,,auguste ,,rodin    ,,the ,,man--,,his 
,,ideas--,,his ,,works    ,,by          
,,camille ,,mauclair    ,,author ,,of   
,,the ,,great ,,french ,,painters ,,and 
,,the ,,evolution ,,of ,,french         
,,painting ,,from #ahcj  ,,the ,,french 
,,impressionists1 ,,etc4    ,,translated
 ,,by    ,,clementina ,,black    ,,with 
,,forty ,,plates    ,,new ,,york    ,e4 
,p4 ,,dutton  ,,co4    #aije            
,,to    ,,eug,,ne ,,carri,,re    ,,and  
,,roger ,,marx            ,,my ,,dear   
,,friends1        ,one of you is a great
 painter1 whose art and mind are        
fraternally akin to ,rodin's4 ,the other
 is the first ,french      ,art critic  
of our day1 and has nobly defended      
,rodin from the      outset4        ,for
 these reasons ,i felt it just and      
natural to dedicate      this book to   
both of you1 as a testimony of my       
affection1      given in the presence of
 the ,english public1 and under the     
auspices of a name that unites all three
 of us in the love      of beauty4      

,c4 ,m4          ,the photographs used  
as illustrations to the present volume  
are kindly  lent by ,m4 ,buloz1 art     
publisher of ,paris1 to whom we offer   
our sincere  thanks2 and for five of    
them--very remarkable in their effect   
7the  ,bellona1 the bust of ,hugo1 the  
two studies of torsos for the ,st4      
,john the ,baptist1 and the ,fair ,woman
 who was a ,helmet-maker7 we are        
indebted to ,messrs4 ,haweis and ,coles1
 to whom we are no less grateful4  ,the 
very faithful portrait of ,m4 ,rodin is 
the work of ,m4 ,eckert1 of  ,prague4   
,,preface      ,auguste ,rodin is       
certainly the contemporary ,french      
artist about whom  most has been        
written1 especially during the last ten 
years4 ,in  addition to innumerable     
articles in newspapers and reviews1     
several  books have been devoted to him4
 ,in offering the present work to the   
,english public ,i think it desirable to
 define exactly the aim which ,i        
propose to myself4 ,to begin with1 as my

 limits of size are somewhat  narrow1 ,i
 shall endeavour to condense into a     
restricted space as many  interesting   
details as ,i can give1 and to neglect  
nothing that may  contribute to a clear 
and precise presentment of ,rodin's     
personality  and work4 ,but such details
 have already been collected in some    
,french  works2 and if ,i were to       
content myself with presenting a new    
version of  them to the public ,i should
 have fulfilled but half of my task and 
my  duty4    ,the other half interests  
me far more keenly4 ,it seems to me that
  after having told the reader all that 
he ought to know about a man1 a  critic 
should then try to make a closer and    
deeper study of him--come  into contact 
with his ideas and his soul1 form an    
original judgment of  him1 and in short 
pass from the iconographie or biographic
 side to the  artistic and psychological
 side of his work4 ,i have tried1       
therefore1  to begin where my           
fellow-workers have left off and to say 

exactly what  they do not appear to me  
to have said4    ,the things written    
about ,rodin have been mainly literary  
compositions1  admiring and lyrical     
passages1 to which his favourite        
subjects have  served as texts4 ,much   
less has been heard about his personal  
ideas upon  the technical principles of 
sculpture1 or about his methods of work4
  ,the reason of this is primarily a    
fear of fatiguing the public1 to  whom  
the technicalities of an art--which     
involve dry explanations--are  less     
interesting than the results4 ,moreover1
 it must be owned that  few writers     
understand these questions4 ,in         
painting1 as in sculpture1  persons who 
do not practise these arts1 or who are  
not sufficiently  familiar with the     
brush and the chisel to understand the  
secrets of  works of art1 even if not to
 produce them1 generally prefer to avoid
  these dangerous aspects and keep to   
literary eulogy4 ,a work is  proclaimed 
great1 and the reader is adjured to     

believe it so1 but it is  infinitely    
more difficult to give him a clear1     
technical explanation of  why that work 
is great4 ,towards that quarter1        
therefore1 ,i have chosen  to turn1     
expecting to find there things to say   
that cannot be read  elsewhere4         
,rodin has not merely created beautiful 
statues4 ,he is an innovator1 7or       
rather a renovator71 in his methods of  
sculpture1 and that fact has  called    
down severe criticism on his head4 ,a   
long-standing friendship1  which ,i     
reckon as an honour1 has allowed me to  
have numerous  conversations with him   
upon the very basis of his art1 upon the
 manner  in which he practises it1 and  
upon his ideas in relation to his own   
work and to ancient and modern          
sculpture4 ,to these ideas the synthetic
  mind of ,rodin imparts so much vigour 
that they are the motives of his  work  
and cannot be separated from it4 ,my    
desire has been to present  them2 and   
instead of giving the public my own     

