive and worship1 for here they have everything4 ,for the great things in life are not the exceptional things1 but the beauties of every day1 which we do not stop to notice4 ,these vast treasures1 within our grasp1 which we do not even touch1 they are the things that count4 ,the public believes that one is happy in the admiration of nature2 but there are various degrees of happiness4 ,doubtless a glorious feeling of admiration may take hold of one2 but if one does not constantly cling to one's admiration as a matter of habit1 one grows weary and becomes superficial4 ,indeed1 ,i do not know why we demand another life1 since we have not learned to enjoy and understand this one fully4 ,in any case1 if we find this a bad world1 it is our fault4 ,we are childish about it4 ,we belittle one another wilfully4 ,fancy the trees doing that1 if one could suspect them of such a thing6 ,when ,i descend the steps1 ,i am overwhelmed by that fluid which is life4 ,i am in touch with life4 ,what more can ,i want8 ,this tenderness which surrounds me everywhere1 this ever-varying nature which says so much to me1 the atmosphere which envelops me--am ,i already in heaven1 or am ,i a poet8 ,v ,,the ,,line ,,and ,,the ,,structure ,,of ,,the ,,gothic ,one of ,rodin's friends1 ,m4 ,lon ,bourgeois1 the eminent1 highly cultivated ,french statesman1 has said1 ,rodin is himself a cathedral4 ,this remark wonderfully characterizes ,rodin's intellectuality as it appears to us to-day4 ,rich in years and experience1 his intellect is in truth as complicated as a cathedral1 but like it1 too1 superbly simple in its general structure4 ,his intellect possesses the wealth of detail that makes up life and the calm balance of the laws that govern nature4 ,his mind1 formed on principles scrupulously controlled by observation1 abounds in that wonderful artistic imagination which is the poetry of life4 ,ever renewing itself1 ever active1 his mind inspires intense confidence because it is deeply rooted in truth4 ,it looks at its subjects of study with such conscientious devotion that it perceives every phase of reality2 for it is only love such as this1 a love springing not from impatience and passion1 but from faith and hope1 that is always victorious in the end4 ,churches6 ,he lives near them1 so as to study them in the fleeting changes of the hours4 ,he likes to be enveloped by the sound of the church bells that for seven or eight centuries have spoken the same language of discipline to the spirit of ,france4 ,day and night he visits the naves4 ,there his soul feels the sacred mystery4 ,the churches are truly the cradle of his artistic faith4 ,but it is only recently that the joys which he drew from them reached their height2 for although he was long under the influence of ,gothic art1 that most extraordinary product of the hand of man1 only in the last few years has he learned to penetrate its principles and understand its methods4 ,how often in my youth ,i questioned him about the cathedrals6 ,he always replied with that caution which in deep natures is a form of deference3 ,i am pervaded by the marvel of this art2 but ,i cannot as yet explain it to myself4 ,the ,gothic is the world foreshortened4 ,where am ,i to begin8 ,for more than thirty years ,i have been accumulating and comparing my observations4 ,perhaps eventually ,i shall succeed in deducing the rule1 the law of divine intelligence2 but perhaps ,i shall not have sufficient time4 ,then it will be the task of another1 younger than myself1 who will start his researches earlier1 and who1 besides1 will have been informed by me4 ,on his return from each of these pilgrimages he was possessed by the happy restlessness of one who would soon be able to give expression to his secret4 ,one felt that the law of divine intelligence was being formulated in his mind4 ,i then hoped and expected that soon he would reap the fruit of his long labors4 ,at last one day ,rodin took me to ,notre ,dame1 beautiful among the beautiful1 despite the modern restorations that have detracted from the grace and suppleness of its sculpture4 ,notre ,dame of ,paris is beautiful in itself and in its situation on the banks of the ,seine1 that river of feminine grace1 which in its innocent course draws with it the memory of many terrible historic events4 ,from ,notre ,dame to ,saint-,eustache1 from the ,tour ,saint-,jacques to ,saint-,etienne-du-,mont1 during this long walk of ours ,rodin talked1 quite unaware of the curious glances of those who recognized him1 and of the scoffing of the street urchins1 who mistook the great ,frenchman for a stranger discovering the capital of ,france4 ,later he gave me numerous notes that supplemented his conversations4 ,his words and notes combined form the clearest and most important lesson on ,gothic art that has been handed down since the days of the ,gild of the ,francs-,maons1 by one of their own sort1 a craftsman such as they were1 a veritable sculptor1 a stone-cutter loving the material in which he works4 ,has ,rodin1 after so thoroughly grasping the secrets of the builders of bygone days1 never felt the desire to apply them in the execution of some work of architecture8 ,was he never tempted by their example and by that of ,michelangelo to expand his resources beyond those of the sculptor8 ,those who know the creative power and the vastness of imagination of the modeler of ,the ,burghers of ,calais and of ,the ,gate of ,hell may well ask this question4 ,well1 yes1 he has had that great dream1 which in more prolific times would have become a glorious reality4 ,he hoped to revive the spirit of a day when a whole nation of artists covered ,france with masterpieces2 he hoped to organize labor collectively1 and to gather about him a legion of artisans to work together on a monument which should become in a certain sense the cathedral of the modern age4 ,he even drew up plans for that wonderful project1 the subject of which was to be the glorification of labor1 that triumphant force of our present civilization4 ,he did not plan to rival the ,gothic style1 the prodigious achievement of which would have required throngs of workmen thoroughly organized and disciplined1 well trained under the system of master and apprentice1 accomplishing their common task in the joy of work and the enthusiasm of faith4 ,he planned to approximate the art of the ,renaissance1 less removed from modern intellectuality1 and simpler of execution4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,tower ,,of ,,labor4 ,in ,rodin's studio at ,meudon one can see the plan for this monument4 ,the axis is a high column calling to mind ,trajan's ,column1 and1 like it1 covered with bas-reliefs4 ,a tower broken by large openings1 as in the ,tower of ,pisa1 encircles it4 ,in the interior a gradually inclining way leads one from the base to the top along the bas-reliefs4 ,these represent all the active crafts and trades3 those of the cities1 such as masons1 carpenters1 weavers1 bakers1 brewers1 glass-workers1 and goldsmiths2 and those of the country1 such as plowmen1 harvesters1 vintagers1 vine-dressers1 shepherds1 and farmers4 ,on the exterior1 between the arches1 stand statues of the great geniuses that have led humanity1 whose efforts have raised them to celestial heights2 that is1 to the peace and happiness of creating4 ,there great thinkers1 inventors1 and artists have their niches1 just as the prophets have theirs in the vaults of cathedrals4 ,the edifice rests on a crypt where groups of sculpture are devoted to the glorification of work under the earth and its obscure heroes1 miners1 divers1 pearl-fishers4 ,at the time when the plan for this monument was advanced1 and was exciting the imagination of ,european writers and journalists1 an ardent admirer of ,rodin even proposed to build the tomb of the master under the crypt1 where he would have had a resting-place worthy of a ,pharaoh4 ,on each side of the entrance is a statue representing ,morning and ,evening1 and at the summit of the column two angels1 messengers of ,god1 their hands outstretched toward the earth with a gesture of exquisite tenderness1 shed the blessings of heaven on the work of man4 ,alas6 this noble1 stirring project will not be realized during the life of the artist4 ,will there some day be another possessed of the ardor and love of beauty necessary to build this mountain of stone8 ,for a time ,rodin's friends hoped that ,america1 the nation of work par excellence1 would seize upon this idea4 ,they pictured the philanthropists of the ,new ,world in characteristic fashion pouring forth millions for this work of universal art and national glorification2 they saw ,rodin being called to the ,united ,states1 gathering about him not only ,american artists1 but all the intelligent forces of the world of culture4 ,they saw the ,tower of ,labor1 with its angels bestowing their benediction over some formidable industrial city1 ,new ,york1 ,pittsburgh1 or ,chicago4 ,this might have been the starting-point for a new era of art1 for nothing is more contagious than the realization of beauty in actual form4 ,doubtless the writers of ,france did not discuss the matter long or forcibly enough1 and the ,tour de ,travail1 which might have been the ardent expression of a whole race1 will remain the idea of a solitary genius1 a last offshoot of the masters of the ,middle ,ages4 ,but if the hour has not yet struck for the construction of the modern cathedral1 at least we possess1 thanks to the man who dreamed of erecting it1 the secrets and principles of those who constructed the cathedrals of bygone days4 99 99 99 99 99 ,to acquire a thorough and fruitful understanding of the cathedrals1 we must break away from the narrow and cold spirit of the present day4 ,the spirit of our time does not harmonize in architecture with the monuments of the past4 ,first let us contemplate the whole4 ,the church is a cliff4 ,the construction of the slender side springing up is quite in the spirit of our race4 ,the ,gothic towers are stones set up like ,druidic monuments4 ,the church is laid out like a dolmen1 and the towers are the menhirs4 ,like the menhirs1 they have beautiful1 flexible lines2 they possess the eloquence of natural outlines1 which are never cold or meager4 ,the line of the ,gothic tower is slightly curved1 swelling like that of a barrel4 ,a straight line is hard and cold4 ,the ,greeks perceived that2 they refrained from straight lines1 and the columns of their temples also show a slight swelling4 ,the two sides of the ,gothic tower are not alike4 ,the architects considered that preferable to obvious symmetry4 ,look at the ,tour ,saint-,jacques in ,paris4 ,one of the sides shows a long1 sloping hollow1 making it look quite different from the other1 which1 again1 is like stones set on high4 ,the hollowed line permits protuberances1 details of ornamentation that soften and harmonize with the line of the ensemble4 ,it has been restored1 and therefore from near at hand seems cold1 for our workmen have lost the science and art of modeling4 ,but the beauty of the general structure remains2 they could not detract from that4 ,this softened line1 this line full of life1 is one of the chief characteristics of the ,gothic4 ,the sky of our northern climates ordained it so1 for the architects of the ,middle ,ages carved their monuments out of doors4 ,once the general plan was established1 they easily found the details while working with their tools1 guided by the light and influenced by natural conditions4 ,our light is not that of ,greece4 ,humanity the world over is akin2 but to what the ,greek expressed in a chastened manner1 in keeping with his eternally pure light1 we have added the oblique slant of our sun1 our reality1 our country1 our autumns1 the sting of our winters1 our less definite spirit1 our remoteness from the glaring ,olympian sun2 and1 last of all1 we have added our trees4 ,we also have light1 but it is frequently obscured by passing clouds4 ,is it not natural that we should reproduce them in our art8 ,and the line1 the abundant line1 is more accentuated in the half-night of our long autumns4 ,thus we are more in the mood of our woods and our forests4 ,our souls have more shadows than the ,greek soul1 our determinations are more varied2 for our clouds and our forests are reflected in our hearts4 ,artists1 let us1 then1 revert to the interpretation of our race1 but in the spirit1 not in the letter4 ,let us copy only the soul of our external nature1 not its ,gothic form1 for a mere copy is cold and dead4 ,beautiful architecture is a reproduction by man1 but from a divine model4 ,from this it receives the warmth of life4 ,if architecture is true to the spirit of nature1 it is embraced by the trees1 the rocks1 the clouds2 they are the silent company of beauty4 ,o ,cathedral6 ,sphinx of ,northern life6 although mutilated1 are you not eternal8 ,do you cease to live8 ,from a distance1 and in the evening1 when dusk sets in1 you seem truly a great sphinx crouching in the country4 ,the drama that unfolds itself on the stone pages of the churches recalls to us with a very few gestures and movements the silent drama of antiquity1 the sculptures1 illustrations of schylus and ,sophocles4 ,from the ,greek type1 in truth1 sprang the thoughts that guide man1 and again from the ,egyptian granite2 and eventually from the stone of the ,gothic1 that ,gothic which leads to the period of ,louis ,,xvi1 and which in ,france is always the principal path of art4 ,other styles were derived from it1 those of the fourteenth1 fifteenth1 sixteenth1 seventeenth1 and eighteenth centuries4 ,their basis is ,gothic2 therefore the ,gothic is the fundamental style1 which ought to keep us from the path of decadence1 if that is possible4 ,you do not understand it8 ,you say you prefer the ,greek8 ,o ye mortals that wish to pass judgment on all matters1 take heed lest these masterpieces prevail against you6 ,the cathedral is as beautiful1 perhaps more beautiful1 than the ,parthenon4 ,if you do not understand this style1 then you are still further removed from the ,greek1 which is of another country and epoch4 ,it is more beautiful1 perhaps more concise1 more marble2 but we belong more with stone and forests1 we are more autumnal1 more of the cold and melancholy season4 ,,the ,,gothic ,,builders ,,are ,,realists ,do not let us lose sight of the fact that beneath this poem of stone there is a foundation of knowledge based on a close and comprehensive study4 ,to-day ,i understand it4 ,as a result of study1 one truth after another comes to light4 ,at the outset one is lost before these marvels4 ,where is one to begin studying8 ,one's thoughts and one's admiration rise like clouds4 ,the mind makes prodigious leaps to grasp again what it already knows1 to combine it with the recently acquired knowledge1 to attempt to draw conclusions which simplify and generalize the study1 and thus to discern the fundamental law4 ,for a long time during my youth ,i thought1 like many others1 that ,gothic art was poor4 ,i was so ungrateful during the first enthusiasm of my liberty6 ,i learned to understand its grandeur only through traveling4 ,observation and work led me back to the right road4 ,in the course of my efforts ,i have grasped the meaning of the thoughts of the masters4 ,my persistent work was not futile1 and1 like one of the ,magi1 ,i have at last come to bow in humble reverence before them4 ,a true artist must penetrate the primordial principles of creation2 only by understanding the beautiful does he become inspired1 and that not through a sudden awakening of his sensibilities1 but by slow penetration and perception1 by patient love4 ,the mind need not be quick1 for slow progress should imply precaution in every direction4 ,the ,gothic builders are the greatest observers of nature that have ever existed1 the greatest realists1 despite all that professors and critics say to the contrary4 ,they call them idealists4 ,they say the same of the ,greeks and of all artists whose profound knowledge has enabled them to borrow their effects and charm from nature4 ,idealists6 ,that is a term which signifies nothing and merely confounds cause and effect4 ,builders of the ,middle ,ages1 you independent scholars1 models of a profound intelligence1 this is what our age has found as an explanation of your masterpieces6 ,i have devoted my whole life in endeavoring to catch a glimpse of the rules1 the secrets of experience1 which you transmitted to one another1 and it is only now1 when my days are numbered1 that ,i am at last grasping the synthesis of beauty4 ,to whom shall ,i confide the fruit of my research8 ,some future genius will gather it4 ,the cathedral is eternal1 rising toward the sky4 ,when we think it has attained its ultimate height1 it rises again higher still1 like a mountain of truth4 ,,plans ,,and ,,oppositions ,the architects of our churches subordinated detail to arrive at a more effective whole4 ,that is why our churches are so beautiful when seen from a distance4 ,they sacrificed everything to the essential1 the plan4 ,the plan8 ,like all synthetic conceptions1 this is difficult to define4 ,it is the space that an object displaces in the atmosphere1 its volume4 ,when an artist is able to determine exactly the space an object occupies in the atmosphere1 be he painter1 sculptor1 or architect1 he possesses the real science of plans4 ,what is detail in a plan8 ,nothing4 ,the towers of the church at ,bruges are superb in their bareness1 while our modern houses1 overladen with detail1 are hideous to look upon4 ,of the two towers of the cathedral at ,chartres1 the one is bare1 just a huge wall2 the other is covered with ornamentation1 and the first is possibly the more beautiful because of the potency of its plan4 ,what does this force of simplicity express to us8 ,it is the soul of a nation4 ,a people expresses its nature through the medium of its architecture4 ,stones are faithful when we do not retouch them4 ,they are the signatures of a nation4 ,illustration3 ,,headless ,,figure4 ,through the science of plans the great oppositions or contrasts of light and shadow are obtained4 ,they give life and color to the structure4 ,according to the position of the sun1 the appearance of a building varies4 ,one part is in the shade1 the other in the light1 and between these two is the gradation of shadings4 ,the master architects did not set their edifices apart from the universe2 they gave them the benefit of all the phenomena of nature--dawn and dusk1 twilight1 cloud effects1 haze1 and fog4 ,every moment of the day adds to or detracts from their effect4 ,sometimes ,i stand before a cathedral1 and it does not seem at all beautiful4 ,i feel ,i should like to alter it4 ,then ,i revisit it at another hour and see it in a different lighting4 ,the light strikes it aslant1 the shadows are deeper2 the cathedral is absolutely beautiful1 and ,i feel abashed at my former impatience and critical mistrust4 ,,the ,,science ,,of ,,equilibrium ,these great effects of light and shade1 obtained by the plan--effects simple in their means1 yet mysterious in their power of attraction for us1 have strengthened the idea that ,gothic art is idealistic4 ,the masses who see the cathedral dominating the city1 with its two slanting roofs like hands joined at the finger-tips1 certainly feel in it the great idea1 the poem4 ,they do not realize that the sentiments aroused in them by the beauty of the building are wholly due to the science of the plans4 ,by means of what principle did the master builders support the weight of these enormous masses of stone1 which yet join lovingly in the imponderable atmosphere8 ,by obeying the law of equilibrium of the human body4 ,the human body1 standing upright1 the feet joined1 in equilibrium1 is the basis of the ,greek column4 ,pediments and roof1 supported by a series of these standing bodies1 these human columns1 that is the ,greek temple4 ,the architecture of the ,parthenon reproduces the equilibrium of the body in a state of rest4 ,in action the body sways2 that is to say1 the weight rests on only one leg1 while the body inclines to the opposite side to regain its balance by counterpoise4 ,that is the sway of ,gothic architecture4 ,this sway constitutes the law of motion for the body of man and animal1 ever seeking perfect equilibrium4 ,without this law we could not move2 we would be like blocks of stone4 ,every motion that we make produces an initial swaying1 which an opposing weight instantaneously balances4 ,thus without any consciousness on our part a perpetual balancing is taking place within us1 a change as facile and immediate as the changes which take place in the phenomena of respiration and circulation4 ,all goes on with the speed1 order1 and silence that exist in the domain of electricity4 ,it is a perpetual prodigy to which we do not even give a thought4 ,it is not surprising that the ,gothic masters1 who copied from all nature1 took from man and animals the charm of balance4 ,the ogive 7pointed arch7 of the cathedral1 is achieved by two opposing thrusts4 ,but the archivolts do not always harmonize with the capitals2 they are not set exactly over them1 they are out of the perpendicular4 ,two movements of equal force1 exactly opposed1 cause a stable equilibrium4 ,just so the masses of stone are supported by this same opposition of thrusts4 ,the interior of the cathedral is high and vast1 broken by large windows that diminish the resistance and help to support the great weight4 ,it was necessary to find a way of restablishing the equilibrium1 lest the nave break down under its own weight4 ,that is the purpose of the flying buttresses4 ,like the arms of giants1 they throw their opposing weight against the exterior walls4 ,some have drawn the conclusion that cathedrals are imperfect1 since they cannot stand without this support4 ,it is a characteristic idea of our age4 ,just as though one would reproach the human body for bearing first on one leg and then on the other4 ,these powerful buttresses are wonderfully effective in their contrast to the lacework of the sculpture4 ,what is more beautiful than ,notre ,dame in ,paris at night1 with its island as its pedestal8 ,it is the huge skeleton of the ,france of the ,middle ,ages which appears to us here4 ,how attractive the light and shade on the buttresses6 ,indeed1 it took genius to bring out beauty in that which is in reality only the skeleton of the edifice1 and which could be offensive1 were it badly carried out4 ,,the ,,lacework ,,of ,,stone ,the ,gothic style exists by virtue of oppositions1 contrasts in effects and in balance4 ,they built huge bare walls1 but in the upper heights ornamentation flourishes and abounds4 ,there the increase and multiply of the ,bible has been figuratively carried out4 ,once the basis of construction was established1 the masons embellished the line by admirable ornamentation1 due to their splendid workmanship4 ,we should never forget that modeling supplies the life-blood to the mass2 without it we can have neither grace nor power4 ,formerly ,i did not understand the architecture2 ,i merely saw the lacework of the ,gothic4 ,but even in my conception of that ,i was mistaken1 for ,i thought it a caprice of genius4 ,i did not know that it had a scientific raison d'tre2 namely1 to break and soften the line4 ,now ,i see its importance3 it rounds off the outlines2 it gives them life and warmth4 ,these statues1 these graceful caryatids1 propping