opinions1 in passages of  more or less  
brilliancy1 ,i wished to give those--so 
infinitely more  interesting--which have
 been uttered by the artist himself4    
,often1  in the course of this book1 ,i 
shall be merely the transcriber while   
he speaks1 and ,i think my readers will 
be grateful to me for that4             
,furthermore1 in regard to technical    
points and to the way in which  ,rodin  
conceives composition and modelling1 ,i 
may--and even1 in order to  inspire a   
just and necessary confidence1 ,i       
should--say that when ,rodin  exhibited 
his ,balzac his first innovation in his 
present manner1 he  had so much faith in
 my friendship and in my critical powers
 that he  entrusted to me the duty of   
explaining these delicate points in the 
,french reviews1#a and in a later       
lecture given at the ,paris ,exhibition 
of #aijj1 in the pavilion where he was  
exhibiting the whole of his  works4     
,these explanations1 in their main      
lines1 ,i have rewritten here4  ,in that

 portion ,i have endeavoured to do      
original critical work1 after  having   
satisfied the biographical demands of   
the reader4 ,i have avoided  discussions
 of too abstract an stheticism2 ,i      
believe that everything  can be said    
simply and in simple forms2 ,i believe  
also that even in the  most subtle      
questions of art there is an inner light
 that renders them  accessible to all   
whose minds are sincere1 and whose      
hearts are open to  emotion4 ,but ,i    
hope that1 in reading this book1 people 
will understand  very exactly why a     
statue by ,rodin is different from any  
other statue1  and why he made it so--a 
matter which too few writers have       
explained4  ,it is not so much my       
business to display abundantly the      
admiration  which ,i feel1 but which1 no
 more than my friendship1 shall induce  
me to  turn my essay into a hymn of     
praise4    ,rodin himself is the first  
man to be wearied by some praises1 and a
  just observation upon his methods     

gives him much more pleasure4 ,like     
every man of high intelligence1 he would
 rather be understood than  praised4    
,i believe myself to be filling a gap   
and satisfying a wish by giving  at the 
end of this volume some remarks upon the
 artists whom ,rodin has  influenced4   
,he is commonly treated as a force of   
nature2 an isolated  phenomenon2 people 
affect to consider him as a sort of     
immense  unconscious producer4 ,these   
are absurd hyperboles4 ,rodin is a man  
of  strong will1 logical1 and conscious 
of what he is doing1 and strongly       
linked to the ,greeks and to the ,gothic
 school2 he has very definite  theories1
 and several sculptors1 of whom ,rodin's
 extreme admirers do  not speak1        
preferring to leave their divinity alone
 in the clouds1 draw  their inspiration 
from his views4 ,i shall name some men  
to whom ,rodin  is much attached and in 
whose work he takes pleasure in         
following the  development of his       
principles1 for he knows what he wishes1

 whence  he comes and whither he goes1  
and has a horror of being thought a     
visionary--a phenomenon1 as people say  
in their indiscreet zeal2 on the        
contrary1 he holds himself to be a real 
classical artist1 whose example  cannot 
possibly be harmful4 ,i have thought it 
well1 also1 to conclude  by a summary of
 the principal works or essays dealing  
with ,rodin1 at  least in ,france2 and  
by a chronological list of his          
statues--that is to  say1 of course1 an 
approximate list1 for many fragments of 
this great  mass of work have been      
destroyed by ,rodin himself1 especially 
in the  earlier part of his career1     
before #ahgg4 ,no such list has ever    
been  made1 and it may add to the       
interest of the present volume2 ,i give 
it under the artist's authorisation1 for
 ,i made it in his house and  according 
to his advice4    ,it is bad to repeat  
oneself4 ,yet ,i am anxious to say once 
more--and my  insistence will be        
understood--that my long friendship and 

personal  admiration for ,auguste ,rodin
 and my gratitude for the affectionate  
regard that he shows me count for       
nothing here4 ,a study is asked  of me1 
not a panegyric4 ,when ,i have reckoned 
up the vast quantity  of work1 the      
maker's life1 theories1 talks1 doings1  
and influence1  very little room will be
 left for compliments4 ,it will be for  
the  reader to think them4 ,many people 
who would have had a difficulty  in     
talking of sculpture have found ,rodin a
 convenient subject for  literary       
declamations--too many for me to wish to
 imitate them4 ,such a  course would be 
pleasing neither to the artist nor to   
the public1 and  would content them no  
more than it would content me4 ,precise 
details  about the man1 the work1 and   
the iconography2 clear explanations of  
technicalities and ideas--these form all
 my ambition4 ,the statement of  facts  
will be enough to arouse love and       
admiration for ,rodin2 louder  than all 
praises and with a stronger claim speaks

 the work of thirty  years4             
,c4 ,m4      #a ,the ,art of ,rodin1    
,revue des ,revues1 ,paris1 #aeth ,june1
 #ahih2 and  lecture1 #cast ,july1      
#aijj4          ,,contents              
,,preface    ,i4 ,,youth ,,and ,,early  
,,work ,,of ,,rodin--,,his ,,first      
,,attempts2 ,,his ,,time ,,at           
,,carrier',s--,,his ,,stay ,,in         
,,brussels ,,and ,,work ,,there--,,the  
,,age ,,of ,,brass ,,at  ,,the ,,salon  
,,of #ahgg2 ,,the ,,incident ,,arising  
,,in ,,regard ,,to ,,it--,,the ,,st4    
,,john  ,,the ,,baptist2 ,,beginning    
,,of ,,rodin',s ,,reputation    ,,ii4   
,,rodin',s ,,studio--,,his ,,works      
,,from #ahhj ,,to #ahhi--;,,eve2 ,,some 
,,busts2  ,,the ,,monument ,,to ,,victor
 ,,hugo--,,the ,,gate ,,of ,,hell--,,the
 ,,danaid--,,the  ,,thought--,,the      
,,exhibition ,,of ,,claude ,,monet ,,and
 ,,rodin1 ,,in #ahhi--,,the  ,,monument 
,,to ,,claude ,,lorraine ,,at ,,nancy   
7#ahib7--,,the ,,burghers ,,of ,,calais 
7#ahhh-ahie7    ,,iii4 ,,rodin',s ,,work

 ,,from #ahie ,,to #ahih--,,small       
,,groups--,,the ,,statue ,,of           
,,balzac--,,the ,,incident ,,of ,,the   
,,soci,t ,,des ,,gens ,,de              
,,lettres--,,the  ,,technique ,,of ,,the
 ,,balzac--,,rodin',s ,,ideas ,,upon    
,,modelling ,,and  ,,composition--,,his 
,,opinions ,,about ,,the ,,greeks1 ,,the
 ,,gothic ,,style1  ,,classicism1 ,,and 
,,mythological ,,subjects--,,rodin',s   
,,antique ,,period    ,,iv4 ,,works     
,,since ,,the ,,balzac--,,small ,,works 
,,in ,,marble--,,plan ,,of ,,the        
,,monument ,,to ,,labour--,,drawings    
,,and ,,etchings    ,v4 ,,rodin',s      
,,private ,,life--,,his ,,person1       
,,studio1 ,,and ,,home--,,his           
,,influence2  ,,sculptors ,,inspired    
,,by ,,his ,,ideas--,,rodin',s ,,place  
,,in ,,the ,,french  ,,school--,,his    
,,present ,,position ,,in ,,respect ,,to
 ,,academic ,,sculpture    ,,vi4        
,,appendix--,,chronological ,,list ,,of 
,,rodin',s ,,principal ,,works--,,list  
,,of ,,the ,,principal ,,books ,,or     

,,articles ,,written ,,about            
,,him--,,quotations  ,,referring ,,to   
,,him--,,an ,,opinion ,,of ,,eug,,ne    
,,carri,,re',s2 ,,an ,,opinion ,,of     
,,henley',s--,,various ,,notes          
,,index #ada      ,,list ,,of           
,,illustrations        ,,eternal        
,,spring 7photogravure7 ,frontispiece   
,,the ,,age ,,of  ,,brass      ,,the    
,,age ,,of  ,,brass      ,,st4 ,,john   
,,the ,,baptist ,,preaching      ,,eve  
,,sketch ,,for ,,the ,,monument ,,to    
,,the ,,defenders ,,of ,,the ,,nation   
,,ugolino ,,and ,,his ,,children        
,,bellona      ,,bellona      ,,victor  
,,hugo 7dry-point7      ,,victor ,,hugo 
7dry-point7      ,,bust ,,of ,,victor   
,,hugo      ,,monument ,,to ,,victor    
,,hugo 7fragment7      ,,victor ,,hugo  
7fragment7      ,,nereids 7group at base
 of the ,victor ,hugo monument7         
,,shades 7for the top of ,the ,gate of  
,hell7      ,,the ,,thinker             
,,danaid      ,,danaid      ,,thought   
,,the ,,fair ,,helmet-,,maker      ,a   