up the portals1 these copings in the covings1 are like vegetation which softens the rigid summit of a wall4 ,there again we find the ,gothic artists as skilful colorists as the cleverest painters1 because they have gained insight from the vegetation of our country4 ,in our plants1 in our trees1 all is light and shadowy1 and from them they gained their wonderful mastery of the art of depth1 which brings out the finest shadings of light1 the mellowness of half-tints4 ,to-day we misuse black1 the medium of power4 ,we use it too extensively2 we put it everywhere for the sake of effect1 and therefore lose its effect entirely4 ,the ,gothic is nature transposed and reproduced in stone4 ,to show admiration for this form of art is to preserve the memory of the creation4 ,the artist is the confidant of nature4 ,shakspere says in ,king ,lear1 we 444 take upon 's the mystery of things1 ,as if we were ,god's spies4 ,,the ,,nave ,a church is spread out like a dolmen between two menhirs4 ,the interior breathes the solemn calm of a forest1 the columns are the trees1 the masses of the base are the rocks1 the pointed arches are the massive roots1 the vaultings are the caves1 and the windows are radiant flowers in large bowls4 ,when ,i emerge from the darkness of a cathedral1 ,i feel as if ,i came from the shadow of a vast1 extinguished world4 ,without the brightening light of the stained-glass windows1 our churches would be sad4 ,in ,spain the gloom is funereal1 but the genius of ,france has understood how to capture the caressing light through its windows4 ,the productiveness of the ,celtic spirit is also noticeable in the capitals4 ,gothic art abandoned ,greek ornament1 which had been reproduced so often that it lost all significance4 ,it found its models in the woods and gardens4 ,from the oak it took its crown of foliage1 from the thistle and cabbage their gracefully drooping leaves1 and from the bramble its intertwined thorns4 ,they made wonderful capitals by reversing the acanthus1 and copying the languid grace of falling blossoms4 ,the cathedral of ,bourges--the vastness of this church makes me tremble4 ,one might say there are three churches in its three naves4 ,grandeur demands repetition4 ,the superbness of this work of architecture enforces silence4 ,people attribute their emotion here to religious sentiment alone1 and do not realize that it is due also to the correct calculations of art4 ,they do not realize that the impressive darkness of the vast church1 its lighting1 the wax tapers here1 and the daylight with its brilliancy there1 have all been planned beforehand4 ,the stained-glass windows of ,bourges are dazzling1 almost terrible1 in their beauty4 ,there are flashes as red as blood1 and dashes of blue1 a flame--the wounds of ,christ1 the funeral pile of ,jeanne d',arc4 ,when the sun sinks1 the bright light will fade away2 then we have before us only the charming effect of bowls of flowers4 ,the legends which are told on the stained-glass are good enough to amuse children2 but the glass itself1 the splendor of its colors1 the extent to which it harmonizes with the nave--all that is the actual result and object of profound thought4 ,the ,middle ,ages put life into everything2 they worshiped life4 ,they drew extensively from nature1 wisely realizing that its source is inexhaustible1 while the day of man is fleeting4 ,,the ,,molding ,the science of plans1 balance of volumes1 and proportion in the moldings govern the spirit of ,gothic art4 ,of late ,i believe ,i have discovered how the masters struck upon the beautiful ,gothic molding1 that undulating molding which gives so much suppleness to the architecture4 ,i have found something new in the well-known1 and beauty in forms which ,i did not understand before4 ,this change is due above all to my work4 ,having always studied more intensely1 ,i can say that ,i have always loved more ardently4 ,i believe the masters of ,gothic art got their ideas of molding through their understanding of the human body1 and perhaps above all of the body of woman4 ,the body1 that human column1 seen in profile is a line of projections and protuberances1 of the nose1 the chin1 the breast1 the flank4 ,thence springs the beautiful undulating line which is the outline of ,gothic molding4 ,for ,gothic molding1 like the ,greek1 is soft and swelling4 ,the doucine 7a molding1 concave above1 convex below71 a term of the trade1 tender as the name of a woman1 well expresses the charm of the beautiful ,french molding4 ,the proportions of molding exist in nature1 but in such form that we have not yet been able to subject them to rules4 ,it required men of positive taste1 of most profound understanding1 to grasp the harmony of these proportions and to express them in sculpture4 ,one might say the ,gothic architects understood molding by means of their intelligence as well as by means of their heart4 ,by means of the cathedral the artists of the ,middle ,ages have shown us the most impressive drama in existence--the mass4 ,the mass has the grandeur of the antique drama4 ,greek tragedies are in fact only a form of the mass4 ,the human mind starts afresh at different epochs4 ,when the priest officiates1 his gestures have the beauty of the antique1 and this beauty merges into that of the church music1 that sublime tongue1 the voice of the sea4 ,then1 when the crowds prostrate themselves1 when they arise simultaneously1 the undulation of their bending bodies is like the waves of the ocean4 ,truly the ,gothic master builders were the familiar friends of the sublime4 ,from what source did these men spring6 ,from what minds did those ideas arise6 ,god has shared his power with some of his sons4 ,,vi ,,art ,,and ,,nature ,criticizing nature is as stupid as criticizing the cathedrals4 ,it is the vice of our cold and petty age to criticize4 ,it is the evil of decadent races4 ,we are constantly being told that we live in an age of progress1 an age of civilization4 ,that is perhaps true from the point of view of science and mechanics2 from the point of view of art it is wholly false4 ,does science give happiness8 ,i am not aware of it2 and as to mechanics1 they lower the common intelligence4 ,mechanics replace the work of the human mind with the work of a machine4 ,that is the death of art4 ,it is that which has destroyed the pleasure of the inner life1 the grace of that which we call industrial art--the art of the furniture-maker1 the tapestry-worker1 the goldsmith4 ,it overwhelms the world with uniformity4 ,once artisans created2 to-day they manufacture4 ,once they rejoiced in the pleasure of making a work of art2 to-day the workman is so bored in his shop that he has invented sabotage and has made alcoholism general4 ,the sight of a modern monument throws one into melancholy even while an ancient one has not ceased to enrapture4 ,i visit a small city1 and1 losing my train1 am obliged to wait for the next one4 ,i take a walk about the ancient church1 a delicious thing1 very simple1 but with its ,gothic ornaments placed with taste1 in a delicate relief that1 in the light1 provides an enchantment for my friendly glances4 ,in the little nave1 which invites to calm1 to thought1--thought as soft and composed as the light shadows that move slowly across the pillars1--,i settle myself4 ,ah1 ,i come away charmed4 ,if ,i had waited in the station1 ,i would have been wearied to death1 and would have returned home fatigued and discontented4 ,as it is1 ,i have gained something--the beautiful counsels of moderation and the fine charm of a monument of former days4 ,art alone gives happiness4 ,and ,i call art the study of nature1 the perpetual communion with her through the spirit of analysis4 ,he who knows how to see and feel may find everywhere and always things to admire4 ,he who knows how to see and feel is preserved from ennui1 that bte noire of modern society4 ,he who sees and feels deeply never lacks the desire to express his feelings1 to be an artist4 ,is not nature the source of all beauty8 ,is she not the only creator8 ,it is only by drawing near to her that the artist can bring back to us all that she has revealed to him4 ,when one says this1 the public thinks it a commonplace4 ,all the world believes that it knows that2 but it knows it only in seeming1 the truth penetrates only the superficial shell of its intelligence4 ,there are so many degrees in real comprehension6 ,comprehension is like a divine ladder4 ,only he who has reached the top rounds has a view of the world4 ,the public is astonished or shocked when some one goes against its preconceived notions1 against the prejudices of a badly interpreted or degenerate tradition4 ,words are nothing2 the deed alone counts4 ,it is not by reading manuals of esthetics1 but by leaning on nature herself that the artist discovers and expresses beauty4 ,alas6 we are not prepared to see and to feel4 ,our sorry education1 far from cultivating in us the feeling for enthusiasm1 makes us in our youth little pedants who without result overwhelm ourselves and others with our pretensions4 ,those who too late1 by long efforts1 escape this demon of folly arrive only after that education has fatally sapped their strength and has destroyed the flower of enthusiasm that ,god had planted in them as a sign of ,his paradise4 ,people without enthusiasm are like men who carry their flags pointed down to the ground instead of proudly above their heads4 ,constantly ,i hear3 ,what an ugly age6 ,that woman is plain4 ,that dog is horrible4 ,it is neither the age nor the woman nor the dog which is ugly1 but your eyes1 which do not understand4 ,one generally disparages the things that are above one's comprehension4 ,disparagement is the child of ignorance4 ,as soon as you discover that1 you enter into the circle of joy4 ,illustration3 ,,rodin',s ,,house ,,and ,,studio ,,at ,,meudon4 ,man1 animals1 down to the smallest insects1 down to the infinitesimal2 the earth1 the waters1 the woods1 the sky--all are marvelous4 ,the firmament is the vastest landscape1 the most profound1 the most enchanting1 with its variations1 its effects of color and light1 which delight the eye1 astonish the thought1 and subjugate the heart4 ,and to say that artists--those who consider themselves such--attempt to represent all that simply as it appears to them1 without having studied it1 without having deciphered it1 without having felt it6 ,i pity them4 ,they are prisoners1 slaves of stupidity4 ,i was like them in the first periods of my perverted youth1 but ,i have delivered myself4 ,i have regained the liberty to approach the things that ,i love by the pathway of true study4 ,who follows me on the road8 ,who can learn it from a study of sculpture and design in books8 ,you who have caught a glimpse of the splendor of that tree1 of that giant whose magnificent column has been denuded by autumn of its leafy capital1 but which is perhaps more beautiful in the nudity of its members2 you who admire the structure of its branches and twigs1 etched in an infinitude of forms against the sky1 where they resemble the lacework of the windows of our churches1 would you not understand far better that beauty1 would not your pleasure be far more complete1 if you sketched that tree not only in the mass1 but in the innumerable details of its framework8 ,and to think that the schools recommend to pupils1 painters1 and sculptors research on the subject6 ,the subject6 ,the subject does not exist in that--the poor little arrangement that you1 one and all1 summon up while poring over the same anecdotes1 the same conventional attitudes4 ,the human imagination is narrow1 and you do not see the hundred thousand motives of art that multiply themselves under your eye4 ,i could pass my whole life in the garden where ,i walk without exhausting them4 ,the subject is everywhere4 ,every manifestation of nature is a subject4 ,artists1 pause here6 ,sketch these flowers2 writers1 describe them for me1 not in the mass1 as has always been done1 but in minute detail1 in the marvelous precision of their organs1 in their characteristics1 which are as varied as are those of animals and men4 ,how beautiful to be in the same moment an artist and a botanist1 to paint and model the plant at the same time that one studied it6 ,those great realists1 the ,japanese1 understand this1 and make the knowledge and cultivation of plants one of the bases of their education4 ,we place love and sensual pleasure in the same category4 ,undoubtedly it is nature herself who has led is astray in this by the instinct to perpetuate ourselves1 in youth this instinct is like an overflowing river2 it sweeps away everything1 yet pleasure is everywhere about us4 ,i imbibe it in the forms of the clouds that build their majestic architecture in the sky1 in the rapture of this woman who holds her child in her arms1 an attitude divine1 so beautiful indeed1 that the poet of the ,gospels has deified it4 ,it is the attitude of the ,virgin4 ,i imbibe it in the atmosphere which bathes me now1 and will still continue to bless me1 bringing me peace1 rest1 and health4 ,for that which is beautiful in a landscape is that which is beautiful in architecture--the air1 space4 ,no one in these days realizes its depth4 ,it is this quality of depth that carries the soul where it wishes to go4 ,in a well-constructed monument that which enraptures us is the science of its depths4 ,the throngs in the churches attribute their emotion to mysticism1 to the transport of the soul toward divinity4 ,they are unaware that they owe their emotion to the exact knowledge of great planes possessed by the architects of former days4 ,even upon the most ignorant beholder they impose this4 ,man disregards that which he already has1 and longs for something else4 ,he longs for swiftness1 to have wings like a bird4 ,he does not know that he already enjoys this pleasure of moving through space4 ,he rejoices in it in his soul1 which takes wing and goes where it pleases1 through the sky1 on the waters1 to the depths of the forests4 ,all the misfortune here below arises from a lack of comprehension4 ,we classify our limited knowledge in narrow systems1 like the card-systems of an office1 and these pitiful conventions we take seriously4 ,they teach us disconnected things1 and we leave them disconnected4 ,those who have a little patience assemble these isolated facts2 but such patient ones are rare1 and nothing is so unbearable as that man who1 not having it1 speaks ill of him who has a sense of the truth4 ,to see accurately is the secret of good design4 ,objects dart at one another1 unite1 and throw light on one another1 explain themselves4 ,that is life2 a marvelous beauty covers all things like a garment1 like an gis4 ,god created the great laws of opposition1 of equilibrium4 ,good and evil are brothers1 but we desire the good1 which pleases us1 and not the evil1 which seems to us error4 ,when we consider matters from a distance1 does not evil often seem good1 and good1 evil8 ,that is only because we have judged without proper consideration4 ,just as white and black are necessary in a drawing1 so good and evil are necessary in life4 ,sorrow ought not to be cast out4 ,as long as we live it is as strong a part of life as radiant joy4 ,without it we would be very ill trained4 ,to comprehend nature it is of importance that we never substitute ourselves for it4 ,the corrections that a man imposes upon himself are a mass of mistakes4 ,the tiger has claws and teeth and uses them skilfully2 man at times shows himself inferior4 ,possessing intelligence1 too often he strives to turn to that4 ,animals respect everything and touch nothing4 ,the dog loves his master1 and has no thought of criticizing him4 ,the average man does not care that his daughter should be beautiful4 ,he has in his mind certain ideas of manner and instruction1 and the beauty of his daughter does not enter into the program that he has made4 ,but the daughter herself feels the influence of nature1 and displays her modest and triumphant movements1 which this blind one does not see1 but which fascinate the artist4 ,the artist who tells us of his ideal commits the same error that this average man commits4 ,his ideal is false1 in the name of this ideal he pretends to rectify his model1 retouching a profound organism which admirably combined laws regulate4 ,through his so-called corrections he destroys the ensemble2 he composes a mosaic instead of creating a work of art2 the faults of his model do not exist4 ,if we correct that which we call a fault1 we simply present something in the place of that which nature has presented4 ,we destroy the equilibrium2 the rectified part is always that which is necessary to the harmony of the whole4 ,there is nothing paradoxical here1 because a law that is all-powerful keeps the harmony of opposites4 ,that is the law of life4 ,everything1 therefore1 is good1 but we discover this only when our thought acquires power2 that is to say1 when it attaches itself indissolubly to nature1 for then it becomes part of a great whole1 a part of united and complex forces4 ,otherwise it is a miserable1 debased1 detached part contending with a whole that is formed of innumerable units4 ,nature1 therefore1 is the only guide that it is necessary to follow4 ,she gives us the truth of an impression because she gives us that of its forms1 and if we copy this with sincerity1 she points out the means of uniting these forms and expressing them4 ,sincerity1 conscience--these are the true bases of thought in the work of an artist2 but whenever the artist attains to a certain facility of expression1 too often he is wont to replace conscience with skill4 ,the reign of skill is the ruin of art4 ,it is organized falsehood4 ,sincerity with one fault1 indeed with many faults1 still preserves its integrity4 ,the facility that believes that it has no faults has them all4 ,the primitives1 who ignored the laws of perspective1 nevertheless created great works of art because they brought to them absolute sincerity4 ,look at this ,persian miniature1 the admirable reverence of this illuminator for the form of these plants and animals1 and the attitudes of these persons which he has forced himself to render just as he saw them4 ,how eagerly has he painted that1 this man who loved it all6 ,do you tell me that his work is bad because he is ignorant of the laws of perspective8 ,and the great ,french primitives and the ,roman architects and sculptors6 ,has it not been repeatedly said that their style is a barbaric style8 ,on the contrary1 it has a formidable beauty4 ,it breathes the sacred awe of those who have been impressed by the great works of nature herself4 ,it offers us the strongest proof that these men had made themselves part of life and also a part of its mystery4 ,to express life it is necessary to desire to express it4 ,the art of statuary is made up of conscience1 precision1 and will4 ,if ,i had not had tenacity of purpose1 ,i should not have produced my work4 ,if ,i had ceased to make my researches1 the book of nature would have been for me a dead letter1 or at least it would have withheld from me its meaning4 ,now1 on the contrary1 it is a book that is constantly renewed1 and ,i go to it1 knowing well that ,i have only spelled out certain pages4 ,in art to admit only that which one comprehends leads to impotence4 ,nature remains full of unknown forces4 ,as for me1 ,i have certainly lost some time through the fault of my period4 ,i should have been able to learn much more than ,i have grasped with so much slowness and circumlocution2 but ,i should not have tasted less happiness through that highest form of loss2 that is1 work4 ,and when my hour shall come1 ,i shall dwell in nature1 and shall regret nothing4 ,,the ,,antique--,,the ,,greeks ,if the artists of antiquity are the greatest of all it is because they approached most closely to ,nature4 ,they studied it with magnificent sincerity and copied it with all their intelligence4 ,they never wasted their time in trying to invent something4 ,to invent1 to create1 these are words that mean nothing4 ,they contented themselves with rendering the adorable model that enchanted their eyes4 ,this love and this respect for creation has never since their time been surpassed4 ,they did not copy literally what they saw2 to a certain degree they interpreted the character of forms4 ,the aim of art is not to copy literally4 ,it consists in slightly exaggerating the character of the model in order to make it salient2 it consists also in reassembling in a single expression the successive expressions given by the same model4 ,art is the living synthesis4 ,this is what the ancients did1 with what taste1 what incomparable science6 ,from this science that respected unity their works derived their calm1 contained force1 the sentiment of grand serenity1 the atmosphere of peace that envelops them4 ,the ignorant and the professors of esthetics who do not know the source of all this have named it ,greek idealism4 ,this is nothing but a word that serves to conceal a want of understanding4 ,there is no idealism in the ancients2 there is an exercise of choice1 a marvelous taste2 but it is by the most realistic means that they render human beauty4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,tempest4 ,we others1 we moderns1 are carried away by the restlessness of the epoch2 we are superficial1 we only regard things cursorily1 and we have concluded from this sublime simplicity that ,greek art is cold4 ,to us indeed it seems very cold4 ,it is really warm4 ,to it alone belongs in this respect the quality of life1 reality in forms1 and precision in movement4 ,it is through this that it attains perfect equilibrium4 ,but that is beyond our little spirit of detail4 ,we seek nothing but detail2 the ,greek1 for his part1 saw nothing but the whole2 that is to say1 the equilibrium1 the harmony4 ,,the ,,richness ,,of ,,the ,,antique ,,lies ,,in ,,modeling ,the value of the antique springs from ronde-bosse4 ,it possesses in a supreme degree the art of relief4 ,how can the critics and the professors explain this1 being what they are8 ,they do not belong to the trade4 ,art should not be taught except by those who practise it4 ,observe any fragments of ,greek sculpture3 a piece of an arm1 a hand4 ,what you call the idea1 the subject1 no longer exists here1 but is not all this debris none the less admirably beautiful8 ,in what does this beauty consist8 ,solely in the modeling4 ,observe it closely1 touch it2 do you not feel the precision of this modeling1 firm yet elastic1 in flux like life itself8 ,it is full1 it is like a fruit4 ,all the eloquence of this sculpture comes from that4 ,what is modeling8 ,the very principle of creation4 ,it is the juxtaposition of the innumerable reliefs and depressions that constitute every fragment of matter1 inert or animated4 ,modeling creates the essential texture1 supple1 living1 embracing every plante4 ,it fills1 cordinates1 and harmonizes them4 ,it penetrates everything1 it animates everything1 as well the depths as the surfaces4 ,it comprises the minute as well as the immense4 ,mountain1 horse1 flower1 woman1 insect equally owe to it their form4 ,when ,god created the world1 it is of modeling ,he must have thought first of all4 ,if you consider a hand1 you notice its contours and the character of the whole4 ,but the eye of the artist1 that eye1 sees more3 it sees the infinite assemblage of projections and depressions forming a texture more closely knit1 more exactly blended than the most perfect mosaic4 ,it is this that he seeks to render2 this that he translates1 if he is a sculptor1 by the science of depression and relief1 if he is a draughtsman or painter by that of light and shadow4 ,for light serves1 in conformity with depressions and reliefs1 to give the eye the same sensation that the hand receives from touch3 ,titian is just as great a modeler as ,donatello4 ,to-day the sense of ronde-bosse is completely lost1 not only in ,europe1 but among the peoples of the ,orient4 ,it is the age of the flat4 ,no one knows anything about it4 ,men love what they do themselves1 until they are made to see that it is not beautiful2 but it takes years and years for this to penetrate into their consciousness4 ,in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries ,china and ,japan still produced charming works4 ,in ancient times their art was very great2 it approached the ,greek4 ,at the exposition of #aijj1 we were enabled to see antique ,japanese statues1 superb nudes nearly as fine as those of ,greece4 ,in our time the pest of flatness has contaminated the ,asiatic races as well as the ,european3 decadence is universal4 ,we are so far removed from antique beauty that when we photograph the works of the ancients we take them in the spirit of our own taste1 which is that of low-relief2 we take from them that flower of beautiful modeling1 their richness1 their crowning grace4 ,when ,i say low-relief1 ,i do not use this term exactly2 it is only that ,i know no other means of expressing the modern evil of uniformity2 but ,i know that good low-relief is as full and as fruit-like as sculpture in the round1 that it is sculpture in the round itself1 as in the friezes of the ,parthenon1 as in our buildings of the ,renaissance and of the seventeenth century4 ,the great concern of my life is the struggle ,i have maintained to escape from the general flatness4 ,all the success of my sculpture comes from that4 ,although it has little enough taste1 the public1 despite all1 is tired to death of this flatness4 ,the charm of ronde-bosse is so great that it captivates the ignorant even without their knowing it4 ,,ronde-,,bosse ,,and ,,chiaroscuro ,observe this little torso of a woman2 it is a little ,venus4 ,it is broken2 it has no longer a head1 arms1 legs1 yet ,i never weary of contemplating it2 each day1 each hour for me adds to this masterpiece because ,i only understand it better4 ,what could it say to our indifferent glance8 ,for me it has the ineffable voluptuousness of softly maturing flesh4 ,the effect lies in no part and in every part4 ,it is perfection4 ,this little childish body1 has it not all the charm of woman8 ,it does not catch the light1 the light catches it1 glancing over it lightly2 without any effect of roughness1 any dark shadow4 ,here shadow can no longer be called shadow but only the decline of light4 ,she does not become dark1 she grows pale in imperceptible depressions1 in delicious undulations4 ,she is indivisible2 she is whole or incomplete1 but her unity is not disturbed4 ,and this passage that joins the abdomen to the thighs1 this little declivity of graces1 this valley of love6 ,everything is full of the calm1 the lightness1 the serenity of pure beauty in the perfect confidence of nature4 ,the ideal that you imagine you find in a gesture1 in a momentary attitude1 is here2 it is here because of the infinite love of the flesh1 of the human fruit4 ,what you call the ideal is nothing but the perfume of beautiful modeling4 ,what more could you ask8 ,when ,i look at this marble in the evening by candle-light1 how the wonder deepens6 ,if those who have been telling us for a hundred years that ,greek art is cold studied it with care1 could they for one hour maintain this absurdity8 ,this sculpture1 on the contrary1 is of an extraordinary living complexity1 which the flame reveals2 the whole surface is nothing but depressions and reliefs1 but united1 melted together in the great1 harmonious force of the ensemble4 ,i turn the little torso about under the caressing rays of the light4 ,there is not a fault1 not a weakness1 not a dead spot2 it is the very continuity of life1 its intoxicating voluptuousness hidden in the bosom of the molecule4 ,why should such artists have sought to create an abstract ,beauty by the idealization of forms8 ,these men of genius loved ,nature too well to presume to correct her4 ,they knew well that despite their genius1 they still remained beneath her4 ,nothing can surpass the marvel of creation4 ,the conception of an idealistic art comes from the ,academy4 ,before the purity of the antique forms people used to believe that the beauty lay solely in the exterior profiles4 ,it is really beautiful because of the interior modeling4 ,and still we make this distinction between the profiles and the modeling1 thanks to our mania for dividing things2 but we know that the one is inseparable from the other2 the surfaces are nothing but the extremities of volumes1 the boundaries of the mass4 ,all the sculpture of the period of ,louis-,philippe was imitated from the antique1 but only by means of the exterior profiles4 ,if it had been practised by true modelers1 by geometrical minds1 it would have been as beautiful as its original4 ,what pleased people in that epoch1 what pleases people in ours1 is not at all the antique2 it is the fashion in which we see it4 ,it was the ,renaissance that really understood the ,greek4 ,it created works exactly the same in feeling1 though somewhat different in arrangement and general color4 ,for color does not exist in painting alone4 ,its rle is equally great in sculpture4 ,to-day this color is bad2 it fails to obtain the chiaroscuro which derives from ronde-bosse4 ,good sculpture owes to chiaroscuro clarity1 unity1 charm1 even1 ,i might say1 the voluptuousness of breathing flesh4 ,shadow1 at once luminous and mysterious1 models the fulness of the body in the exuberance of health2 it makes one understand abundance1 solidity4 ,in the art of the ,renaissance and the eighteenth century shadow is always supple and warm as in ,greek art2 it has the tender coloring of the vegetation of our country1 the sweetness of which our great artists have captured4 ,the chiaroscuro of the antique consists of the density and depth of light falling over the entire modeling4 ,chiaroscuro penetrates to every plane and renders the reality of them2 it is reality itself4 ,this is because the antique and nature are part and parcel of the same mystery1 the infinitely harmonious mystery of force in suspense4 ,the great artists compose as nature itself operates4 ,undoubtedly the ,greeks possessed certain methods which they handed down from master to pupil1 as has been the case in all artistic epochs4 ,they had celebrated ateliers1 schools1 where they taught their principles4 ,by the fifth century they had established a canon of the human body2 but they never made use of it without consulting the model4 ,as for us1 we have imagined that we could use it like a magic formula4 ,it is not the formula that makes the art2 it is the experience of the artist that creates the formula4 ,if we abandon nature for a rule1 if we do not constantly vivify the one by means of the other1 we soon speak a language that means nothing4 ,one cannot repeat this enough3 the ancients are realists2 they work in ronde-bosse4 ,this explanation seems commonplace and even vulgar2 it is the whole truth4 ,it can be understood by the humblest artisan1 provided only that he knows his trade4 ,but it is as difficult to get it into the heads of people to-day as it is to restore faith in a man who has lost it4 ,,rome ,,and ,,roman ,,art ,what ,i have said of ,greek art applies equally well to ,roman4 ,another opinion has been adopted by critics and the world in general3 the ,roman is less beautiful than the ,greek4 ,it is less beautiful perhaps1 by a certain shade1 a shade which those who speak of it are incapable of appreciating4 ,it is a little less substantial1 but it is superb4 ,it is ,greek1 with a different character1 a certain ruggedness1 and more6 ,the ,maison ,carre at ,nmes1 that little temple1 the flower of austerity1 the smile of the race as sweet as the smile of ,greece2 the ,pont du ,gard1 that heroic masterpiece1 that giant which bestrides the country1 which imposes the power of ,rome on the peaceful landscape1 these are what they criticize6 ,rome is magnificent4 ,we say it1 but we do not believe it2 otherwise it would not be despoiled4 ,no1 in ,rome itself1 they have no idea of the beauty of ,rome4 ,where are there artists great enough to appreciate you1 severe genius1 splendid city1 daughter of the she-wolf8 ,your genius they pillage every day4 ,they destroy its proportion1 and that is to strike at the foundation of the master work4 ,proportion is the law of architecture4 444 ,in the very midst of the ancient city they are setting up atrocious monuments1 enormous or too petty4 ,in ,rome1 as in ,athens1 as in the ,france of ,gothic art1 the architect of old planned the monument in relation to the landscape2 he harmonized it with the outline of the mountains1 with the expanse of the surrounding country-side2 he determined its proportions according to its environment4 ,the architect of to-day plans out his monument in his own study on a piece of paper and produces it ready-made4 ,whether this mass of stone obliterates the buildings that surround it or whether1 on the other hand1 it turns out a miserable little contrivance in the midst of great works of the past matters little to him3 he does not see it4 ,the ,french ,academy sends students to work in ,rome4 ,but they get nothing from ,rome1 they can get nothing2 they come there with a spirit entirely opposed to it4 ,at a time when ,i did not know the city ,i heard the bridge of ,sant' ,angelo spoken ill of and fun made of the contorted angels2 but they are all very well in their place2 they are needed there2 there is enough repose elsewhere4 ,bernini1 so often sneered at1 is as beautiful as ,michelangelo1 although he is not so fine4 ,it is he who made the ,rome of the seventeenth century4 ,they do not know that the ,appian ,way is sublime4 ,it will disappear one of these days4 ,these things are awaiting their condemnation4 ,they are constructing quays like ours4 ,if they do not put a stop to it1 ,rome will be destroyed4 ,those who have not seen cities such as this was in the nineteenth century will not understand anything4 ,i have said as much to my ,italian friends1 who appeared greatly astonished2 for nobody makes these reflections which come to me constantly in my studies4 ,they consider me a gloomy fellow1 a misanthrope4 ,gloomy1 yes2 for it is painful to live in a decadent epoch2 but ,i have no parti-pris2 ,i only wish to try to arrest the general massacre4 ,in ,france1 as everywhere1 we commit exactly the same faults4 ,we destroy our monuments by surrounding them with great open spaces2 we have ruined the effect of ,notre ,dame1 on the side of the parvis4 ,at ,brussels1 in the ,muse du ,cinquantenaire1 they have set up a model of the ,parthenon2 but they have placed it in the midst of enormous objects that annihilate it4 ,we have come to that6 ,we have killed the ,parthenon6 ,barbarism could go no further4 ,we live in a barbarous age4 ,there is no doubt about that6 ,people cry out that we must create schools for people to learn art2 we bungle the most beautiful of all schools--the ,museum4 ,,for ,,america ,these things ought to be said again and again to the point of satiety1 if we wish to save any remnants4 ,coming from me1 whose opinions carry some weight1 they are repeated when ,i am no longer on the spot4 ,people feel the justice of them1 the shaft goes home4 ,a few who are more ardent than the rest propagate them and stir up a current of opinion that may lead to reform4 ,there is no reason therefore to fear repeating them in ,america1 where also people have fallen into the general error4 ,american artists have followed our teaching1 altogether in a bad sense4 ,notwithstanding that in taking their point of departure they could have escaped into the good epochs of art1 they have saddled themselves with the poverty of modern taste4 ,let them return to the school of the past2 above all1 let them return to nature2 it is as beautiful with them as elsewhere4 ,the mountains1 the trees1 the vegetation1 the men and women of their own country--these should be their masters in architecture and sculpture4 ,america is full of will4 ,it desires to be a great nation4 ,it stops at no expense in order to obtain instruction2 it creates immense universities1 libraries1 museums4 ,it pours into them streams of money4 ,the favor with which my work has been received there is the sign of a movement toward truth in art2 they are developing an affection for this naturalistic school which borrows from life its charm and its variety4 ,but all this will be as nothing unless ,america creates work of its own2 unless it breaks with the old errors of the nations of ,europe in order to find the path of true science4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,village ,,fianc,e4 ,,vii ,,the ,,gothic ,,genius ,to ,,the ,,renaissance ,,and ,,the ,,eighteenth ,,century ,,notre-,,dame ,,notre ,,dame--,notre ,dame de ,paris--more splendid than ever in the half-light of this winter day4 ,the veils of the atmosphere redress the evils that modern restorations have done to this monument2 the folds of the mist soften the sharpness of the retouched outlines3 the elements are more respectful to this masterpiece than are men4 ,i come upon it at the turn of the bridge4 ,at once ,i drop out of this industrial epoch of ours1 so poor despite its love of money2 my sculptor's soul escapes from its exile4 ,the ,gothic sphinx rises before me4 ,the strength of its beauty overwhelms me4 ,i struggle against it and ,i am broken by it4 ,then it attracts me anew with its sweetness2 it exalts me4 ,my spirit makes the ascent of this sculptured mountain4 ,what power in these motionless stones to create the sense of movement in the mind6 ,what makes this possible8 ,the mason of genius2 the science of oppositions4 ,that whole effect of power--he has put it in the thickness of the foundations1 the enormous walls1 the buttresses4 ,they are as formidable as the tiers of a dike1 as a breakwater planted in the sea4 ,one would say that this church was built to combat the forces of nature3 the temple of peace and love has the air of a fortress4 ,one's spirit is weighed down by the bareness of the stone1 but stirred by the height of the structure and the towers2 it soars toward them as toward a world that reassures it2 the hard material has become humanized2 the genius of man is at play there amid the lacework of stone4 ,he has placed there angels1 saints1 animals1 fruits1 flowers1 all the gifts of the seasons2 it is life in its entirety such as the ,creator in ,his infinite munificence has bestowed upon him4 ,the ,gothic artist knows that paradise is on earth2 he has no need to invent another4 ,the childish and monotonous heaven presented to us in our legends is nothing but a poor copy of the marvels of our life4 ,let us enter4 ,i tremble4 ,the beauty is terrible4 ,i am plunged into night1 a living night in which ,i do not know what mysteries are being enacted--the cruel mysteries of the ancient religions8 ,there are shimmering rays from the long windows1 the rose windows4 ,hope enters my heart3 there is light here1 then8 ,i am no longer alone4 ,my eyes grow accustomed to this populous obscurity4 ,there is a world about me1 a world of columns4 ,it seems terrible1 it is terrible because of its power1 but this power has its raison d'tre4 ,it seems frightening to me but it is only necessary4 ,it is distributed power2 therefore it is beneficent4 ,it holds the vault in the air1 the prodigious weight of stone that it maintains aloft1 above my head1 as lightly as the canvas of a tent4 ,marvel of equilibrium1 calculation of the intelligence1 how is it possible not to adore you8 ,it is you that one comes here to worship under the name of ,god4 ,the darkness grows lighter2 it becomes chiaroscuro4 ,we are in a picture by ,rembrandt1 that great ,gothic of the sixteenth century4 ,the forest of pillars divides the nave into spaces of shadow and light4 ,it is the order of nature which knows nothing of disorder4 ,this ,i rediscover with joy3 the eye does not love chaos4 ,i familiarize myself with the people of the columns4 ,i recognize them3 they are ,romans4 ,it is the ,roman1 the ,romance1 hardly altered1 that comes to receive the ,gothic arch4 ,the immense nave which ,i thought a forest full of hidden dangers ,i see1 ,i understand1 ,i read like a sacred book4 ,the mystery is not that of cruelty2 it is only that of beauty4 ,it grows lighter gradually in order to allow the spirit to approach slowly the joy of a perfect interior4 ,this solemnity of the nave1 this immense void1 is like the bed of a great river2 the columns range themselves respectfully on each side in order to give free passage to the flood of human piety4 ,it flows like a majestic river2 it bears onward toward the tabernacle1 about which it spreads itself like a lake of love under the rays of the thought of ,god4 ,amid the stones the architect has known how to play the part of the apostle3 he has created faith4 ,art and religion are the same thing2 they are love4 ,,saint-,,eustache ,it is the interior of this church that should be admired4 ,here ,i do not experience the same commotion of the spirit as in ,notre ,dame4 ,i am bathed in the fine light of the sixteenth century4 ,at ,notre ,dame it was the shadow of ,rembrandt2 here1 it is the clear tonality of ,french painting1 of a ,clout4 ,admirable is the lan of this ,renaissance nave2 it is as bold as1 and even perhaps bolder than that of the ,gothic buildings4 ,it proceeds on the same plan4 ,the skyward lift is only to be found in the ,gothic2 it is of the very spirit of the race4 ,are the vaults round and no longer pointed8 ,what does it matter if they are equally elegant1 if they have the same arial grace as the ogive8 ,what ,i rediscover in ,saint-,eustache1 less austere than its grand sister of the ,middle ,age1 but with a sweetness which is itself noble1 is the determination of the architect to subordinate everything to the effect of simplicity1 to the total effect4 ,on each side of the nave the columns cutting the side wall are disposed fanwise in order to hide the light of the lateral windows4 ,one sees nothing but the stone1 and yet there is no effect of heaviness2 one could not make anything lighter4 ,this is because the color of the stone is admirably varied by the diversity of the flutings that line the columns4 ,the main fluting marks the outline1 and the others1 less emphatic1 shading off1 give it a velvet-like quality4 ,the light throws a golden haze between the great columns1 among the deep gorges1 and is1 on the other hand1 channeled1 streaked by the little nerves that impel it upward toward the vaults4 ,by this effect of lightness the building seems to rise2 it is an assumption4 ,it is no longer the forest of trees that one finds here1 but the forest of creepers4 ,these vertiginous columns are like fine1 delicate vines4 ,above the altar the great lights of the windows1 with their beautiful glass1 harmonize well with the general color4 ,the light1 at once abundant and restrained1 has the coolness which the ,renaissance recaptured from ,greece4 ,this church welcomes one as with an immense smile2 it has the sweetness of ,christ holding out his hands3 ,suffer the little children to come unto me4 ,intelligence has planned it1 but it is the heart that has modeled it4 ,if we enter ,saint-,eustache at nightfall1 we could almost believe ourselves in a ,gothic building4 ,the ,renaissance did not bring about such profound transformations in architecture as people think4 ,there is a heavy ,italian ,renaissance element that is altogether alien to us2 but in the true ,french ,renaissance the ,celtic taste was not betrayed3 it was modified with a certain grace and elegance4 ,grace is an aspect of strength4 ,a nation no more escapes from its racial quality than a man from his temperament4 ,the ,celtic mingled with the ,roman produced the ,romance1 out of which the ,gothic sprang directly--the ,romance1 that is to say1 the ,roman which has passed through the spirit of the ,franks4 ,it has the severity1 the ,roman qualities1 united with the imagination of the ,barbarians1 since we have agreed so to call them4 ,the ,romance of the second epoch has already sprung forth2 it rises during the eleventh and twelfth centuries and goes to make the ,gothic4 ,the ,gothic elevates and magnifies the ,romance4 ,it detaches the buttresses1 even to the point of separating them from the walls1 in order to carry them further out to sustain the height of the nave4 ,as for the ,renaissance1 it continues the ,gothic4 ,we could not have a more striking example of this than just here in ,saint-,eustache4 ,here are the same lines1 the same idea1 with a different ornamentation4 ,it is the same body1 clothed in a new way4 ,it is another age of the ,gothic2 sweeter1 less powerful1 the final florescence of the ,french genius1 which1 despite the adorable eighteenth century1 follows a descending path down to the first restoration4 ,contrary to what has been thought and taught for so long1 the ,renaissance already marks a stage of decadence4 ,the most beautiful epoch in architecture and sculpture is the ,middle ,age1 an age as beautiful as1 perhaps more beautiful than1 the great age of ,greece1 and almost universally despised by our nineteenth century1 the century of criticism and pretension1 the century of ignorance4 ,yes1 with the ,renaissance things begin to give way4 ,and yet to say that is almost a sacrilege6 ,it is as if one struck one's father6 ,our ravishing ,gothic of the sixteenth century has charmed ,france with its masterpieces2 it has made artists cherish a whole country1 the sweet country of the ,loire4 ,despite its misalliance with the ,italian ,renaissance1 it stood firm1 it did not bend2 it remained the grand ,french style4 ,witness the ,louvre with its high pavilions2 that sprang1 that too1 from the ,gothic vein2 the sculptors of the ,renaissance decorated it less severely1 but the general aspect remains the same4 ,the ,gothic under different names has been the main path of our genius during five hundred years4 ,it has been the blessing of ,france2 it was its active principle down to #ahbj4 ,if we wish to return to art it will only be through comparative study--the comparison with nature of our national style4 ,the beautiful lines are eternal4 ,why are they used so little8 ,,concerning ,,color ,,in ,,sculpture ,the true difference between the ,gothic and the ,renaissance does not lie in the structure of the building but in the quality of the sculpture and in its color4 ,what is meant by color in sculpture and in architecture8 ,it is the law of light and shade1 the great law of oppositions which constitutes the charm of nature1 the beauty of a landscape at dawn1 its splendor at sunset4 ,the color springs from the quality of the modeling2 it is the relief which gives the light tones and1 by contrast1 the dark1 in the parts that do not stand out4 ,the ensemble of the intermediary diminutions of light and shade produces the general coloring1 whose nuances can be infinitely