,,nymph 7bronze7      ,,puvis ,,de      
,,chavannes      ,,jean ,,paul ,,laurens
      ,,bust ,,of ,,madame ,v4          
,,the ,,burghers ,,of ,,calais      ,a  
,,burgher  ,,of ,,calais      ,a        
,,burgher  ,,of ,,calais      ,a        
,,burgher  ,,of ,,calais      ,,balzac  
,,balzac      ,,primitive ,,man         
,,young ,,woman ,,between ,,good ,,and  
,,evil ,,counsel      ,,iris      ,,nude
 ,,study      ,,auguste ,,rodin         
,,corner ,,of ,,rodin',s ,,studio  ,,at 
,,meudon      ,,corner ,,of ,,rodin',s  
,,studio  ,,at  ,,meudon      ,,study   
,,in ,,bronze ,,for ,,the ,,balzac      
,,nude ,,figure 7photographed in the    
open air1 at twilight1         in the   
garden in ,meudon7          ,,auguste   
,,rodin          ,i      ,,youth ,,and  
,,early ,,work ,,of ,,rodin--,,his      
,,first ,,attempts2 ,,his ,,time ,,at   
,,carrier',s--,,his ,,stay ,,in         
,,brussels ,,and ,,work ,,there--,,the  
,,age ,,of ,,brass ,,at  ,,the ,,salon  
,,of #ahgg2 ,,the ,,incident ,,arising  

,,in ,,regard ,,to ,,it--,,the ,,st4    
,,john  ,,the ,,baptist2 ,,beginning    
,,of ,,rodin',s ,,reputation            
,auguste ,rodin was born in ,paris1 in  
the ,val de ,grce quarter1 on the  #adth
 of ,november1 #ahdj1 of a family of    
humble employs4 ,the child  at first    
attended a day-school in the ,rue ,saint
 ,jacques1 then went  to a              
boarding-school at ,beauvais1 kept by   
his uncle4 ,at fourteen he  returned to 
,paris and entered the school of art in 
the ,rue de l'cole  de ,mdecine4 ,a     
period of desperate industry at once set
 in for him4    ,in addition to the     
lessons of this little school1 where    
from eight  to twelve young ,rodin      
learned the elements of drawing1 and    
later on  of modelling1 copied drawings 
in crayons and reliefs in the ,louis    
,,xvi4 style1 he went twice a week to   
,barye's classes at the ,jardin  des    
,plantes2 ,barye1 he says1 did not teach
 us much2 he was always  worried and    
tired when he came1 and always told us  

that it was very  good4 ,but ,rodin1    
together with ,barye's son and some     
other lads1 had  arranged a sort of     
studio for themselves in a cellar of the
 museum1  making seats of tree-trunks1  
and already attempting sculpture4 ,at   
six in the morning he used to go to draw
 animals1 then he copied the  anatomical
 objects in the ,museum4 ,he remembers  
that1 being too poor to  buy an anatomy 
of the horse1 he copied it piece by     
piece4 ,after ,barye's  class1 or the   
classes of the ,rue de l'cole de        
,mdecine1 he would lunch  on a bit of   
bread and some chocolate and hasten to  
the ,louvre1 and  in the evenings he    
would go to draw and study at the       
,gobelins4 ,then  he worked for a maker 
of ornaments1 since it was necessary to 
earn a  living4 ,from fourteen to       
seventeen years old ,rodin led this     
fevered  existence4 ,in those three     
years1 he has often repeated to me1 ,i  
came  to understand the meaning of a    
drawing from the life1 the synthesis of 

my art1 and the rhythm of animals4 ,i   
remember that a companion of those      
days1#a of whom ,i have since lost      
sight1 made me see1 in a couple  of     
hours1 on a very true and simple        
principle1 an observation of the        
necessary equilibria of movement not    
taught in the schools1 the secret  of   
the plans of a figure4 ,that lesson has 
influenced my whole life4 ,as  for the  
ornament-maker1 in whose workshop ,i    
earned a scanty wage1 ,i  long deplored 
being constrained to do so1 but ,i have 
since thought with  affection of it1    
understanding that there are as many    
sources of beauty  in ornament as in the
 face4    ,his work at the              
ornament-maker's allowed ,rodin to earn 
his living as an  art-worker and as a   
strenuous and silent student2 and he    
vegetated in  this manner until he      
attained his twenty-fourth year1 never  
ceasing1  in spite of his poverty and of
 his daily labour1 to work at sculpture4
  ,then he offered himself as an        

assistant and pupil at the studio of    
,carrier-,belleuse4 ,carrier-,belleuse  
was then at the full height of his      
reputation as an elegant sculptor1 whose
 real gifts of spontaneous  invention   
were being rendered insipid by his      
desire to please4 ,rodin  remained six  
years at ,carrier-,belleuse's1 and      
worked there without  gaining much      
instruction4 ,but he meditated and      
taught himself4 ,from his  twenty-fourth
 year dates the head known as ,the ,man 
with the ,broken  ,nose1 which is a     
masterly work1 strongly inspired by the 
antique1  and already foreshadowing all 
his future4 ,this clay head1 which the  
young man sent to the ,salon of #ahfd1  
was refused4 ,from time to time  ,rodin 
tried to compete for admission to the   
cole des ,beaux ,arts2 he  was thrice   
refused4 ,this disgusted him with the   
usual career upon which  his lack of any
 income invited him to enter4 ,his      
ideas1 his independent  temper1 his     
presentiments1 and his love of an art   

personal to himself1  showed him that he
 would never gain anything1 and never   
have the  academic discipline necessary 
to succeed4 ,he took advantage of an    
opportunity4 ,carrier-,belleuse had a   
commission at ,brussels and did not     
care to execute it2 ,rodin got          
permission from his master1 who esteemed
  him1 to undertake it in his name1 and1
 after having spent six years  in the   
fashionable sculptor's studio1 he went  
to ,brussels1 where ,rude  had already  
spent a considerable time4 ,he was      
destined to remain there  until #ahgg1  
working with the ,belgian sculptor1 ,van
 ,rasbourg1 at the  pediment of the     
,bourse1 where his sign manual may still
 be seen1 as it  may upon some caryatids
 of a house on the ,boulevard d',anspach
 and upon  some other works4    ,of this
 exile at ,brussels we know that the    
artist retains only kindly  memories1   
but he is too sparing of personal       
details to enable us to  analyse with   
any certainty this part of the life of a

 tenacious1  concentrated man who1      
entirely occupied with his dreams1 with 
indefatigable study1 the anxieties of   
poverty1 and his lonely pride1  had no  
desire to be known4    ,i worked very   
hard over there1 he says1 to sum up the 
matter4 ,it  is certain that ,rodin was 
at this time already in possession of   
that formidable will which led to his   
success1 and also of that  disdainful   
obstinacy which prefers obscurity and   
lack of success to  any compromise4 ,he 
speaks little or not at all of the drama
 that was  being worked out in him at   
this time1 or of the way in which he    
refined  and cultivated his perceptions1
 nor of the painting lessons that he    
took of ,lecoq de ,boisbaudron1 in      
company of ,alphonse ,legros1 who       
became his intimate friend2 but this    
influence of ,lecoq de ,boisbaudron     
must not pass unnoted4 ,it does great   
honour to that master teacher  who has  
formed so many eminent modern artists4  
,his seven years' stay  at ,brussels    

allowed ,rodin to live modestly but     
decently1 amid quiet  surroundings1 to  
reflect1 and to shape himself           
intellectually2 it was a  sort of       
spiritual retreat that did him good1    
apart from the fact that  he gained a   
thorough knowledge of the ,flemish      
,primitives and of the  ,gothic masters 
who were so strongly to influence him4  
,no biography1  however1 could render   
comprehensible the way in which1 for    
example1 the  brain of a low-born and   
poor child was able1 amid poverty and   
incessant  manual labour1 to grow into  
the wide and deep brain of a thinker    
familiar with the synthesis of art2     
these things are the secrets of         
personality4    ,illustration3 ,,the    
,,age ,,of ,,brass    ,rodin was        
destined to emerge suddenly from        
obscurity at the age of  thirty-seven1  
that is to say1 at a time of life when  
many men think  themselves hopelessly   
sacrificed1 and when he had already     
produced  much and suffered much2 for it

 may be said that the whole of his work 
from #ahee-ge is unknown and lost1 and  
yet what labour it represents6  ,except 
,the ,man with the ,broken ,nose1 none  
of it is ever mentioned2  the pediment  
of the ,bourse at ,brussels is crumbling
 away1 time is  devouring ,rodin's work 
upon it no less than ,van ,rasbourg's2  
he will not  speak of the many figures  
that he made to the order of            
,carrier-,belleuse  and interpreted     
according to his own free inspiration2  
and he only  occasionally alludes to a  
large figure that was broken in a       
household  removal1 and was1 in his     
opinion1 one of the best he ever made in
 his  life4 ,in #ahgf ,the ,man with the
 ,broken ,nose1 in marble1 was admitted 
to the ,salon4 ,this determined ,rodin  
in #ahgg to send in his statue1 ,the    
,age of ,brass1 and this gave rise to an
 incident1 the very injustice of  which 
was to bring him into notice4    ,the   
jury1#b astonished by this work1        
admitted it1 but accused the  artist of 