varied according to the skill of the artist4 ,modeling is the only way in which to express life2 and there is only one thing that counts in sculpture and in architecture--the expression of life4 ,a beautiful statue1 a well-made monument1 live like living beings2 they seem different according to the day and the hour4 ,how beautiful it is to give to stone1 through nothing but the values of planes1 through the handling of shadow and light1 the same charm of color as that of living nature1 of the flesh of a woman4 ,in the plastic arts1 the color betrays the quality of the planes as a beautiful complexion reveals health in a human being4 ,the antique has shorter planes than the ,gothic2 it lacks therefore those deep shadows that give to the ,gothic such a tormented and tragic aspect4 ,the ,greek balances the framework of the human body on four planes1 the ,gothic on two only4 ,the latter produces a stronger effect1 a more hollowed effect1 that effet de console which is essentially ,gothic4 ,nevertheless1 the shadow that results from it is more sustained than in the antique and nothing could be softer or more full of nuances4 ,the ,roman presents an abundance of dark shadows which1 in turn1 create an effect of heaviness and density4 ,the ,greek puts in just enough of them to quicken the general coloring4 ,the ,roman gives a flatter effect1 which shows nevertheless a magnificent vigor4 ,as for us1 we copy these styles endlessly without understanding them1 for if we did understand them we should do quite otherwise4 ,we abuse the black1 the powerful lines1 we put them everywhere2 we do not know how to shade light4 ,that is why our sculpture is so poor1 why our monuments appear so hard1 so dry4 ,the ,bourse1 the ,corps ,lgislatif1 might be made of iron with their columns set against a uniform background which prevents the light and air from circulating about them and enveloping them and destroys the atmosphere4 ,this is what people call a simple style4 ,it is not simple1 it is cold4 ,the simple is the perfect1 coldness is impotence4 ,the ,renaissance recaptured the antique measure and imposed its generous color upon the ,gothic plane4 ,it used less shadow than our sculptors of the ,middle ,ages2 it diminished the reliefs4 ,the effect in consequence was lighter4 ,this was because the ,renaissance was enchanted by all the ,greek statues that were discovered at this period2 and in its enthusiasm it recreated ,greek art1 not by copying it1 but by copying nature according to antique principles4 ,it is perhaps a little less beautiful but it has quite the same feeling of gentle strength1 of delicacy4 ,one feels the joy of the artist who throws himself against the problem of the nude in the open air4 ,till then statues had been draped1 but under the draperies was concealed a carefully studied nude4 ,in the ,renaissance the drapery was dropped3 the nymphs of ,jean ,goujon1 of ,germain ,pilon--,i recognize them2 these long bodies of women1 these undulating bodies1 are ,gothic statues unclothed and set in another light4 ,our whole sixteenth century is a song of grace rising from the ,gothic heart to the art of the ,parthenon4 ,but nowhere than in the country of the ,loire is there ,renaissance art more gentle and amply luminous4 ,this is the ,greek part of ,france4 ,the tranquil river touched the heart of our architects and bestowed on them some of its calm and smiling majesty4 ,from it1 from the air impregnated with its vapors1 came those chteaux so happy in their beauty and those lovable cottages2 for the artist worked as beautifully for peasants as for kings4 ,before ,uss1 before ,chenonceaux1 ,blois1 ,azay-le-,rideau1 ,i am not in the presence of dead things but of a living spirit1 the spirit of divine beauty that animated equally the antique and the ,gothic4 ,charming sixteenth century ,france1 it is you who have forced me to the study of chiaroscuro4 ,formerly ,i tried my best to understand your motives1 your thousand nerves1 but the general law escaped me4 ,i did not see your soul1 which consists entirely in the voluptuous shadings of light2 ,i did not perceive your principle1 the modeling which impressed movement upon everything and gave the movement life4 ,,the ,,eighteenth ,,century ,the eighteenth century is the exaggeration of the sixteenth4 ,our elegant houses1 our houses in the style of ,louis ,,xv and ,louis ,,xvi have always the ,gothic line with its proud1 graceful air4 ,without moldings1 without ornaments1 their beauty lies in their very lack of ornaments1 in their nudity4 ,but what proportions they have6 ,the finest of the fine6 ,the eighteenth century is considered too frail1 too affected4 ,it is1 on the contrary1 full of life and strength4 ,it possesses admirable sculptors3 ,pigalle1 creator of that immortal masterpiece1 the tomb of ,marshal ,saxe2 ,houdon1 whose busts to-day are bought for their weight in gold without even then bringing their proper price4 ,there were thousands then1 the whole rank and file of the trade1 who created marvels1 with a sureness of hand accustomed to every difficulty4 ,the outline of a table1 of a chest1 was as much considered as that of a statue4 ,for that matter1 what difference did the dimensions of a work make8 ,it was the modeling that counted4 ,the peasant himself sat down in a well-made chair4 ,artists and artisans had a taste1 an alert grace1 and a dexterity sufficient to fit out the whole world2 but their dexterity was based on a foundation of intelligence as an ornament is based upon a building4 ,the dexterity we possess nowadays is nothing but mockery1 a kind of banter that touches everything without discernment2 it kills force4 ,the ,louis ,,xv and ,louis ,,xvi styles possessed grandeur4 ,we call it the art of the boudoir1 but the boudoir of that period had a nobility like that of those white and gold salons where the seats are disposed with dignity like persons of quality4 ,the music had the same character2 the dances also1 the dances1 those charming scenes in which men and women with the natural spirit of play threw themselves into the cadence1 translating it with the eloquence of youth4 ,the dance--that was architecture brought to life4 ,the eighteenth century was a century which designed2 in this lay its genius4 ,nowadays people are searching for a new style and do not find it4 ,style comes unawares through the concurrence of many elements2 but can we achieve it without design8 ,to-day we design no longer and our art1 which is altogether industrial1 is bad4 ,the central matter in art is the nude1 and this we no longer understand4 ,how can we be expected to have art when we do not understand its central principle8 ,the minor arts are the rays that go out from the center4 ,when ,i draw the body of a woman ,i rediscover the form of the beautiful ,greek vases4 ,through design alone we arrive at a knowledge of the shading of forms4 ,the forms that delight us in the art of past centuries are nothing but those presented by living nature1 those of human beings1 animals1 verdure1 interpreted by men of supreme taste4 ,the art that people are struggling to discover to-day might be deduced from my sculpture and my drawings1 for ,i have always drawn with passion4 ,the quality of my drawing ,i owe in large measure to the eighteenth century4 ,i am nothing but a link in the great chain of artists1 but ,i maintain the connection with those of the past4 ,at the ,petite ,ecole they made us copy the red chalks of ,boucher and the models of flowers1 animals1 and ornaments4 ,they were ,louis ,,xvi models1 very well executed2 they certainly gave me a little of the warmth of the artists of that period4 ,in my youth ,i made drawings by the hundreds1 by the thousands4 ,at the ,petite ,ecole we were badly placed1 badly lighted by poor candles2 when we touched them we made them sticky with the clay with which our fingers were covered so that they were worse than ever afterwards4 ,it did not matter2 we were working according to the right principles4 ,to-day the ,petite ,ecole is entirely in the power of the larger school1 that of the ,beaux-,arts4 ,far from learning one gets spoiled there for the rest of one's life4 ,one copies the antique1 but one copies it badly4 ,i am speaking with the experience of a genuine artistic life4 ,there was a time when ,i never talked2 to-day ,i hold forth6 ,if ,i am understood it will not have been in vain4 ,but how much effort it will take to reestablish truths which are so self-evident1 so obvious1 so fundamental that one is ashamed to repeat them so many times6 ,nevertheless they are essential4 ,the public is a thousand miles away from them1 the public1 by which ,i mean the general taste4 ,if it does not become enlightened1 art will disappear4 ,observe its attitude before the works of the new school1 before the pictures of those who call themselves cubists3 sarcasm1 anger4 ,these artists show us squares1 cubes1 geometrical figures colored according to their own ideas4 ,they name them3 ,portrait of ,mme4 ,x4 or ,landscape4 ,this exasperates the public4 ,what does it matter8 ,is it good8 ,that is the whole point4 ,is the ornament well treated8 ,that is the capital question1 the only one that is not discussed4 ,their canvases are combinations of color recalling mosaic or even stained glass4 ,we have accepted many other things2 we have accepted the green or rather the violet women of our later salons1 and women with wooden heads1 but we do not wish to admit the squares of the cubists4 ,why8 ,they are not portraits1 we say4 ,they are not landscapes4 ,so much the better6 ,they are something else4 ,what does it matter if the artist has deceived himself knowingly or wilfully on a matter so insignificant as the subject8 ,it is ornamental1 that is enough4 ,they are curious1 these quarrels that break out1 these sects that are created for reasons like this--for a sock put on inside out6 ,ignorance inflames the passions4 ,there are struggles whose aim is great2 others that appear useless have their use perhaps4 ,it may be that this slackening of taste and knowledge is necessary4 ,perhaps it is a period of transition1 a fallow period required by the intelligence like that required by a soil that has been productive for too long4 ,if ignorance is prolonged it will mean that the history of ,france is ended2 it will mean the annihilation of the ,celtic genius which has fertilized ,europe for two thousand years4 ,we shall become like ,asia4 ,roman art declined for four or five centuries after ,augustus4 ,with us the decadence has only been going on for a hundred years4 ,during the present war marvels have been destroyed4 ,formerly1 even during the religious wars1 the monuments were spared2 it is for this reason that ,france is still so rich4 ,when stone is no longer respected1 it means decadence4 ,the cannon turn up the earth like a plow1 leveling everything4 ,this war appears therefore like an explosion of barbarism2 at bottom it indicates a latent state of soul which has been shaping itself since the beginning of the nineteenth century4 ,during this period the world has ceased to obey the law of beauty and love2 it has lived for nothing but business4 ,what is the leading idea that has precipitated the nations against one another8 ,trade3 the desire1 the longing to make more money than one's neighbor4 ,trade is the anxious care of people who think of nothing but their own petty welfare2 it is not the basis on which is founded the grandeur of peoples4 ,it alone regulates at present the relations between things4 ,the war is nothing but the consequence of such habits and their natural conclusion4 ,illustration3 ,,metamorphosis ,,according ,,to ,,ovid4 ,do you ask me what will spring out of the conflict8 ,i am not a prophet4 ,i know only that without religion1 without art1 without the love of nature--these three words are for me synonymous--men will die of ennui4 ,but nothing easily resigns itself to death4 ,an outburst of courage has just transfigured the world4 ,can we preserve this courage during peace8 ,the patience of the soldier1 the patience of the trenches surpasses in sublimity the virtue of the ancients4 ,will it produce a rebirth of intelligence8 ,shall we have1 in study1 the force of soul that we have had in the great struggle8 ,that is the question4 ,of course the stupid1 the ignorant will not suffer any transformation through the war2 but men of character will be reinvigorated by the hardships of the military life2 we have recaptured patience and we have yet to learn what we can expect from this virtue4 ,genius is as much character as talent4 ,if we have men of force in this country where taste is a natural gift1 it seems to me impossible that this force will not quicken the gift and develop it and that we shall not have once more an era of beauty4 ,,auguste ,,rodin4 ,,the ,,work ,,of ,,rodin ,i ,,the ,,study ,,of ,,the ,,cathedrals--,,influence ,,of ,,the ,,gothic ,,on ,,the ,,art ,,of ,,rodin--,,saint ,,john ,,the ,,baptist 7#ahhj7--,,the ,,gate ,,of ,,hell ,in #ahgg ,rodin visited our most illustrious cathedrals1 ,rheims1 ,amiens1 ,chartres1 ,soissons1 ,noyon4 ,during his youth1 the choir of ,beauvais and ,notre ,dame de ,paris appealed more to his imagination than to his taste1 and it required many years of travel and comparison to enable him to grasp the splendors of that ,gothic art which he was to admire thenceforth at least as much as the antique4 ,as a splendidly gifted1 but inexperienced young man1 he shared the error of his epoch3 the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth century had despised the ,roman and the ,gothic2 they had ridiculed them and called them barbaric2 the nineteenth century1 while flattering itself that it appreciated them1 did still worse--it restored them4 ,the romantic writers of the ,schools of ,chateaubriand and ,victor ,hugo had exalted the art of the ,middle ,ages1 but chiefly because of their hatred of the classic and without understanding its true worth4 ,what struck them1 especially1 was the immensity and the picturesqueness of the buildings1 the luxuriousness of this stone vegetation1 but not the unique character of their architecture and sculpture4 ,victor ,hugo was perhaps one of the few to discover the precise explanation of this beauty3 relief and modeling4 ,this all-powerful writer1 this architect of words who constructed poems like cathedrals1 understood the plastic intelligence of the master masons because he himself possessed the sense of mass4 ,one is convinced of this not only in reading his descriptions of cities and monuments1 but in studying those astonishing pen-and-ink drawings which he multiplied in idle moments4 ,if the romanticists have failed fully to explain medieval art to us1 let us still be grateful to them3 they gave our cathedrals back to us1 they denounced ignorance and scourged the stupidity that would have ended by tearing down those sublime piles4 ,finally if the writers and art critics of this epoch have not given them superlative praise1 if on their behalf they have not burned with apostolic zeal1 it is because it was necessary for this prophecy of art to come from a man of the craft1 a man dominated1 captivated1 himself1 by the craft1 a man who understood stone and adored it because he had married it in spirit with all its difficulties and its dazzling possibilities4 ,that man was to be ,rodin4 ,although he has been listened to by the ignorant and superficial multitude1 it has not been chiefly because of the authority of his genius1 of the general renown that he has enjoyed4 ,he has truly thrown a new light over the mystery of ,gothic construction4 ,thanks to him1 we understand in a measure1 for tangible reasons1 the reasons of an actual carver1 this world in little that constitutes the ,gothic cathedrals4 ,what study1 what researches are necessary in order to comprehend the art of stonework6 ,does any one suppose that ,rodin himself has attained this in a day8 ,by no means4 ,that lover of perfection in detail does not possess the instantly penetrating glance that is often the property of genius3 to the task of deciphering our monuments he brought that slow-minded1 customary patience of his1 together with his energy4 ,he had first of all to rid himself of the false current ideas4 ,after that thirty years of observation were necessary for him to reach conclusions that satisfied his artistic conscience4 ,even to-day he is far from affirming that he has understood everything1 that he has grasped the full significance of the ,gothics4 ,read his book1 ,the ,cathedrals of ,france1 published in #aiad2 observe the carefullness of his judgments1 the gropings of his thought1 the constant retracing of his steps4 ,he makes attempts1 ventures2 he never proclaims his opinion in the peremptory tone dear to specialists in criticism1 but endeavors to approach respectfully1 as closely as possible1 to the spirit of the masters4 ,sometimes a flash of genius springs from his brain and illumines to the depths of its mysteries the ,gothic universe2 but nothing is suggested that does not spring from a prolonged observation1 and when at last he speaks it is in the tone of a man who mistrusts himself4 ,it must be confessed that in this work1 ,the ,cathedrals of ,france1 something is lacking1 even though it is prefaced by a long and very learned introduction by one of our good writers1 ,charles ,morice4 ,it lacks the magnificent lesson that the reader will find in these pages1 signed with ,rodin's name4 ,this lesson constitutes really a vital page that is1 as it were1 the key and the summary of the whole work2 but the master1 having given me the first rights in it1 had scruples1 as had ,charles ,morice1 about including it in his own book4 ,before obtaining this page1 with what insistence did ,i have to question ,rodin not once1 not twice1 but twenty times1 during the course of a number of years4 ,every time he came back from one of his pilgrimages to some old city of the provinces1 to our churches1 our town halls1 ,i renewed my questions without receiving any satisfactory answer4 ,in my heart ,i could not but honor this rigorous honesty which was unwilling to venture anything lightly on so vast1 so noble a subject4 ,in #ahgg1 after having accomplished his first tour of ,france1 he came back filled with wonder4 ,but the impression that he carried with him was still confused2 he did not know at what point to begin the analytical study of ,french architecture1 for in what concerned sculpture he had immediately been struck with amazement and adoration before the essential beauty of the status of ,chartres1 ,amiens1 and ,rheims4 ,he had returned from ,italy haunted by the antique and ,michelangelo1 and now here he was haunted by the modeling and the rhythm of the ,gothic figures4 ,but in order to understand them entirely he had to rediscover this modeling and these movements in nature1 he had to verify them in the living model4 ,fortune favors those who seek greatly4 ,when one is the victim of an idea unexpected elements arise to nourish and develop it4 ,one day two ,italians knocked at the door of his studio4 ,one of them1 a professional model1 had already posed for ,rodin and he introduced the other1 his comrade4 ,he was a peasant from the ,abruzzi who had come to seek his fortune in ,paris4 ,he was fresh from his native province4 ,his robust body1 his fierce head1 his bristling beard and hair1 and above all his expression of indomitable force charmed the artist4 ,he undressed1 climbed upon the model's stand1 planted himself firmly on his legs1 which were spread like a compass1 the head well raised1 and1 continuing to talk1 advanced with a gesture full of ardor4 ,rodin1 struck by this wild energy1 immediately set to work4 ,he made the man such as he saw him2 he desired to capture this movement of the legs1 this brusk forward movement that complemented the movement of the arms1 the shining eyes1 the open mouth4 ,he surrendered himself to a great study1 without any preconceived idea1 without any intention of treating a subject4 ,what he made was a man walking4 ,the name has stuck to the figure4 ,the first study remains incomplete2 ,rodin has sculptured neither the head nor the arms2 what he sought eagerly1 passionately1 was the equilibrium of the torso and of the legs cast forward into space4 ,he succeeded2 he made a superb fragment1 ,the ,man ,walking4 ,thirty years later it occurred to a group of his admirers to ask the state to acquire this study and erect it in the court of the ,french embassy at ,rome1 in the ,farnese ,palace2 but the official architects up to the present time have objected to the erection of this statue1 and for the last seven or eight years it has awaited1 in some obscure shed1 the good pleasure of these gentlemen4 ,rodin1 in the presence of his ,italian peasant1 had rediscovered1 to his great joy as a seeker1 the peculiar equipoise of the ,gothic figures4 ,in the antique statues the plumb-line falls through one of the legs1 while the other1 lightly raised1 impresses on the different planes of the body the graceful effect that has become classic4 ,in ,gothic statues1 on the contrary1 the line of equilibrium passes through the middle of the body and falls right between the two legs as they are planted on the earth4 ,in ,the ,age of ,bronze ,rodin has adopted the balanced rhythm of ,greek sculpture2 in his new figure he passed to the ,gothic equipoise1 with a harmony that is less gracious1 but with a reality stronger and more living4 ,what he did not abandon was the rigorous construction and the strength of modeling which his study of the antique had given him4 ,the ,man ,walking1 as well as the greater part of his subsequent works1 thus exhibits the union of the two great principles of sculpture that have governed the ,occidental genius4 ,rodin1 strengthened by study1 now made a complete statue with head and arms4 ,while he was working he discovered that his model was half a savage1 still close to the animal and its ferocious instincts4 ,sometimes his eyes burned1 his jaws1 armed with powerful teeth1 were thrust forward as if to bite something2 he resembled a wolf4 ,at other times a kind of strange passion inflamed him4 ,his face radiated faith and will2 he spoke with such energy that he seemed to be haranguing a crowd2 one would have thought him a prophet of the primitive ages1 a visionary bursting forth from the desert to preach and to convert the people4 ,rodin regarded him in amazement4 ,it was no longer his model1 but a man from the ,bible2 surely it was a prophet that stood before him3 it was ,saint ,john the ,baptist brought back to life4 ,the sculptor bowed before the command of nature3 his statue should bear the name of the forerunner4 ,illustration3 ,,eve4 ,he thought at first of emphasizing the disturbing impression3 he placed on the shoulders of ,saint ,john a simple cross4 ,but here was revealed the all-powerful instinct of the sculptor1 making the subject1 the anecdote1 the literary connotation a matter of secondary importance4 ,the cross1 the sublime symbol1 would be here only an accessory1 not really needed4 ,it would complicate the simplicity of line dictated by the laws of sculpture1 destroying the appositions of equilibrium of the great body and distracting the attention from that speaking head4 ,so ,rodin gave it up4 ,he came at last to the decision that his work should remain free from what was not of the very essence of art4 ,he sent it off in the form in which it appeared in the ,salon of #ahhj1 adding also ,the ,age of ,bronze4 ,the artists1 the true artists1 those whose enthusiasm was not poisoned by envy and jealousy1 applauded these two superb figures artistically so different1 but so similar in their sincerity2 they acclaimed them with the grave joy of generous souls who perceive the dawn of a great talent4 ,the name of ,rodin became fixed forever in their memory4 ,as for the jury of this ,salon1 it considered it sufficient to award the ,saint ,john the ,baptist and ,the ,age of ,bronze a medal of the third class4 ,let us1 in turn1 give it our reward--the reward for its insensitiveness--by not disclosing the names of the sages who composed it4 ,,the ,,gate ,,of ,,hell ,while finishing these works1 which he was not even certain of being able to sell1 ,rodin was still compelled to provide for his own subsistence and that of his family2 he had also to meet the expenses of his trade4 ,a costly trade6 ,it requires a studio1 models1 large fires to keep them warm1 clay1 tools of every kind4 ,it was luck enough if the sculptor1 still unknown1 was able to have plaster casts made of his work4 ,but this did not satisfy him2 he dreamed of seeing them take on a new aspect in the richness of marble and bronze4 ,alas6 in many cases he had to wait until middle age to have this dream realized4 ,rodin has never complained of the slowness of fortune4 ,he knows that in order to attain the fullness of his productive power it is well for the artist to be thwarted1 exalted by difficulties1 the desire to conquer4 ,after a five-years' stay in ,belgium he had returned to ,paris to take part in the work of the ,world ,exposition of #ahgh1 and he had taken a position with the ornament-worker ,legrain1 in whose workshop he met ,jules ,desbois1 the future great sculptor1 to whom he became attached for life4 ,what innumerable decorations he executed at that time--decorations which disappeared like the leaves and flowers of the season when the stucco palaces of the exposition vanished6 ,only the masks ornamenting the ,palais du ,trocadro remained4 ,at the same time he accumulated busts1 studies1 large figures with a fury of work which from then on was to resemble that of the most powerfully productive minds1 the fecundity of a ,rubens1 of a ,balzac1 of a ,michelet1 of a ,hugo4 ,in the studios which he rented in the ,faubourg ,st4 ,jacques1 from #ahgg to #ahhc1 besides the ,saint ,john the ,baptist1 he executed the admirable little tough model of the ,monument ,commemorating the ,national ,defense2 after his wife1 whose characterful features and naturally tragic countenance he had often reproduced1 he made a helmeted bust1 a ,bellona4 ,he exhibited three life-sized figures3 ,the ,creation of ,man2 ,adam1 since destroyed2 and ,eve1 the bronze of which did not appear until the ,salon of #ahii4 ,he did the busts of ,w4,e4 ,henley2 the painter ,jean-,paul ,laurens 7to mention some of the most beautiful71 ,carrier-,belleuse1 the etcher ,alphonse ,legros1 all in the midst of difficulties and injustices which did not in any way disturb the depths of his serenity1 the noble tranquillity of the artisan sure of attaining his end by labor4 ,is it possible to-day to believe that the model of the ,monument of the ,defense was not only refused1 but was not even classed among the thirty designs that were retained by the jury of #ahhj after the first choice had been made8 ,this same jury1 the composition of which is also worthy of passing into history1 decided on a solemn confection by ,m4 ,barrias for the prix de ,rome1 the result of which was that four years later its creator was elected a member of the ,academy of ,fine ,arts4 ,i do not know whether many collectors contend for reproductions of ,m4 ,barrias's monstrous design for a clock2 but ,rodin's group1 a wounded soldier entirely enveloped by the wings of a prodigious figure of a warrior goddess crying out for aid1 which was later renamed ,the ,genius of the ,defense or ,the ,appeal to ,arms1 and which has acquired to-day so pathetic a character of actuality1 is coveted by most of the museums and art collectors of ,europe and ,america4 ,as if these works1 which have since acquired such glory1 were nothing but fragments of secondary importance1 ,rodin attacked a great piece of work1 like those that used to be executed in the great ages of art3 he undertook the famous ,gate of ,hell4 ,at the time of the affair of ,the ,age of ,bronze there was at the head of the ministry of fine arts1 an under-secretary of state named ,edmond ,turquet4 ,to him fell the task of deciding in the last resort the case of ,rodin4 ,m4 ,edmond ,turquet was a brilliant lawyer who had become procureur under the empire1 which did not altogether qualify him for the part of director of fine arts under the republic4 ,in the field of art he knew no more than any one else1 ,rodin says2 but he was a very fair-minded man1 and his honesty had the effect of quickly straightening out the affair of the sculptor4 ,in his genuine desire to atone for the wrong done to ,rodin in the eyes of public opinion he not only offered to obtain for him a position in the porcelain factory at ,svres1 in order to assure him a regular livelihood1 but ordered from him a great ornamental piece1 a door destined for the ,palais des ,arts ,dcoratifs4 ,in addition1 by a special privilege created in favor of artists under ,louis ,,xiv1--a privilege the traditions of which the ,french ,government has happily perpetuated1--,m4 ,turquet granted ,rodin a good studio in the ,dpt des ,marbres1 so that he could execute his order4 ,and what will you represent on that door8 enquired the under-secretary of state4 ,i am sure ,i don't know1 replied the artist4 ,but ,i shall make a quantity of little figures2 then no one will say that they are casts taken from the life4 ,thus we find him at ,svres1 a ceramist2 he has carried on so many different trades that he succeeds marvelously with this one4 ,it was his task to decorate vases of delicate clay2 he modeled light bas-reliefs1 representations of mythological scenes1 idylls4 ,nymphs1 cupids1 fauns1 evoked by his miraculously delicate fingers1 were born out of the milky1 transparent material1 bringing back to life the flowery graces of the drawing-room art of the eighteenth century1 the dainty elegances of the wax figures of ,clodion1 but with a graver sense of the mystery of nature and of love4 ,unfortunately1 when these vases left the hand of the master they were overladen with hideous ornaments in the style of ,louis-,philippe4 ,moreover1 the officials at the head of the factory did not like them4 ,they were carried up to the attics1 they were left lying about on the floor1 in the secret hope of seeing them broken by the feet of some careless or ill-willed workman4 ,the feeling of being isolated and misunderstood at times threw a shadow over the soul of the sculptor2 but on the other hand he felt himself so strong1 so solidly based in his will1 in his self-confidence1 and in the virtue of labor that these moments of depression passed away quickly4 ,besides1 he knew the secret of the poor1 the secret of creating happiness for oneself out of everything that the rich and powerful despise3 a simple life1 health1 regular work1 the contemplation of nature1 and a few real friendships4 ,rodin earned at ,svres only two or three francs an hour and lost a great deal of time on the railroad4 ,what did it matter8 ,he found pleasure and rest in these little journeys4 ,every day he set out from ,paris by train1 and1 the day over1 winter and summer1 his wife came to meet him4 ,they returned together on foot either along the banks of the ,seine1 charming in their profusion of little hills and islands1 covered with meadows or fine trees1 or through the woods of ,meudon and ,clamart1 with their vistas of ,paris1 its heights1 its buildings1 its changing sky full of light and spirit4 ,at the end of four years of opposition and annoyance ,rodin gave up pottery in order to consecrate himself wholly to his own work4 ,the museum of the factory preserves a vase signed by him1 and the future ,muse de l',htel ,biron can show a second example4 ,what has become of the others8 ,what price would not be paid for them to-day by admirers of the master8 ,these supplementary works did not turn him away from his essential task2 whatever were the technical means employed1 his efforts tended toward one unique end1 the plastic quality1 and he gave himself up desperately to this search in executing his new order1 the ,gate4 ,rising at four in the morning1 as he had done in his youth1 he studied the plans and the details of this great work4 ,he had announced a series of little figures4 ,how was he to group them8 ,what visions surged in the sculptor's imagination8 ,of what legendary theme1 what theme of history or poetry1 should he make use in order to realize his program8 ,he had never ceased to be a passionate reader4 ,he read especially the ,greek poets and dramatists1 the ,roman historians1 the old ,french chronicles1 ,dante1 ,shakspere1 ,victor ,hugo1 and ,baudelaire4 ,he did not wish to draw the subject of his future work from ,homer1 schylus or ,sophocles2 the ,school of the ,beaux-,arts had so abused the theme of the antique1 already immortalized by ,greek sculptors1 that it had entirely lost its freshness4 ,the moderns attracted him less1 but he was obsessed by the work of the great poet of the ,renaissance1 by the ,divine ,comedy of ,dante4 ,he had read and reread it and made a sort of commentary in the form of innumerable sketches which he jotted down mornings and evenings at table1 while walking1 stopping by the wayside to dash off attitudes and gestures on the leaves of his note-book4 ,he rediscovered in the poem of ,dante the fateful grandeur of the ,greek dramas1 but with an atmosphere more modern1 closer to ourselves1 more mournfully familiar to our anguishes and our torments4 ,the idea took shape in his imagination1 that imagination ceaselessly rumbling and groaning like a forge2 it exalted his bold spirit4 ,genius joins to the richness of the intellect the simplicity of heart that creates faith4 ,genius believes ever more than it thinks4 ,it has the strength which succeeds in anything1 and it possesses also that supreme gift1 the ingenuousness of the child who doubts nothing4 ,rodin believed the poem of ,dante as if he had lived it1 as ,dante himself believed in ,vergil4 ,what a magnificent homage great men render to one another in this credulity of genius toward genius6 ,illustration3 ,,rodin ,,at ,,work ,,on ,,the ,,marble4 ,the subject chosen by ,rodin for his decorative panels1 then1 was hell--hell as ,dante conceived it in a vision that lends itself1 for that matter1 marvelously to a plastic realization4 ,the ,gate would be a poem1 an immense sculptured poem2 that is to say1 a rsum of the attitudes and gestures of life called forth by the release of the passions1 a strange catalogue of the expressions of the human body under the shock of sorrow and of joy4 ,if the imagination of ,rodin caught fire like that of a visionary1 he remained beyond everything and above everything the sculptor1 and he plunged immediately into the search for the general scheme of the work4 ,the truth of the movements1 the poetry of the evocations1 his models would give him2 he could feel at ease as to that3 the resources that nature would offer him were inexhaustible4 ,but the plan1 that he must find himself2 he must do the work of the builder1 almost of the geometrician4 ,there could be no self-deception as to that4 ,the fuller the ornamentation was to be of figures and movements1 the more solid must be the frame of the immense picture1 the more vigorous and compact must be the general plan of the work4 ,rodin's mind wavered between two great schools1 that of the ,renaissance and that of the ,middle ,ages1 that which had produced the doors of the baptistry at ,florence and that to which we owe the portals of the ,gothic cathedrals4 ,the celebrated gates of ,florence are a series of bas-reliefs arranged symmetrically in a regular framework2 they present a series of separate pictures having no common bond except their subject4 ,the execution is admirable1 and it is perhaps impossible to surpass it4 ,lorenzo ,ghiberti has done there the work of an incomparable modeler1 actually a goldsmith2 but he has in no way troubled himself with regard to architecture4 ,now1 architecture is the great ,french point of view4 ,the ,roman and the ,gothic have placed in their monument 7the church7 that other monument 7the portal74 ,the portal is complete in itself2 the art of the sculptor and that of the architect have united and become indistinguishable here in order to realize an absolute beauty4 ,rodin1 profoundly ,french1 inheriting the instinct and taste of his ancestors the master-masons1 having to compose a door1 was fated to conceive a portal4 ,on the other hand1 he could not escape the influence of the antique1 the result of his early studies4 ,this was the entirely different element which in the course of the work he had undertaken was to mingle with the ,gothic element4 ,it was not the first time that the mingling of these two great conceptions of art had occurred in ,france4 ,from it had sprung our ,renaissance sculpture2 in that epoch the sculpture of the ,greeks united itself with the ,gothic architecture1 the ,hellenic sunlight brought to blossom the majesty of our monuments4 ,does not ,rodin himself1 with his vast outlook over the whole field of art1 call this period of national art1 the sixteenth century1 the ,french ,gothic8 ,the ,gate of ,hell1 then1 took on in its general structure a ,renaissance aspect4 ,it preserves the graceful line of the ,gothic portal and has the luminous whiteness inspired by ,greek sculpture4 ,this singular work has touched all contemporary artists4 ,most of our writers have described it1 and1 after them1 the critics of other countries4 ,this living multitude1 this suffering1 groaning multitude that covers the two panels with a thousand passionate movements1 has drawn into its magic whirlpool the world of literature1 which has been able to liberate itself only by means of innumerable printed pages4 ,the poem of ,dante has come forth as it were revivified from the hands of ,rodin4 ,fresh tears1 one would say1 have bathed the most poignant passages2 the pity of a man of to-day1 of one like ourselves1 our brother1 has enveloped the terrible work of the ,florentine poet1 that man of the ,middle ,ages1 with an atmosphere of tenderness and compassion which seems the emotion of ,christianity at its purest1 its original source4 ,in order to become our own1 it has passed through the great soul of ,rodin4 ,it is not surprising1 then1 that the sensibility of our artists1 reanimated by this new spectacle1 should be touched to so voluminous an expression by this haunting work4 ,but what has not been sufficiently remarked is that the ,gate is1 above everything1 a piece of architecture of the highest order4 ,when we see it we are at once struck with an impression of majesty1 of calm strength and plenitude4 ,it seems even longer than it actually is4 ,it is a rectangle six meters high and two and a half meters wide1 but the source of the illusion is the justness of the proportions and the value of the masses4 ,the powerful frame is furrowed with deep depressions4 ,it rests on the ground upon a strong base from which rise the two door-posts1 as robust as pillars and mounting together toward the summit4 ,a pediment in the shape of an entablature overhangs the entire monument1 casting over it a deep shadow full of nuances2 and it is this shadow1 skilfully graduated1 that gives to the work its rich1 soft color4 ,the body of the portal is divided into two panels2 a vast tympanum surmounts them transversally4 ,this tympanum1 surmounted by a large cornice1 dominates the work4 ,without weighing it down1 it gives it its mass1 it attracts1 it obsesses1 the eye2 it is the soul of the edifice1 its intellect4 ,no word can more justly describe it than the word brow1 for it is magnetic1 haunting1 mysterious1 like the forehead of a man of genius4 ,the panels sink deep into a shadow that is heavy1 but not harsh1 while in the foreground the pillars advance into the light2 the delicate bas-reliefs that cover them keep them in a silvery atmosphere1 the source of the great softness which envelopes this work1 otherwise severe and tragic1 the source of the fugitive lightness of the lines1 which strike up from the earth toward the somber and tormented upper regions4 ,carried away by this marvelous technic1 the spirit of the visitor succumbs2 it follows this ascending movement of the door-posts1 to lose itself in the sorrowful dream sculptured on the tympanum4 ,on the panel writhe the clusters of human figures1 the eddies of the multitude of damned souls pursued by the rage of the elements1 by the devouring tongues of the infernal fire1 by the frozen waters1 by the wind that tears them and stings them4 ,it is1 says the eminent art critic ,gustave ,jeffroy1 in the most beautiful pages that have been consecrated to a description of this work1 the dizzy whirl1 the falling through space1 the groveling on the face of the earth of a whole wretched humanity obstinately persisting in living and suffering1 bruised and wounded in its flesh1 saddened in its soul1 crying aloud its griefs1 harshly laughing through its tears1 chanting its breathless fears1 its sickly joys1 its ecstatic sorrows4 ,the genius of ,rodin became intoxicated with all the resources of his art4 ,master of a technic of the first order1 he delighted in every kind of effect1 arranging them as a great symphonist arranges the instruments of an immense orchestra4 ,low-relief1 half-relief1 high-relief1 and sculpture in the round1 he omitted none4 ,he did not yield to the literary temptation4 ,at the height of his fever of invention he was circumspect1 measured1 guided by his knowledge as a modeler4 ,the poet thinks1 but the carver speaks2 he speaks justly1 he speaks admirably1 because he uses only his own true and personal language1 which he knows from the ground up4 ,that is the whole secret of the way in which this man inflames our soul and subjugates our imagination4 ,two principal notes1 two motives form1 above the whirlwind of the infernal fires1 a resting-place for the eye troubled by so much vehemence3 one1 in the midst of the tympanum1 is the figure of ,dante4 ,it is ,dante1 but it is even more the eternal poet4 ,seated1 leaning over the abyss of suffering1 thrilled with anguish1 he seems to seek in the very depths of the pit itself the word of infinite pity that will deliver this sorrowful humanity4 ,higher yet1 above his bowed head1 rising suddenly from the frame and splayed in a large protuberance1 a group of three entwined figures crowns and completes the brow4 ,with the same despairing gesture they point to the multitude of the damned4 ,one does not know what these shuddering beings are1 but they have the sweetness of angels2 at once we seem to hear their lips murmur the words of the grand ,florentine1 ,lasciate ogni speranza2 but across their forms1 their compassionate forms1 their fraternal forms1 one feels passing a tremor of love and pity4 ,far from condemning1 their clasped hands offer to the sad wreckage of fatality that writhes at their feet a sign1 a unique sign1 the sign of good-will of pity4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,gate of ,hell was shown only once to the public4 ,this was at the ,universal ,exposition of #aijj4 ,although it was nearly finished1 it was seen then only in an incomplete state4 ,the day of the opening arrived before the master had been able to have placed on the fronton and on the panels of his monument the hundreds of great and small figures destined for their ornamentation4 ,people saw the ,gate1 then in the nudity of its construction1 grandiose assuredly1 but despoiled of its extraordinary raiment of sculpture4 ,that day was a sad one for the true friends of art and of ,rodin4 ,a band of snobs1 full of their own importance1 crowded about the great man4 ,having considered the work with the hasty and casual glance of men of the world of the sort that are concerned above all to get themselves noticed1 they remarked to ,rodin1 in a tone of augury1 ,your doorway is much more beautiful like that2 in no circumstances do anything more to it4 ,this absurd advice befell at an evil moment3 the artist felt worn out from overwork and anxieties of all kinds and1 moreover1 was troubled over the fate of his exhibit the failure of which might in truth have ruined him completely4 ,in these circumstances he did not have the freedom of spirit necessary to judge correctly the value of his own work4 ,and besides he had seen it too much during the twenty years in which it had been before his eyes4 ,he was tired of it1 weary of it4 ,illustration3 ,,peristyle ,,op ,,the ,,studio ,,at ,,meudon4 ,thus everything combined to make him lend an ear to the unfavorable opinions of the ,parisian aviary4 ,had he been in better health1 more the master of himself physically and morally1 he would have replied to the prattling of these excited paroquets and guinea-hens3 ,take more room1 examine my ',gate' from a little farther off1 and you will see once more the effect of the whole--the effect of unity which charms you when it is deprived of its ornamentation4 ,you must understand that my sculpture is so calculated as to melt into the principal masses4 ,for that matter1 it completes them by modeling them into the light4 ,the essential designs are there3 it is possible that in the course of the final work ,i may find it necessary to diminish such or such a projection1 to fill out such or such a pool of shadow2 nevertheless1 leave this difficulty to my fifty years of artisanship and experience1 and you may be sure that quite by myself ,i shall find the best way of finishing my work4 ,but the master was silent4 ,later1 carried away by the abundance of his conceptions1 by his ever-deepening researches1 he lost all interest in the ,gate and has never taken the trouble to have it entirely mounted4 ,fortunately1 casts of it have been carefully preserved4 ,it would be only an affair of a few months to reconstruct the work in its original integrity4 ,since the ,universal ,exposition time has rolled forward1 and events also4 ,auguste ,rodin has entered into the great serenity which age brings with it4 ,he composes less1 he corrects his work1 he judges himself1 and he does not deny his ,gate1 one of the most exceptional of his works4 ,at last the creation of the ,muse ,rodin has been decided upon by the state4 ,the ,gate of ,hell will be one of its important pieces2 we shall be able to contemplate it then in all its majesty2 it will not then simply be molded in plaster1 but cast in bronze and cut in marble4 ,it will offer a noble example of what work can accomplish when it is served by that supreme gift1 will2 for it will testify as much to resistance against the powerful enemies of the life of thought as to the intelligence of the man who created it4 ,it forces upon us not only a formidable impression of strength1 labor1 talent1 but also an impression no less lofty of method1 order1 and inner harmony4 ,the multitude1 who through their profound instincts approach much closer than one might suppose to the man of genius1 will exclaim in contemplating this work1 this true monument which undoubtedly