having taken a cast from life1 so       
perfect was the modelling4  ,the        
practice of taking a cast from the life 
is unhappily frequent1  and we know he  
praised academicians who employ this    
artistic fraud  without any scruple4    
,rodin protested4 ,he had had a ,belgian
 soldier for  his model in ,brussels3 he
 had photographs taken of him and sent  
them  to the jury1 who did not even open
 the packet1 and persisted in the       
allegations4 ,three sculptors1 however1 
,desbois1 ,fagel1 and ,lefvre1 who      
thenceforward became ,rodin's friends1  
protested in his favour1 some  critics  
spoke of the affair1 and ,rodin's work  
made so much impression  that the       
secretary of the ,fine ,arts1 ,turquet1 
bought ,the ,age of ,brass  7which stood
 for a long time in the ,luxembourg     
,gardens and is now in  the museum74    
,rodin waited until #ahhj to exhibit    
,st4 ,john the ,baptist4 ,meanwhile     
,turquet had conceived a friendship for 
him and wished to wipe out the  unjust  

accusation brought against ,the ,age of 
,brass4 ,the inspectors  of the ,fine   
,arts department disowned the purchase  
of that work and  declared it cast from 
life4 ,rodin1 discouraged1 remained     
silent2 a  chance saved him4 ,as he was 
continuing to look for work in order to 
support his young wife and himself1 and 
to defray the expenses of his  art1 he  
chanced to be executing a group of      
children in a composition  for the      
sculptor ,boucher4 ,his facility was    
prodigious2 ,boucher saw  him improvise 
the group in a few hours and went1      
thunderstruck1 to  tell some of his     
friends4 ,he had the honesty to declare 
that such  a man1 having done thus      
before his own eyes1 was capable of     
making  ,the ,age of ,brass4 ,chapu1    
,thomas1 ,falguire1 ,delaplanche1       
,chaplin1  ,carrier-,belleuse1 and ,paul
 ,dubois insisted loyally1 and ,rodin's 
cause  was won4 ,turquet1 delighted1 and
 free to act1 bought the ,st4 ,john the 
,baptist and gave ,rodin a commission4  

,then the artist answered3 ,i  am ready 
to fulfil it4 ,but to prove surely that 
,i do not take casts  from the life ,i  
will make little bas-reliefs--an immense
 work with  small figures1 and ,i think 
of taking the subject from ,dante4 ,this
  was the origin of that celebrated     
,gate of ,hell1 which is not yet        
completed1 and which1 continually       
handled afresh1 has finally become  the 
central motive of all ,rodin's dreams1  
the storehouse of his ideas  and        
researches4    ,illustration3 ,,the     
,,age ,,of ,,brass    ,from that time   
forward 7#ahhj7 ,rodin was what he is   
to-day2 he had  emerged1 once for all1  
from obscurity1 and went on to display  
without  interruption and without       
hesitation the succession of works that 
have  rendered him celebrated4 ,he knew 
his path1 his method1 his field of      
thought4 ,from the age of sixteen to    
that of forty he had1 by unknown        
persistent labour1 been ripening his    
individuality4 ,and his work1  from ,the

 ,age of ,brass to the ,balzac1 is but a
 visible development  of that hidden    
period4 ,the period from the ,balzac to 
our own day  testifies to a new theory  
that he has framed4 ,but one may say    
that  the ,rodin of the years from #ahgg
 to #ahig was entirely contained in  the
 unknown man of the preceding period4   
,it was1 indeed1 that slow  preparation 
that gave to the revelation of the works
 that appearance  of certainty1 of      
sudden mastery1 which so struck people's
 minds4 ,we  are accustomed to see      
artists make youthful successes with    
works of  brilliant promise1 then we    
follow their course and see them growing
  greater4 ,rodin came to light in      
twenty-four hours4 ,he was thought to   
be a young beginner2 his past struggle  
was unknown2 people were aware  of him  
only when he had done with scruples and 
had1 as he says1 made  peace with       
himself4 ,from this fact came his       
prestige4 ,from it came  also his       
well-defined attitude in regard to      

academic art4    ,illustration3 ,,st4   
,,john ,,the ,,baptist ,,preaching      
,we need to recall the graceful1        
effeminate1 and conventional statuary   
of the generation from #ahfe to #ahge in
 order to comprehend fully  what ,the   
,age of ,brass and ,st4 ,john the       
,baptist brought into the  exhibitions  
when they made their appearance there4  
,rough truth1 a sense  of movement1 an  
intense realism1 an absolute scorn of   
the pleasing1 a  lofty style1 a deep    
feeling of organic life1 power due to   
the eager  love of form1 of muscular    
formation and physical activity2 all    
these  things inevitably shocked the    
gentle sculptors who were enamoured of  
the academic style and of mythology4    
,moreover1 ,rodin was unknown2  he had  
no claim1 knew nobody1 had never asked  
for anything1 and was  a son of the     
people4 ,that ,carrier-,belleuse's      
former workman should  take upon himself
 to make statues all by himself aroused 
scorn4 ,his  technical skill was so     