the sculptor has raised through his own force of character1 ,whoever erected this beautiful thing with his indefatigable hands was truly a man4 ,,ii ,,the ,,burghers ,,of ,,calais 7#ahhi7--,,rodin ,,and ,,victor ,,hugo--,,the ,,statue ,,of ,,balzac 7#ahih7 ,at the time the plaster model of ,the ,burghers of ,calais was first offered to the judgment of the public1 in #ahhi1 nearly seven years had gone by since ,rodin had originally undertaken the group4 ,this is the period of my own childish memories of the master4 ,he was a frequent visitor at the home of my father1 who lived in ,svres1 on the outskirts of ,paris4 ,rodin1 with his silent nature1 apparently so full of calm and meditation1 delighted in the ardor1 the patriotic enthusiasm1 the ferment of character1 the brilliant conversation of that powerful1 original writer1 my father2 he loved his books1 too1 spirited and passionate like himself1 and possessing a vigor of expression that was new to ,french letters4 ,lon ,cladel received his friends on ,sundays4 ,in winter they gathered in the drawing-room1 in summer on a terrace shaded by great chestnuts and limes1 where thousands of birds twittered and chattered so energetically that at dusk they ended by drowning the voices of the visitors4 ,among the latter were writers1 painters1 and sculptors1 several of whom have since become famous4 ,among them were ,auguste ,rodin and his colleague1 his dear comrade1 ,jules ,dalou1 creator of many fine works1 notably the monument to ,eugne ,delacroix which stands in the ,luxembourg ,gardens4 ,the sculptor of ,the ,burghers of ,calais was then barely fifty4 ,he was far from possessing the immense fame that is his to-day1 but artists already regarded him as a master4 ,of medium height1 robust1 with large shoulders and heavy limbs1 placid and deliberate in appearance1 never gesticulating1 he himself resembled a block of stone2 but above this heavy base his countenance1 with its broadly designed features and its gray-blue eyes1 expressed an extraordinarily keen intelligence and finesse4 ,despite my youth ,i was struck by this physiognomy1 so singular and so penetrating1 and also by the remarkable shyness that made the sculptor blush whenever he was addressed4 ,since then innumerable portraits have familiarized people with these features1 which with age have settled into an expression of authority and firm will2 his strange timidity has disappeared with time1 with the consciousness of his strength1 with his having become accustomed to glory4 ,moreover1 ,rodin has become a ready talker4 ,of old he listened intently1 but always held his peace2 at most a few words1 spoken in a soft1 clear voice1 escaped from the waves of his long beard4 ,he would at once relapse into silence1 while with a slow movement giving his beard an instinctive caress with his large1 square1 irresistible hand1 the true hand of a builder4 ,but when he raised his eyelids1 almost always lowered1 the transparent eye1 that limpid gray-blue eye1 betrayed a perspicacity that was almost malicious1 almost cunning3 one felt that he penetrated through the forms of people to their very souls2 and this he fixed so skilfully in the clay of his busts that his models were not always pleased with it4 ,many of ,rodin's portraits have been refused by sitters offended by their pitiless realism4 ,illustration3 ,,statue ,,of ,,bastien-,,lepage4 ,sometimes my father kept ,rodin and ,jules ,dalou to dinner4 ,the two sculptors were devoted to each other4 ,they were comrades from of old who had traveled together the hard road of beginners2 since their student days at the ,petite ,ecole they had many times rencountered each other in the same workshops1 where they had received the same contemptuous wages for their long days of labor4 ,they felt a profound esteem for each other's talent1 different as these talents were1 altogether opposed1 in fact1 as were their natures2 and it was a fine1 a lovely thing to see them bring forward each other's respective merits4 ,alas6 ,i shall have to tell later how an artistic rivalry came one day to destroy this noble friendship4 ,the appearance of ,the ,burghers of ,calais aroused a flood of enthusiasm in the world of art4 ,i remember it well4 ,at that time ,i was only a young school-girl1 and my father was unwilling to allow me to miss my classes in order to accompany him to the opening of the ,rodin ,exhibition4 ,after all1 the lessons ,i received that day1 following them quite absent-mindedly1 were they worth the lesson ,i should have received from the contemplation of that masterpiece1 even if my age would have prevented me from quite understanding it8 ,beauty is always the most fertilizing teacher4 ,a rich art-lover1 acting with the municipal authorities of ,calais1 had ordered from ,rodin the statue of ,eustache de ,saint-,pierre1 the ,calais hero whose devotion had in the fourteenth century1 during the ,hundred ,years' ,war1 saved the city when it was besieged by ,king ,edward ,,iii of ,england4 ,rodin1 true to his principles1 sought as ever to approach his subject from the quick of reality4 ,he consulted history4 ,he read the old chronicles of ,france1 above all those of ,jean ,froissart1 who was contemporaneous with the event and almost a witness of it4 ,froissart was a man of the fourteenth century1 a man of the age of the cathedrals1 and therefore himself a ,gothic4 ,his narrative has the force1 the savor1 the navet1 the simple and profound art of the masters of that marvelous epoch4 ,what a source of emotion for ,rodin1 a ,gothic likewise in his faith and his artistic rectitude6 ,he caught fire at the recital of the old master as at the voice of a brother-in-arms4 ,he read1 he learned that ,edward ,,iii would not consent to spare the city of ,calais from pillage and destruction unless six of her richest citizens would come out to him dressed only in their shirts1 barefoot1 with ropes about their necks1 bringing him the keys of the city and their own heads to be cut off4 ,in response to this terrible message1 ,eustache de ,saint-,pierre and five of his fellow-citizens1 taking counsel with the notables of the place1 at once rose to go to the king's camp4 ,they set forth immediately1 escorted on their way by the hunger-stricken multitude1 weeping and groaning over their sacrifice and adoring them with pity4 ,this was the vision which from that time on took possession of ,rodin1 dominating him and never leaving him4 ,but it was not an isolated person detached from his environment that he saw3 it was the six martyrs just as they appeared in history1 just as they were in life4 ,in his thought he followed this band of heroes marching to the sacrifice in the midst of the weeping city4 ,he could not bring himself to separate them either from their whole number or from their tragic surroundings4 ,therefore1 in accordance with the genius of his theme1 that is to say1 with historic truth1 he would make all six of them1 and he would insist that they should be set up in the midst of the city1 among the old houses1 where they would continue to live their sublime life in the heart of the very town that they had saved4 ,for the price of one statue1 therefore1 ,rodin set out to execute six4 ,he rented a vast atelier in the rue des ,fourneaux1 in the ,vaugirard ,quarter4 ,he worked unceasingly4 ,to keep this enormous group in good condition1 to maintain the proper temperature1 he moistened the clay morning and evening1 having as his garon d'atelier no one but his devoted wife1 who had become thoroughly experienced in these matters4 ,despite all1 accidents would happen3 the clay would give way1 an arm1 modeled with his habitual exactitude1 would fall and have to be laboriously repaired2 but the fervent modeler never hesitated in his work1 and on the day when he exhibited ,the ,burghers of ,calais at the house of ,georges ,petit the praise and the homage that sprang forth from the soul of all true artists recompensed him magnificently1 bringing him the intoxicating caress of dawning glory4 ,they spoke1 in connection with the ,burghers1 of the image-makers of our cathedrals2 they spoke of the statues of ,claus ,sluters1 of the famous statues of the ,well of ,moses at ,dijon4 ,really1 in the ,calais monument ,rodin is more than ever under the ,gothic influence in subject1 in thought1 and in execution4 ,the equilibrium of the figures composing the group is the same as that of the ,saint ,john the ,baptist4 ,the long shifts that cover the naked bodies of his heroes recall those draperies in vertical folds dear to the ,middle ,ages4 ,the very modeling of the figures and of the faces increases this effect of elongation caused by the fall of the fabric2 the modeling in large planes1 the vigorous accents1 the simple and pathetic movements are certainly those of the sort that out-of-door sculpture calls for4 ,in twenty years ,rodin had made innumerable visits to the ,gothic monuments4 ,here was the result of his tours of ,france4 ,he had made them in order to recapture the traditions of art from the hands of our wonderful old stone-cutters1 and his heart must have throbbed with joy when he was told that in his own hands that tradition had suffered no loss4 ,naturally1 the appearance of ,the ,burghers of ,calais1 even that1 could not fail to have its share of comic anecdote1 that bitter and painful humor that marks the adventures of genius in its struggle with vulgarity4 ,let us not complain too much4 ,the contrast between these adventures and the proud way of life of a great man1 the regularity of his hours of toil--it is this that creates opposition1 movement1 life4 ,the elect soul feels a savage joy in these blows which shake it like a tree tormented by brutal hands1 a tree aware of the vigor of its resistance and its ever-increasing tenacity4 ,the municipality of ,calais1 hearing that there were to be six statues instead of the one that had been ordered1 took umbrage1 and deliberated for two years4 ,the heroic group waited1 and1 as it encumbered ,rodin's atelier1 where other works were going forward1 it was placed in a stable4 ,at last the worthy town authorities decided to assign it a site4 ,naturally1 the site in question was exactly opposed to the ideas of the master--ideas that had been thought out and that were perfectly logical1 based on the laws of decorative art and still more determined by that infallible criterion1 taste4 ,rodin desired that his monument should be in the center of the town2 they placed it on the edge of the sea4 ,he counted on emphasizing the tall stature of his figures by enshrining it in the narrow frame of the houses2 they placed it against a horizon without limits4 ,he requested that the group should be placed very low1 almost on the ground1 or else very high on an elevated pedestal1 like the ,colleoni at ,venice or the ,gattamelata at ,padua2 they placed it at a middle height1 thus diminishing the effect of its imposing proportions4 ,the lesson had to come from foreign lands4 ,the city of ,antwerp has erected1 in front of its museum of fine arts1 two of the statues of the celebrated group1 and ,england1 which does things splendidly when it is a question of embellishing its cities or of rendering homage to the valor of its adversaries1 has erected the effigies of the six heroes of ,calais on one of the most beautiful sites in ,london1 before the ,palace of ,westminster4 99 99 99 99 99 ,by this time the reader is sufficiently familiar with the technic of ,rodin for it to be unnecessary to analyze here in detail this well-known work4 ,what must not be forgotten is that the sculptor had first modeled these six powerful bodies entirely in the nude4 ,this is his invariable method when he executes draped figures4 ,one realizes this1 even without knowing it1 before these arms1 these hands1 these legs1 and these feet constructed with that rigorous conscience which1 with the true artist1 is at once a necessity and a delight2 one divines the slope of the torsos bent with grief or rigid in the pride of sacrifice4 ,yes1 they are beautiful1 the master said to me one day when ,i was talking with him4 ,the shirt1 the blouse are garments the folds of which yield simple planes and effects that1 rightly rendered1 are those of true sculpture4 ,but there is something better still1 and that is sackcloth4 ,if ,i had clothed my ',burghers of ,calais' in sackcloth1 they would certainly be more beautiful4 ,i did not dare to4 ,some one else will do this and will succeed4 ,it is sufficient to express an idea and leave it to its destiny4 ,we ought to love in ,rodin this intellectual vigor that skirts the borders of the impossible4 ,in our age1 consumed with indecision1 it is a priceless aid1 a resting-place1 a point d'appui from which one starts forth afresh1 fortified1 one's nerves recharged with vitality1 to the conquest of one's share of knowledge or of talent4 ,this accounts in part for the irresistible influence which for thirty years the illustrious sculptor has exercised over the minds of artists4 ,one feels that this fount of strength condensed in his virile soul comes from something deeper than his personality alone2 it comes from the very depths of the national reserves4 ,the conviction1 the energy of ,rodin are those of the workman who knows his trade1 of the laborer impassioned by the culture of his own soil4 ,this endurance is the foundation of the ,french temperament2 the events happening now have proved it4 ,when a country possesses such individualities through the course of history1 the roads of the future open out before it brilliant with hope despite passing shadows1 and promise the highest surprises4 ,illustration3 ,,danaiade4 ,,rodin ,,and ,,victor ,,hugo ,the creation of ,the ,burghers of ,calais marks the middle of a period of truly prodigious fecundity4 ,from #ahhi to #ahif1 monuments1 busts1 statues1 and groups of every kind issue without interruption from the ateliers of ,rodin1 and the more numerous the works his hand models1 the more it grasps the contexture of the work1 the more it refines the execution4 ,orders for portraits pour in2 collectors hold it an honor to possess a marble1 a bronze1 signed with a name which every day increases in celebrity4 ,in #ahhh comes that jewel of marble1 the bust of ,madame ,morla ,vicuha1 and the monument to ,claude ,vicuha1 president of the ,republic of ,chile2 in #ahhi1 the bronze portrait of ,dalou1 the statue of ,bastien-,lepage1 that admirable head ,la ,pense1 acquired by the ,muse du ,luxembourg4 ,in #ahij comes the portrait of ,mme4 ,russell1 a bust in silver1 of noble simplicity1 which one would say was the head of a ,roman matron1 with the luminous veil upon her thoughtful forehead and the flower of good-will blossoming upon her delicately swelling mouth4 ,then there is ,the ,danad1 ,la vielle ,heaulmire1 and a great study1 a long woman's torso1 ,la ,terre4 ,in #ahib1 not to mention delightful minor works like ,the ,young ,mother and ,brother and ,sister1 appear two masterpieces3 the bust of ,puvis de ,chavannes and that of ,henri ,rochefort1 magnificent contrasts in construction and execution4 ,the painter-gentleman carries his haughty head like an old leaguer chief1 and the pamphleteer bends over the destinies of ,france1 which for fifty years he has defended day in1 day out1 with his flaming pen1 an enormous brow--a brow like a spherical vault that seems to contain a world4 ,you have made it grander1 you have made it more beautiful than nature1 some one said to ,rodin one day4 ,one can never do anything so beautiful as nature1 he replied4 ,in this same year1 #ahib1 he exhibited the charming monument to ,claude ,lorrain1 in which he recaptured the spirit of the eighteenth century4 ,it was the town of ,nancy that ordered this figure of its painter and has placed it in its vast park4 ,one cannot mention everything4 ,forms and attitudes renew themselves1 but not the terms that express them4 ,to measure the abundance of this work one should read the catalogue1 till now incomplete1--for it has been impossible to compile one that was not so1--of the master's works2 only so can we realize how almost dizzily his productiveness became accelerated with the epoch of his maturity4 ,mythological subjects dominate it1 but are always treated with a profoundly human understanding of the poetry and the grace of the form in which they achieve an aspect delightfully new4 ,such titles as ,venus and ,adonis1 ,the ,education of ,achilles1 ,the ,death of ,alcestis1 ,cupid and ,psyche1 ,the ,faun and the ,fountain1 ,pygmalion and ,galatea1 ,rodin inscribed only as an afterthought on the pedestals of his groups4 ,they are not the result of a necessary preliminary conception2 it is his figures themselves that breathe them1 his models unconsciously repeated the combinations of movement and gesture through which are translated the eternal sentiments immortalized by the legends of paganism4 ,so true is this that ,rodin obtained his charming groups by assembling in harmony with his researches the animated little figures that encumbered the windows of his ateliers4 ,he amused himself by uniting them1 by marrying their attitudes2 with these little figures1 these puppets of genius1 he composed actual little intimate dramas or idylls revived from the antique4 ,in the hollow of a ,greek bowl he places a little nude body1 and one would say that it is the soul of the wave that conceals itself against the side of the vase4 ,he enlaces three feminine figures1 upright1 beside the body of a recumbent youth3 they are the ,graces1 who come to bend over the dying poet4 ,thus he perpetuates the fantasy of things through that of his own taste2 he eternalizes the most delicious caprices of nature4 99 99 99 99 99 ,we come now to the year #ahif and the appearance of the ,monument to ,victor ,hugo4 ,this monument had been ordered for the ,panthon4 ,rodin1 who had modeled in #ahhe the bust of the singer of the ,lgende des ,sicles1 was doubly1 on this account1 entitled to the order4 ,in the midst of what difficulties had he achieved that bust6 ,it required all his patience1 all the tenacity of a ,lorrainese peasant1 to accomplish it4 ,when he had begged the honor of reproducing those illustrious features1 the poet1 already nearing his end1 tired out with having posed for mediocre plaster-daubers and unaware of the superiority of his new sculptor1 consented to pose only for two hours4 ,all the same1 he authorized ,rodin to come as often as necessary and make as many sketches as he needed while he1 ,hugo1 worked or received his friends4 ,rodin accepted these difficult conditions4 ,was it not ,victor ,hugo with whom he was dealing1 the father of modern poetry8 ,and then what a spectacle for his artist's eyes1 that of the great man bending over his papers that ,jupiter-like head of his in which thought1 in gestation1 swelled the sublime brow with a tumult of ideas6 ,when he talked1 what majesty in this face of a lion in repose6 ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,bust ,,of ,,victor ,,hugo4 ,the sculptor placed a stool1 some clay1 some tools in the corner of a gallery2 it was there that he worked out the general form of the bust4 ,then1 studying his wonderful model for months1 he made hundreds of sketches of him1 under every aspect2 at times1 having used up the pages of his note-books1 he even covered entire blocks of cigarette paper with rapid notes and jottings4 ,then he transferred this record of observations to his clay4 ,working in this manner1 it took him three months to finish his bust4 ,he exhibited it1 in bronze1 at the ,salon of #ahhd4 ,one cannot fail to admire the volumes1 the beautiful mass of the whole1 even though it does not show that brilliant touch of genius which strikes us before the bust of ,jean-,paul ,laurens or that of ,rochefort2 but later1 relying upon this document and upon his own special memory of forms in action1 ,rodin was to restore for us this moving head in his monument of the poet1 which was to be one of his very loftiest works4 ,this same bust of ,victor ,hugo was to rupture the friendship between ,rodin and ,jules ,dalou--,dalou of whom he sent to the same ,salon of #ahhd1 by a curious coincidence1 an incomparable bust that puts one in mind of those of ,donatello4 ,the family of ,victor ,hugo did not like ,rodin's portrait of the master4 ,when the poet died 7#ahhe71 it was ,dalou whom they called to execute a death-mask of the features of the great poet4 ,filled with ambition and eager for official glory1 ,dalou had the weakness to accept1 forgetting what he owed to ,rodin1 not even informing him1 in fact4 ,deeply hurt1 the latter withdrew his affection for his old friend4 ,my father1 saddened by this occurrence1 which destroyed so rare and noble a friendship1 brought the two friends together at his table in the hope of reconciling them2 but nothing could melt the wall of ice that had fallen between these dissevered hearts4 ,ten years afterward a magnificent compensation was offered to ,rodin4 ,from him was ordered the monument of the poet for the ,panthon4 ,he represented him nude1 under the folds of a vast cloak1 and seated on a rock1 as if by the seashore1 with his wonderful head bowed in an attitude of meditation1 just as ,rodin had often contemplated it in priceless hours4 ,this manner of representing a great man1 quite simply revived from the ,renaissance and the eighteenth century1 shocked to the last degree the administrative staff of the department of fine arts4 ,why this nude personage1 instead of a quite respectable ,victor ,hugo in the frock-coat of an academician8 ,why not one of those statues that peacefully occupy some corner of a public square without attracting any one's attention1 one of those statues that are not made to be looked at8 ,as for this poet1 who resembled a ,homer1 a hero or a demigod1 this grand body1 outrageously beautiful and simple1 is it not scandalous in the midst of the conformity of bourgeois civilization1 enslaved by the ugliness of fashion1 whose perverted taste can no longer recognize the beauty of the nude8 ,the painter ,david used to say of his epoch1 in which1 however1 the mode of dress was less displeasing than it is to-day1 ,what misery to be obliged to spend one's life in fashioning coats and shoes6 ,rodin1 like ,david1 and like ,phidias1 preferred the trade of the sculptor to that of the tailor4 ,such an uproar arose that he had to withdraw the model of his monument and promise another4 ,but everything comes with time1 even the best3 the fortunes of politics brought to the ministry of fine arts an intelligent and cultivated director1 the dramatic critic ,gustave ,larroumet4 ,delighted with ,rodin's scheme1 the magnificent symbolization of ,french poetry1 he confirmed the order for the audacious monument1 no longer for the ,panthon1 but for the ,luxembourg ,gardens2 and1 not satisfied with this reparation1 charged the master with the additional execution of another monument destined for the ,panthon4 ,one can imagine the anger in certain circles--two orders on the same subject to the same sculptor6 ,what an aberration6 ,what madness6 ,but the decision was made and well made4 ,rodin took six years to perfect his first ,victor ,hugo2 the marble was not exhibited until #aija4 ,the vigor of the work and the sovereign gesture by which the bard of contemplation seems to impose silence upon the voice of nature in order that the voices struggling within himself1 in the depths of his genius1 may be the better heard1 the suppleness of the material1 of this ,carrara marble1 with its warm reflections1 as if melted under the pressure of a fiery hand1 obstinately make one think of ,michelangelo2 one has the disturbing sensation1 not of an imitation1 but of a resurrection of the plastic power reincarnated out of nature1 of a new spring of sap from the same vein of genius4 ,the original plan allowed1 in addition1 for two allegorical figures1 ,the ,inner ,voice and ,the ,tragic ,muse1 which1 placed beside the poet1 should breathe into him thought and inspiration4 ,but1 very beautiful in themselves1 they gave to the monument1 once they were executed and placed1 an anecdotal quality that diminished its force2 they weakened the grandeur of the ,olympian gesture and destroyed that feeling of solitude inseparable from such a personality as that of the great man3 an island in the midst of the flood of the human multitude1 genius itself is aware of its own splendid isolation4 ,illustration3 ,,monument ,,to ,,victor ,,hugo4 ,this is what ,i ventured to express one day to the master1 not without hesitation4 ,nothing equals the simplicity of ,rodin face to face with what he knows is sincere and animated by a true love of art4 ,he listened1 gazed at his work1 and1 turning toward me1 gave me a joyous glance4 ,you are right1 he replied1 with a spontaneity that put my sense of responsibility on its mettle4 ,i sacrificed to the mania of the age1 which is to overload things4 ,my modeling is there1 the eloquence of the gesture also4 ,the rest would only spoil the essential things4 ,it is a stroke of genius4 ,i am going to write to the under-secretary of state that my monument is ready4 ,in lieu of the two figures that were to have accompanied the statue of ,victor ,hugo1 to indemnify the ,government ,rodin gave to the ,muse du ,luxembourg a series of his most beautiful busts in bronze1 including the head of the poet4 ,as for the marble1 it was in the garden of the ,palais ,royal that it was finally erected2 but this site is not of the happiest3 a large lawn separates the spectator from the monument2 one sees it from the wrong angle1 and this destroys the equilibrium of its planes4 ,moreover1 in our damp climate marble quickly loses the charm of its purity and transparency2 streaks of brown already stain and deface that of the ,victor ,hugo4 ,let us hope that the organizers of the ,muse ,rodin will find it possible to place it in one of the rooms of the future museum1 substituting for it a bronze upon which the inclemencies of the atmosphere will serve to produce a beautiful patina4 ,,the ,,statue ,,of ,,balzac 7#ahih7 ,this is the most famous and the least known of ,rodin's works4 ,newspaper controversies have made it famous throughout the whole world2 but it has1 nevertheless1 made only one brief appearance in public1 in #ahih1 at the ,salon of the ,socit ,nationale des ,beaux ,arts4 ,it marks at the same time a vital stage in the career of the master and the most poignant period of his life as a fighter4 ,it is the point of equilibrium in the perpetual balancing of the art of ,rodin between the several great traditions4 ,it was the object of a famous quarrel1 in which the glory of the sculptor1 momentarily all but eclipsed by ridicule1 recovered itself1 nevertheless1 and rose higher than ever4 ,what strikes one in this statue1 at first sight1 is its strange block-like aspect1 its monolithic simplicity4 ,people say quite rightly that it looks like a stone love1 a druidic monument4 ,ever since ,the ,burghers of ,calais1 one of the figures of which at least1 that of the man with the key1 already suggests the idea of a monolith1 ,rodin had been going further and further in his stubborn search for the simplification of planes1 and here he finally achieved his object4 ,in order to obtain it1 he went back all the way to the primitive ,gothic and even to the archaic ,greek1 which likewise preserves in the general outline of its statues the rigid aspect of those statues of wood that had preceded it4 ,in all these early epochs of art one finds the form of the tree trunk in which their sculpture was cut4 ,one of the examples of this art that had most forcibly impressed ,rodin was the statue of ,hera of ,samothrace in the ,louvre4 ,the beauty of this figure1 denuded of all foreign artifice in the exact research for masses1 the public little comprehends2 but the sculptor perceives its justness1 the power of its relief and its modeling1 disconcerting in these primitive artists1 qualities that are concealed under the extreme simplicity of its appearance4 ,in this magnificent ,hera it is as if one saw the rotundities of woman coming to birth and undergoing in the tree1 the vegetal column1 one of those metamorphoses familiar in the fables of paganism4 ,the ,balzac1 with its athletic body1 veiled in a spread robe that envelopes it1 does not it also resemble a powerful tree trunk from the summit of which looks down1 like a solitary1 monstrous flower1 the head of the inspired writer8 ,this statue had been ordered by the ,socit des ,gens de ,lettres1 and was intended for one of the public squares of ,paris4 ,after ,victor ,hugo1 ,balzac4 ,after the giant of modern poetry1 the giant of the novel4 ,what a redoutable honor1 but also what a homage to the talent of the great sculptor6 ,what joy for artists in the association of these two names1 ,balzac and ,rodin6 ,on the other hand1 how many adversaries rejoiced in the hope of seeing ,rodin come to grief with this task1 fraught not less with peril than with glory6 ,he did not conceal from himself that the statue of ,balzac would be a severe problem to solve4 ,we possess no authentic bust of the creator of the ,comdie ,humaine1 not even a death-mask giving the exact measure of the cranial bones and hence the actual planes4 ,we know through his contemporaries that the author was fat and short4 ,fat and short--that is far from facilitating the composition of a work of decorative art4 ,but1 more precious than mediocre portraits1 there is a famous page about him by ,lamartine1 another great genius4 ,balzac1 he says1 was the figure of an element 444 stout1 thick-set1 square at the base and at the shoulders1 ample1 much as ,mirabeau was2 but not heavy in any way2 he had so much soul that it carried him lightly4 ,illustration3 ,,statue ,,of ,,balzac4 ,it was this essence that he set out to render4 ,a frank artist takes no liberties with reality4 ,it alone gives him force2 the majesty of the true is alone durable4 ,nature1 which dowered ,balzac with one of the most prodigious intellects known to us1 dowered him at the same time1 to support this intellect1 with the physical breadth of a colossus4 ,to have altered anything that went to make up the harmony of the structure would have been to commit a grave error2 it would have been to denaturalize the divine work4 ,on the other hand1 above this mass of flesh it was necessary to make that marvelous spirit hover1 that sparkling spirit1 that myriad-faceted spirit of the greatest of novelists4 ,rodin knows by experience that nature repeats herself4 ,has not a humorist said3 ,it is useless to make a bust of you2 it exists already4 ,you have only to look for it in the museums8 ,he set out to find a man who resembled ,balzac1 going all the way to ,touraine1 the writer's native province1 a hundred times depicted by him in his books4 ,the family of ,balzac was originally from ,languedoc1 but that made no difference2 the intuition of a great artist is always rewarded4 ,rodin found at ,tours the model he desired2 he was a young countryman1 a carter1 who resembled his hero to an almost miraculous degree4 ,of him he made a very animated bust1 in which one sees the full face1 the nose1 concave and large at the end1 but voluptuous and full of spirit1 the rounded chin1 the vast shoulders of the master of the ,comdie ,humaine4 ,there was lacking1 however1 the flame of thought that spiritualized and rendered buoyant this mass of human substance4 ,rodin modified the expression1 illuminating the physiognomy with delicacy and frank gaiety4 ,it is ,balzac at twenty-five1 a peasant ,balzac1 breathing at every pore youth1 self-confidence1 and the love of life4 ,not yet is it the man tormented by fate1 the tragic visionary of the ,comdie ,humaine1 the slave of his work who in twenty years wrote fifty novels1 staged a thousand characters1 and gave life to an entire society4 ,it is not the man who has suffered1 thought1 meditated1 with all the power of one of the most extraordinary organisms known to us2 it has not the appearance of a phenomenon4 ,after this ,rodin skilfully altered these features2 he gave them the scars of the interior effort1 he made them soft and hollowed them1 he made them old and grave4 ,in a few weeks he did the work that nature had taken years to accomplish4 ,he finished by creating that ,titan's mask which we know1 that head as round as a bullet and1 like a bullet1 terrible in its concentrated force4 ,later he augmented this2 that is to say1 he doubled its proportions3 and this head1 almost frightening in its expression1 recalls the masks which the ,greek tragedians wore when they played in the open air4 ,finally he modeled the body of the colossus1 making it entirely nude1 with arms crossed1 braced against the earth with the tension of the whole will1 evoking the idea of some prodigious birth4 ,then he draped this heavy body in the monk's robe in which the writer used to envelope himself for work and the straight folds of which enwrapped him like the sheath of a mummy1 offering to the sight nothing but the tumultuous head--the head ravaged by intelligence and savage energy4 ,rodin felt almost frightened by his own work4 ,he kept it a long time before turning it over to the cast-makers4 ,he had worked it out in his atelier1 but it was destined for the open air4 ,how would it appear in broad daylight8 ,the gestation of this work was accompanied by a thousand miseries4 ,the committee of the ,socit des ,gens de ,lettres incessantly demanded the ,balzac2 they were dumfounded before the extraordinary figure that was shown to them1 before this white phantom the conception of which was so utterly the reverse of all current ideas4 ,not knowing what to say1 they insisted that it should be modified and urged haste upon ,rodin1 whose extraordinary dexterity became slowness itself when it was a question of putting the final touches upon a great work4 ,the press began to take note of the affair4 ,he himself became troubled and nervous4 ,with what transports would he have left it1 fled1 gone away to rest and to dream of something else for a few weeks6 ,the time of the ,salon was approaching4 ,quite suddenly he made his decision1 gave the clay to be cast1 and ordered an enlargement4 ,the statue was brought back to him at the ,dpt des ,marbres1 in the rue de l',universit2 it was twice as large as the original model4 ,it was placed in the garden that stretched out in front of the studio4 ,he examined it as it rose against the depths of the open sky and the bright spring light4 ,it was as if he had never seen it1 and suddenly his mind was illuminated4 ,the work was grand1 simple1 strong2 the essential modeling was there1 and the details they had exhorted him to add would only have diminished its unsurpassable unity4 ,rodin had made up his mind4 ,he sent his ,balzac to the ,salon4 ,immediately there was war4 ,the press1 worked upon by the committee of the ,socit des ,gens de ,lettres1 was unfavorable in advance4 ,on the day of the opening of the ,salon the word was passed around1 and the official art world s'esclaffe4 ,there was a crowd at the foot of the lofty image1 near which ,rodin took up his position1 calm according to his wont1 and talked quietly with his friends4 ,some1 a very few1 told him how they admired this work so proudly offered1 so strange in its banal surroundings4 ,the next day the press broke forth4 ,what an uproar6 ,everything went off at once3 the heavy artillery of the great newspapers scolded solemnly1 the light artillery crackled in the political sheets1 and the grape-shot of the minor papers spat their rage1 only too happy for so rich a prey to cut to pieces4 ,the ,institute1 as might have been foreseen1 fanned the conflagration4 ,the public1 excited1 in turn broke loose1 in the fury of ignorance stirred up against knowledge4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,head ,,of ,,balzac4 ,it became a case1 an affair1 the affaire de ,balzac4 ,the committee of the ,socit des ,gens de ,lettres mobilized2 by a vote of eleven to four it declared that it did not recognize the writer in the statue of ,m4 ,rodin4 ,the president of the same society1 the poet ,jean ,aicard1 refused the chance of immortality which this stupidity was to confer upon his colleagues and flung his resignation in their faces4 ,a group of members of the municipal council of ,paris decreed that it would be ridiculous to accord this block a place in one of the squares of the city4 ,for two months music-halls and caf-concerts vented every evening the wit of the gutter on the scandalous statue and its sculptor2 peddlers sold caricatures of it in plaster1 ,balzac being represented as a heap of snow or as a seal4 ,in short1 such was the event that it required nothing but the pen of ,aristophanes to note down the harmonies of this chorus of frogs4 ,the health of ,rodin suffered a reaction from his long effort and from this battle4 ,then1 too1 there are hours when the strongest are seized with nausea before the bad faith and the stupidity of people4 ,nervous1 his mind aching1 a prey to insomnia1 the master offered a melancholy spectacle1 that beautiful serenity of his destroyed and his working strength put in jeopardy4 ,for all that1 says ,m4 ,lon ,riotor1 who tells the story with eloquence1 ,rodin had a wonderful awakening4 ,all the young world of letters rose up to declare its sympathy with the vanquished in this new skirmish4 ,a number of painters and sculptors joined in4 ,and the protest that was circulated came back covered with signatures4 ,no1 ,rodin was not vanquished4 ,he retired for a moment from the mle to recover and to meditate in peace1 but without deviating by a single step from his line of conduct4 ,a collector offered to buy the ,balzac4 ,a group of intellectuals started a public subscription2 funds flowed in4 ,although he was not yet wealthy1 ,rodin courteously declined these offers1 and1 declaring that an artist1 like a woman1 has to guard his honor1 decided to withdraw his monument from the ,salon and not have it erected anywhere4 ,the epic statue was transported to ,meudon1 and placed in the garden of the villa4 ,in its loftiness it imposes itself against the sky1 against the hills1 against the trees that surround it1 with the quality of nature herself4 ,like a gigantic pole it triumphs in the open air4 ,it is specially on clear nights that its disturbing authority strikes the soul4 ,the great phantom appears then formidable in the extreme simplicity of its planes1 which1 as in strong architecture1 distribute over large spaces the masses of shadow and light4 ,the ,american painter ,steichen has passed nights in this enchanted garden in order to take of the ,balzac photographs that are more beautiful than engravings4 ,haughty1 with a ferocious majesty in the moonlight1 the master of the ,comdie ,humaine brings his soul face to face with nature2 he listens to its silence1 he sounds its mysteries1 he questions it in mute dialogue1 the like of which has not been heard since the colloquy of ,hamlet with the shade of his father4 ,for it is of ,hamlet1 of the most profound symbolization of the human spirit wrestling with the unknown1 that one dreams before this meditating ,balzac1 alone1 under the nocturnal light4 ,this is what ,rodin has known how to make out of that short1 thick-set man who was the author of the ,etudes ,philosophiques2 this is how he has lighted the fires of the intelligence on the mask of genius4 ,it is at the ,muse ,rodin that we shall rediscover this statue4 ,time will have progressed1 and ideas also4 ,when they see it anew1 how many people will be astounded at having formerly scoffed at the work and offended the master1 struck dumb and secretly humiliated at having thus contributed to the writing of the hundred thousandth chapter of that endless book1 the book of human stupidity4 ,,the ,,exposition ,,of #aijj--,,the ,,bas-,,reliefs ,,of ,,evian--,,rodin ,,and ,,the ,,war ,in #ahii1 ,rodin exhibited a large part of his work at ,brussels and in ,holland4 ,the effect produced upon artists and upon the cultivated portion of the public was such that he resolved to repeat this experiment at the ,universal ,exposition of ,paris4 ,it was foreordained that nothing should be easy for the great toiler1 that it would be necessary for him to conquer everything through effort and struggle4 ,the administration of the ,exposition1 which had granted innumerable requests for space addressed to it by the industrialists and business men of the whole world1 by bar-keepers1 itinerant booth-holders1 and managers of caf-concerts1 raised a thousand difficulties when it was a question of according a few feet of ground to the greatest of living sculptors4 ,it required all the insistence of his most devoted and powerful friends to gain his point4 ,rodin finally received the authorization to construct a pavilion not in the ,exposition itself1 but outside the grounds in the place de l',alma4 ,once again1 so much the better4 ,how much finer for a man of the lite to stand aside from the rout6 ,according to the master's plan1 there was erected a hall simple in appearance1 elegant1 reservedly in the ,louis ,,xvi style1 a veritable repose for the eye strained by the strident architecture of the great fair of #aijj4 ,there were assembled the people of his sculpture4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,studio ,,at ,,meudon4 ,once more ,rodin experienced an hour of trial1 a formidable hour4 ,if for the last dozen years he had left poverty behind1 he had not yet achieved wealth1 and it was a great risk to assume the expenses of his exhibition4 ,if these expenses were not covered by the entrance-fees and the sale of his sculpture1 how would he come out8 ,he would be forced to a kind of transaction that he had always spurned1 he would have to turn over all or part of his work to the art dealers4 ,these groups1 these busts1 so painstakingly cast1 or cut in the most beautiful marble by excellent workmen1 and often by renowned sculptors1 once the dealers had acquired rights in them1 would they not be duplicated in a quantity of replicas of mediocre workmanship or1 worse1 reproduced by undiscriminating stone-cutters1 who would disfigure the modeling and the character8 ,the idea was odious to the scrupulous sculptor4 ,he had reached the age of sixty1 and if he did not show it1 thanks to the vigor of his temperament and the persistent youth that goes with great minds1 it was not less painful for him to put his apprehensions to the test4 ,too dignified1 too proud1 to give way to vain lamentations1 he made only the most reserved references to his ordeal4 ,the success of the exhibition remained uncertain during the first weeks3 many people hoped it would be a failure4 ,at the end of a month or two1 visitors from abroad1 to whom thanks be given1 began to pour in2 the principal museums of ,europe wished to possess some important figure of ,rodin's4 ,soon the number of purchasers increased day by day1 and ,i do not have to mention here how many art-lovers from the ,united ,states decided to enrich their collections with some rare piece signed by the master4 ,in short1 during the latter months ,rodin had the joy of perceiving that he could remain the sole possessor of his work1 that nothing could now separate him from his dear family of bronze and marble4 ,it was happiness for him2 it signalized also the great glory that comes with outstretched wing1 bringing fortune with it4 ,the pretty pavilion in the place de l',alma was transported and rerected in the garden at ,meudon1 and he filled it with masterpieces4 ,since then the whole world of art and literature and that portion of the political world that esteems art has passed through it4 ,the ,french aristocracy and that of ,england1 the most eminent personages of the two ,americas1 have been eager to visit it4 ,one receives in it an impression at once grand and touching1 giving one the highest idea of the supremacy of intellectual valor above the other goods of this world when one perceives the contrast of these artistic treasures with the altogether modest little house1 almost bare1 attended by a single servant1 where ,rodin continues1 in the midst of the luxury of an epoch intoxicated with pleasures1 to maintain the simplicity of his life in the sober company of his old single-spirited1 faithful-hearted wife4 ,this impression ,i never felt more vividly than on the occasion of the visit of the late ,king of ,england4 ,edward ,,vii1 like others1 had conceived the desire to render this homage to ,french art4 ,the day before1 when ,i encountered the master in ,paris1 he said to me1 without further explanation1 ,come and have a look at the studio4 ,it was a beautiful afternoon in ,may4 ,when ,i entered the pavilion1 ,i could not restrain a cry of admiration4 ,marbles1 nothing but marbles1 of a dazzling whiteness6 ,he had brought together all that he possessed1 all those that his friends and the purchasers of his work had consented to lend him for the occasion1 and one would have said that it was these groups of young1 enlaced bodies1 these busts of women1 with their transparent1 rosy flesh1 that gave forth the light with which the apartment was filled4 ,it was a unique vision1 a vision which1 in its purity and its unity1 surpassed in delicate splendor that of the most celebrated collections1 with all their accumulation of pictures1 tapestries1 bronze1 and jewels4 ,i wondered in silence2 ,i wondered at the sure taste of the artist1 but ,i wondered also at his will3 everything of him was there4 ,who can deny that it was necessary for him to put pressure on himself to decide on such a choice1 to sacrifice the bronzes1 the sketches1 the terra cottas1 and many charming pieces8 ,nothing but marble1 the kingdom of marble1 but also that of life2 for the sumptuous material trembled and palpitated under the play of the light that entered through the bay-windows of the atelier1 bringing with it the soft brilliance of the season4 ,since the ,exposition of #aijj1 ,rodin's reputation has increased steadily in ,france and abroad4 ,england and ,italy have organized triumphal receptions for him of a sort reserved hitherto for the most illustrious men of state4 ,the artists of ,london have acclaimed him1 and have charged him1 on the death of ,whistler1 with the presidency of the ,international ,society of ,painters1 ,sculptors1 and ,engravers4 ,oxford ,university has given him a doctorate4 ,the municipality of ,rome has greeted him with special homage at the capitol2 the court of ,greece1 having invited him1 awaits his visit2 at ,prague1 where he was received by the ,society of ,young ,czech ,artists1 they accorded him royal honors1 the public unharnessing the horses from his carriage and applauding at the same time the personal genius of this great ,frenchman and the free ideas of his country4 ,without altering in any way his life of labor1 which these tributes have at times