great that there could be no possibility
 of  denying it4 ,therefore1 in spite1  
the accusation of casting from the  life
 was invented4 ,the accusers did not    
reflect upon the splendid  testimonial  
that would be given to the artist if he 
should succeed in  proving that his     
skill alone had created this perfection4
 ,the amusing  thing is that the same   
people who declared this skill too great
 to be  anything but a reproduction1    
accused ,rodin1 twenty years later1 over
  his ,balzac1 of not knowing his craft6
 ,apart from this question of  fact1 and
 these professional jealousies1 the     
style of these works could  not fail to 
displease4 ,in them there was already a 
sort of symbolic  and savage beauty1    
which has become a characteristic of    
,rodin's art4  ,the pained1 awakening   
movement of the man in ,the ,age of     
,brass1 the  gesture of ,st4 ,john the  
,baptist1 and still more his wild face  
with  its open mouth1 were so much      
outside the usual conventions as to make

  everybody feel that here was an artist
 resolved to take no account of  the    
cole and its principles4 ,these two     
splendid studies of the nude  already   
contained a very special thought4       
,rodin1 therefore1 was hated  in the    
first place as a man who would be       
revolutionary4 ,he was hated  because he
 was powerful1 because he emerged       
suddenly from obscurity1  and because he
 was felt to possess an obstinate       
individuality4 ,it was  also for these  
very reasons that warm sympathies went  
out to ,rodin  from among artists       
opposed to the spirit of the cole1 and  
from  independent writers who divined in
 him a man capable of expressing in  his
 art thoughts and emotions that had     
ceased to be found in art4              
,illustration3 ,,eve4      #a ,this     
unknown student was called ,constant    
,simon4 ,rodin remembers him  as a      
remarkable man4    #b ,the hanging      
committee of the ,salon is called a     
jury4--,,trans4          ,,ii           

,,rodin',s ,,studio--,,his ,,works      
,,from #ahhj ,,to #ahhi--;,,eve2 ,,some 
,,busts2  ,,the ,,monument ,,to ,,victor
 ,,hugo--,,the ,,gate ,,of ,,hell--,,the
 ,,danaid--,,the  ,,thought--,,the      
,,exhibition ,,of ,,claude ,,monet ,,and
 ,,rodin1 ,,in #ahhi--,,the  ,,monument 
,,to ,,claude ,,lorraine ,,at ,,nancy   
7#ahib7--,,the ,,burghers ,,of ,,calais 
7#ahhh-ahie7      ,rodin's previous     
works1 from #ahha to #ahhi1 had been    
produced in modest  abodes in the ,rue  
des ,fourneaux and the ,boulevard de    
,vaugirard1 and  later1 in a little     
studio1 granted by the ,government1 at  
the ,dpt des  ,marbres1 in the ,rue de  
l',universit1 where a certain number of 
studios  are given to sculptors4 ,from  
#ahhi onwards the ,government granted   
,rodin  two larger studios there1 which 
he still occupies4 ,at a later date  he 
also had1 at his own expense1 a studio  
in an odd corner of the  ,boulevard     
d',italie1 at a place called the ,clos  
,payen1 besides a house  at ,svres1 and 

eventually one at ,meudon1 in which he  
still lives and of  which ,i shall speak
 again4 ,among these were distributed   
his studies  and his finished works3    
,the ,gate of ,hell was sketched in at  
the ,rue  de l',universit1 and there1   
too1 ,rodin's assistants are at work    
upon  his present groups4               
,illustration3 ,,sketch ,,for ,a        
,,competition4 ,,monument ,,to ,,the    
,,defenders ,,of  ,,the ,,country       
,from #ahgi ,rodin worked at ,svres1    
having been introduced by               
,carrier-,belleuse1 and a vase decorated
 by him may be seen there4  ,in #ahhj he
 made a fine competitive design for the 
,monument to the  ,defenders of the     
,nation1 which was not accepted4 ,in    
#ahha he made a  figure of ,adam1 which 
he destroyed1 and an ,eve1 which must be
  reckoned among his noblest            
creations--an ,eve ashamed of her       
faults1  bowed down by terror1 vaguely  
tormented less by remorse for her sin   
than by the idea of having created      