slightly interfered with1 he has permitted himself only one luxury as the result of his fortune--a collection of antiques4 ,this he has formed with passion4 ,it is1 once more1 for purposes of study1 and what a study1 to possess a few of these sublime fragments1 to feel them and handle them under all aspects of light6 ,rodin has placed a certain number of them in his garden1 arranging them among the trees1 among the shrubs2 he has placed them on the fresh grass1 where they seem to live in another and a happier way than in the rooms of museums4 ,at a stroke the little garden at ,meudon1 with its pedestals1 its statues1 with its grove where a charming little marble1 the ,sleeping ,cupid1 reposes1 has become like the villa of a ,roman citizen of the time of ,augustus4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the art of ,rodin has in a certain measure shown the effect of these happy events4 ,during these latter years he has grown calm2 he displays a serenity of spirit and a self-possession that increases day by day4 ,but if the struggle in his composition has been tranquilized1 his workmanship has grown freer4 ,the sculptor's effort concentrates itself now in the search for a modeling ever more ample and suppler1 which with him constitutes a new and decisive manner4 ,it is to this that we owe those exquisite marbles1 ,psyche ,bearing the ,lamp1 ,benedictions1 ,the ,young ,girl and the ,two ,genii1 ,romeo and ,juliet1 ,the ,fall of ,icarus4 ,this has been the epoch also of the busts of ,mrs4 ,simpson and the proud and handsome ,george ,wyndham1 the ,english statesman4 ,it is the epoch1 finally1 of the ,monument to ,president ,sarmiento1 which offers at the same time1 in happy opposition1 the two most recent and most characteristic methods of ,rodin4 ,the bronze statue of the great ,argentine statesman has an aspect at once romantic and realistic that recalls that of ,the ,burghers of ,calais1 and the marble pedestal that supports it1 a vanquishing ,apollo emerging from the clouds all luminous with youth and glory1 belongs to the latest period4 ,of this monument1 ordered by the city of ,buenos ,aires1 ,france does not possess a replica1 though the model has been preserved4 ,the ,muse ,rodin will soon contain a duplicate4 ,from #aija to #aijf there was an uninterrupted creation of figures and of portraits1 among them the busts of ,sir ,howard ,walden1 ,berthelot1 ,gustave ,geffroy1 ,mme4 ,hunter1 and ,bernard ,shaw4 ,one must add the myriad drawings that ,rodin has never ceased to execute4 ,the will to sustain his eye and his hand instead of permitting them to become weakened with age has become a passion with him4 ,he draws as a writer thinks4 ,he thinks pencil in hand2 his drawings are aphorisms4 ,line-sketches1 stump-drawings1 water-colors in strange tints multiply themselves like the leaves of a tree and quite constitute alone a complete work4 ,the master has sold and given away quantities of them1 yet2 nevertheless1 the ,muse will contain more than three thousand4 ,i have been honored with the charge of counting them over and classifying them4 ,after days of this work one has a sensation of dazzlement1 as ,i have discovered1 before this accumulation of toil and beauty4 ,the most precious of these drawings are the most recent4 ,the study of light has been carried in these to the supreme nuances4 ,more and more ,rodin detests what is black1 what is hard1 what is dry4 ,he adores1 on the other hand1 that which is supple1 enveloped1 drowned in the light mist of the atmosphere4 ,he conceives everything through an almost imperceptible veil which softens the contours1 and which he discerns with an eye that grows every day more sensitive4 ,his sculpture has followed the same path4 ,in the greater part of his marbles he has pursued the effects of mass and of the ensemble in what concerns the volumes and the effects of gradation1 the study of the diminutions of light in what concerns the coloring4 ,the color that obtains uniquely in the art of shadow and light is the charm of beautiful sculpture4 ,rodin thus captures the variations with a competence that ravishes our eyes1 accustomed to the dryness of limits that are too distinct4 ,it is in the reliefs entitled ,the ,seasons that ,rodin has attained the apogee of this science of luminous modeling4 ,these works1 executed for ,la ,sapinire1 the estate of ,baron ,vitta at ,evian1 comprise three high-reliefs fashioned on a gate and two fountain basins1 or monumental garden urns4 ,they are cut in the stone of the ,estaillade1 a white stone the richness of grain and delicate golden tone of which make it unsurpassable for the interpretation of the human body4 ,they were exhibited for a short time in ,february1 #aije1 at the ,muse du ,luxembourg1 on the initiative of ,m4 ,lon ,bndite1 the very accomplished curator and critic of art1 who arranged them with perfect taste4 ,but far from being embraced and vindicated1 as he would be now by the present administration of fine arts1 ,rodin was still regarded as a revolutionist whose example could neither be followed nor trusted4 ,this was made quite plain to the audacious curator who decided quite by himself to exhibit the latest works of the master before their departure for ,evian4 ,after this coup d'tat he was for several years the victim of attacks from academic circles1 and underwent1 on the part of the ,government1 a sort of disgrace4 ,since then he has been brilliantly compensated1 and to-day he has been placed in charge of the installation of the ,muse ,rodin at the ,htel ,biron1 a great work in which ,i have the happiness to be his collaborator4 ,the decorative designs of the villa of ,evian adorn the vestibule of the home of ,baron ,vitta4 ,their subject1 says ,m4 ,bndite1 in an excellent notice which served as a catalogue for the ,exhibition of #aije1 if one wishes to speak of the motive that serves as their pretext1 is the most banal in the world4 ,one would find it difficult to count the number of times that it has served artists since antiquity4 ,so true it is that the commonest1 the most general1 the most seemingly worn-out themes are those in which the great artists find themselves the most at home4 ,without difficulty they renew them1 and stamp them unforgettably with their own peculiar mark4 ,rodin has calmly returned to the four seasons1 confident that they would bear without effort the impress of his personality and his time and that they would suffice to express his whole conception of beauty and of life4 ,rodin has figured ,the ,seasons under the aspect of four sleeping women4 ,their beautiful forms model themselves in the warm-tinted stone1 which itself seems animated with the reflections of the living flesh4 ,their mysterious sleep evokes the successive phases of the year4 ,now it marks the quietude of the earth1 full of the joy of yielding up her flowers and her fruits under the caresses of the sun1 now it is death revealing itself through a nature tormented with the heavy travail of generation4 ,in the ,spring it is a young body that lies voluptuously under a rose-bush the fragrant petals of which are mingled with her own flesh1 enveloping her in the dream of their perfume4 ,in the ,autumn1 the sleeper crouches close to the ground under the fruits and the vine-leaves1 oppressed by the intoxicating aroma4 ,the ,winter presses her chilled limbs closely against the cavities of the denuded earth1 while above her the roots of the trees enlace themselves intricately1 like sacred serpents charged with protecting her slumber4 ,the ,summer is a siesta upon the bosom of a ,nature en fte1 lulled by the golden sounds of harvest balanced on the breeze and the murmur of a spring that pours forth freshness and quietude4 ,but in what1 you ask1 resides the originality of these decorative commonplaces1 their brilliant1 unquestionable originality8 ,in the deliberate simplicity1 in the spirit of sobriety that has presided over their composition1 and1 above all1 in their execution4 ,it is through their execution that the sculptures of ,evian occupy a place apart in the work of ,rodin4 ,since the beautiful ,greek epoch1 stone has perhaps never assumed such a living sweetness under any human hand4 ,one might believe that it had not been touched by the steel of the chisel1 but caressed by a touch as delicate as it is firm1 molded like wax under the warmth of that hand4 ,these mellow figures do not detach themselves from the living framework in which they are set2 they stand out1 thanks to an insensible transition which leaves them enveloped1 in the reflections of the fair material2 they mass themselves under a sifted light1 among the flowers and the clusters of grapes4 ,with all this there is no insipidity4 ,under the skin one feels the plenitude of bodies rich with health1 harmonious organisms3 it is a force that has found its equilibrium1 a force relaxing in sweetness4 ,strangely enough1 when one seeks for antecedents to which it is possible to relate the reliefs of ,evian1 it is not in the domain of sculpture1 but in that of painting1 that one finds the terms of comparison4 ,the intense power1 carefully measured as it is1 of this vibrant modeling and this color drenched in sunlight we find again among the tenderest creations of ,correggio1 of ,rubens1 and1 closer to ourselves1 of ,renoir4 ,the two jardinires which complete this unique series represent groups of children mad with joy and with liberty2 in the one case playing and jostling one another in a field of wheat1 in the midst of the moving sea of spears1 and in the other1 spread out on the green summer grass1 rapturously holding up in their little arms1 already robust1 the grapes heavy with wine4 ,they are exquisite fantasies of movement1 of grace1 of mad life just beginning4 ,here1 too1 the flesh of these little laughing gods1 melting in the mass of ripe corn and tottering vines1 seems bathed in the clearness of a beautiful day1 full of air and of light4 ,these five works of the old age of the master might be entitled the ,poem of ,youth4 ,it is the privilege of genius to return1 in its decline1 to its point of departure1 to remount to the sources of life1 which remain ever the most intoxicating4 ,the sensations of infancy and adolescence solicit him with all their unforgettable seductiveness1 and he surrenders himself lovingly to the sweetness of this lost dream2 but it has cost him his entire1 existence to acquire the gift of translating it4 ,this search for the envelopment of forms fruitful of new effects is the decisive point in the career of ,rodin2 it is the supreme thought1 the end and aim of sixty years of toil and reflection4 ,therefore it is a very happy thing for ,french sculpture that ,rodin has been able to live long enough to realize completely this definitive conception of his art4 ,for from the summit attained by him other artists can spring forth afresh1 to renew once more perhaps the manifestations of the national genius4 ,the resources indicated by ,rodin have hardly been used hitherto2 to bring them fully into employment meanwhile there will perhaps be born a new school of sculpture4 ,illustration3 ,,bust ,,of ,,bernard ,,shaw4 ,what constitutes the originality of a great artist is that it is never isolated4 ,it belongs at once to the past1 to the present1 and to the future2 it is altogether a derivative and a root4 ,it springs from the past through atavism1 through study1 and through admiration for the masters2 it is of the present through contact with those of the artist's contemporaries who march at the same time with him along the road of discovery2 finally1 it influences the future by bequeathing to the generations that follow a new conception and new methods4 ,to-day we see clearly the sources from which have come the ultimate aspect of the talent of ,rodin4 ,they are the art of ,greece2 they are also certain marvels of ,gothic art in which miraculously reblossomed the ,hellenic suppleness and sweetness1 as if the springs of the ,greek genius had mysteriously coursed under the earth from ,athens to ,france1 bursting forth at last in the walls of our cathedrals2 then there are those unfinished marbles of ,michelangelo from which ,rodin derived the idea of vapor and flow in sculpture4 ,but other artists have arrived1 at about the same time1 at the same end1 or almost the same end1 by different paths4 ,among these are two of our great painters1 friends and comrades of ,rodin1 ,renoir and ,carrire4 ,does not this community of thought prove how profound is the vitality our country continues to possess in the domain of art8 ,we are less struck by this phenomenon than when we verify its effects in the past1 when we see them related and summed up in the history of art2 because we are not in a position to disengage it from our present life1 which is encumbered and complicated1 and to draw a conclusion from it4 ,and then1 too1 the present political rgime does little to signalize the great artists1 to muster them before the untutored admiration of the multitude1 to give value to the intellectual wealth of the country4 ,as a rule1 when a man of genius receives the homage he deserves1 it is when he is near his end1 if it is not after his death4 ,what public festivals have been given in ,france in this century to honor the glories of our artistic and scientific life1 ,victor ,hugo excepted8 ,when and how have we celebrated men like ,puvis de ,chavannes1 ,rodin1 ,renoir1 ,carrire1 ,claude ,monet1 ,besnard1 ,odilon ,redon1 and ,bartholom1 to mention only masters of the chisel and the brush8 ,occasionally they have been gratified by the boredom of an official banquet1 where they have been assigned a rank considerably lower than that of the least important politician1 and they are expected to be thankful when they have had bestowed upon them a few parchments and some bits of ribbon4 ,fortunately1 their joys are in another sphere1 whither no one who is not their equal can follow them4 ,in their ardent effort toward a similar end1 then1 it is necessary to associate ,rodin1 ,renoir1 and ,carrire4 ,all three1 for that matter1 have mutually admired and even influenced one another4 ,whether in the course of their work or in their conversations1 one cannot deny that the attempt of the ,impressionist ,school1 which consists precisely in not separating the being or the object from its atmosphere1 in prolonging its life in the life of that which envelopes it1 really succeeds only in the work of these masters4 ,they have1 if not recreated1 at least broadened the law of the distribution of shadow and of light in their intricate fusion4 ,certainly others had already manifested and realized similar ways of seeing things1 according to their various temperaments1 such men as ,fantin-,latour and ,henner in the study of the human figure and ,claude ,monet in landscape4 ,but1 except for ,monet1 no one affirms them with the authority of a ,rodin1 a ,carrire1 a ,renoir4 ,if ,carrire1 too early interrupted by a cruel death1 is a tragic1 a somber genius1 a genius of the ,gothic line1 which in him does not exclude great sweetness1 ,renoir and ,rodin1 in their maturity1 are happy geniuses1 masters of young beauty and of a serenity which art has scarcely known since ancient ,greece4 ,a like sentiment of serenity1 a like aspiration for harmonious unity1 therefore a closer contact with nature1 bring them together4 ,this serenity1 this aspiration for unity1 ,rodin and ,renoir have sought during their whole life1 and it is in the radiant works of their old age that it triumphs4 ,the genius of form and its union with the universal has been the master thought1 the plastic ideal1 which their fraternal minds have realized simultaneously by different methods4 ,with ,rodin a style begins1 said ,octave ,mirbeau twenty years ago4 ,the phrase stirred up a tempest4 ,all the time that has passed since then has been required to make people admit its truth4 ,the great writer might have said with more exactitude1 but with less force1 ,with ,rodin style itself has begun anew4 ,will it continue8 ,it has never entirely ceased to exist1 even if it has no longer the force of expansion with which1 from ,france and through her1 it spread through all ,europe4 ,will it begin again with its vigor as of old8 ,the question touches those problems raised by the events that are to-day overturning the world and also the profound modifications which the war will bring4 ,the master gives us his opinion on this matter in a few words1 circumspect and measured1 as he himself always is4 ,how could he be otherwise before the formidable unknown that still hides from us the next turn of destiny8 ,it is fitting1 then1 to leave him the last word on this subject4 ,fortunately his word has the warm ring of hope4 ,illustration3 ,a ,f,,te ,,given ,,in ,,honor ,,of ,,rodin ,,by ,,some ,,of ,,his ,,friends4 ,this hope he draws in a measure from himself1 from his own strength1 which is1 he feels1 a distinct outgrowth of the national strength1 of the unconquerable soul of our ancestors2 he draws it also from the consciousness of a task accomplished in the face of the hard blows of life2 and finally from the promise of the artistic youth of the country1 of that which belongs to his school4 ,for if with two or three exceptions he has not directly formed pupils1 his artistic principles1 his faith in the virtue of character and labor1 supported by the example of an unequaled body of work1 have given him innumerable disciples4 ,the lesson which he offers us and which will soon be offered to all at the museum in the ,htel ,biron1 will endure for centuries4 ,he says himself justly1 with pride and modesty1 that this museum will form a true home of education4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a few words more about this life which in the fecundity of its unexpected incidents remains for the attentive witness profoundly significant to the very end4 ,at the moment when the war of #aiad broke out1 the master was in his villa at ,meudon4 ,when the ,german armies approached ,paris1 he thought of leaving his home4 ,he had excited great admiration in the land of ,schiller and ,goethe1 he had been urged to take part in numerous expositions there2 but he had quite special reasons for knowing that his work1 were it to fall into their hands1 would not be spared by the soldiers from beyond the ,rhine4 ,overwhelmed by the terrifying surprise of the invasion1 he did not know where to go4 ,as he had many friends in ,england1 ,i offered to guide him there4 ,he therefore crossed the channel1 accompanied by his wife1 the companion of his good and evil days4 ,it was without a word of bitterness that he set out1 without expressing a regret for all that he was leaving behind him4 ,before the immensity of the national misfortune he seemed to have completely forgotten the menace that hung over the work of his whole life4 ,in the train that carried us by night to one of the ,french ports1 he said in his clear and always tranquil voice3 ,yes1 ,i am leaving much behind me4 ,it is the work of an entire life that will disappear1 perhaps4 ,that was all4 ,this attitude of an old exiled king inspired a respect free from all compassion4 ,the fate of his collection of antiques caused him more disquietude4 ,if they take them1 that is nothing2 they will still exist4 ,but if they break them6 ,they will have destroyed what is irreplaceable4 ,he did not wish to remain in ,london4 ,too many relationships would have hindered him from collecting himself and from preserving that dignity of solitude1 that reserve of a refugee which was proper to his situation4 ,he preferred to accompany us to a small country town1 where for six weeks he lived a modest life1 very retired1 interested only1 but passionately interested1 in the reading of ,english newspapers1 which we translated for him4 ,when we apprised him of the burning of ,rheims ,cathedral1 he replied with a laugh of incredulity4 ,for two days he refused to believe it4 ,it seemed to him an invention of the press designed to stir the public and increase recruiting4 ,at last1 convinced1 he said1 with inexpressible sadness3 ,the biblical times have come back again1 the great invasions of the ,medes and the ,persians4 ,has the world1 then1 reached the point where it deserves to be punished for the egotistical epicureanism in which it has slumbered8 ,after this he became absorbed in his own thoughts4 ,the ,battle of the ,marne1 in saving ,france and the world1 saved also that little temple of art1 the museum at ,meudon4 ,rodin1 on his return from ,england1 found it intact4 ,he took up his work again1 without a pause1 with that unalterable patience of his--that patience of the peasant that turns him back to his field the moment the enemy has passed4 ,he awaits there sadly the dawn of peace4 99 99 99 99 99 ,during the last months of the year #aiaf the question of the ,muse ,rodin1 broached five years ago1 became again a living one2 it was brought before the assembly4 ,certain of the master's adversaries who have not been calmed even by the events of the present affected a righteous indignation that the discussion of this question of art should at this moment have any place in the order of the day1 and they tried to make people believe that it was he who had chosen this tragic hour for debates of this kind4 ,let us repeat that five years ago ,rodin offered this gift to his country1 and that the delay in settling the matter is imputable solely to the procrastination of public affairs4 ,on the day ,i write these lines the creation of the ,muse ,rodin has been determined upon4 ,the two chambers have voted by a majority that proves that everything ,france contains in the way of cultivated intelligence desires to assure a home worthy of itself for the works of its greatest sculptor4 ,but before we have arrived there what other mishaps may not befall6 ,it is too soon to write the history of the ,muse ,rodin4 ,its adventure is not less singular than all the others that have marked this long career1 certain of which have been summed up in these pages4 ,the more forceful the personality1 the more it is in contradiction with the passions of the vulgar1 the more are the incidents that spring up in the contact of these two opposite elements4 ,it would require a whole volume to recount those that have punctuated the life of ,rodin during these later years4 ,despite the bitterness of the combat1 the master has had nothing to complain of and does not complain4 ,the outcome of his life-story is most beautiful1 and if this beauty already strikes us1 it is in the years to come that it will attain its full glory4 ,for if the gesture with which ,rodin offers to ,france his work and his dearest possessions is that of those who count in the annals of their country1 no one perhaps has ever received such a homage as that which the country has bestowed upon him in the manner of accepting his gift4 ,in the midst of war1 in the very hour when the country is suffering unheard of evils1 it has self-possession enough in the firmness of its indomitable soul to honor in a magnificent way the work of one of its sons--a work accomplished in time of peace4 ,turning its attention for an instant from the necessities of war1 from the front where it struggles1 suffers1 and dies1 it remains calm enough1 sufficiently sure of itself1 to offer to one of its heroes of toil1 and of the thought which its soldiers defend1 a testimony of its gratitude and admiration4 ,,the ,,end