beings for future sorrow4 ,this  ,eve is
 a bronze of formidable appearance and  
all ,rodin breathes in  it4 ,as in the  
,st4 ,john the ,baptist1 we feel the    
effect of a definite  conception of     
sculpture1 but here the design is more  
spiritual and the  scheme of modelling  
simpler and larger4 ,from that time     
onward we shall  find the artist        
producing regularly1 putting forth a    
peaceful power1  and working in complete
 possession of himself1 not free        
certainly  from doubts and searchings1  
but allowing nothing of the sort to be  
seen4 ,rodin's way of working is very   
peculiar2 he does not begin one  piece  
of work1 carry it to its conclusion1 and
 then devote himself to  another4 ,he   
has had from the outset a certain number
 of thoughts that  correspond to forms1 
and although he has only shown his works
 one after  another1 he has nevertheless
 elaborated them side by side1 working  
at  them simultaneously and modifying   
them one by another4 ,thus ,the ,gate   

of ,hell has been made and remade for   
more than twenty years2 thus  the       
monument to ,hugo1 not yet handed over1 
goes back1 by the sketches  for it1 to  
#ahhf2 while the studies for ,the       
,burghers of ,calais date  from #ahhh1  
though the monument was only completed  
in #ahie2 thus1 too1  among the little  
groups on which ,rodin is still at work1
 are many that  have grown out of rough 
sketches made fifteen years ago4 ,rodin 
has a  store of ideas and emotions dear 
to him1 upon which he has patiently     
meditated1 which he has promised himself
 to execute1 and which he  brings to    
ripeness in silence1 remaining          
throughout long years without  appearing
 to concern himself with them4 ,strength
 and patience might  be his             
characteristic motto4 ,like all great   
artists1 he thought out  the essential  
lines of his work at once1 lines that ,i
 shall define at  the end of this book4 
,his is a synthetic and generalising    
mind1 which  can only begin its active  

course after slow meditation1 and       
conceives  no isolated thing2           
spontaneous and at the same time        
prudent4 ,he had  that time of          
meditation at ,brussels1 not hastening  
to produce1 not  permitting himself to  
express an idea until he had prepared in
 detail  the technical expression1 the  
necessities of the craftsman4           
,illustration3 ,,ugolino ,,and ,,his    
,,children    ,the ,ugolino1 a cast1 of 
which ,rodin exhibited the first sketch 
in  #ahhb1 is the first sign of that    
preoccupation with ,dante1 which was to 
be shown in all his later work4 ,he has 
read comparatively few things1  and that
 designedly2 he attaches himself        
strongly to a few great and  profound   
works1 and meditates upon them          
indefatigably4 ,his whole  symbolic     
imagination has been fed by ,dante and  
his whole sensuous  imagination by      
,baudelaire4 ,these two gloomy poets    
have impressed him1  and it may be said 
that he has absorbed them4 ,almost all  

,rodin's great  symbolic figures refer  
to the ,inferno1 and all his little     
groups of  lovers have the neurotic     
subtlety1 the refined1 homesick         
melancholy  of the ,fleurs du ,mal4 ,he 
has a constant need to evolve from      
realism  to general ideas1 from thought 
to delight or sorrow1 and the ideal of  
,dante or of ,baudelaire is strangely   
mingled in him with love of the  antique
 and worship of mythology4 ,it is1      
indeed1 this quite individual  fusion   
that forms the basis of his personality4
 ,the ,ugolino1 which  was exhibited1   
first alone and then with his dying     
children1 over  whom he is crouching1   
haggard and already almost like a wild  
beast1  is a tragic and powerful work4  
,the same year ,rodin produced the bust 
of ,alphonse ,legros1 which has taken so
 high a place in ,england in  the       
opinion of the best judges1 and in that 
of the lamented ,w4 ,e4  ,henley1 whose 
penetrating criticism paid homage from  
the first to our  sculptor's art4       

,illustration3 ,,bellona ,page #ag      
,illustration3 ,,bellona    ,the ,genius
 of ,war1 the ,monument to ,general     
,lynch1 and the very  curious ,bellona1 
date from #ahhc2 the ,president         
,vicunha#a and a  ,bust of a ,young     
,woman1 from #ahhd4 ,this was rather a  
period of groping  than of production2  
,rodin was continuing his studies1 and  
becoming  more confirmed in his         
technical methods4 ,we must go on to the
 year  #ahhe to reach the revelation of 
three of his finest sculptures--the     
three busts of ,dalou1 ,victor ,hugo1   
and ,antonin ,proust1 which  powerfully 
declare his personality4 ,these are     
works that are not  disputable1 that    
cannot be accused of having a literary  
intention1  mere bits of sculpture      
giving evidence of mastery and showing  
surfaces1  planes1 and high lights      
worthy of the very finest busts of the  
,french  school4 ,as time goes by1 the  
ideas1 the philosophy1 the symbolism1   
the dramatisation of ,rodin's           

compositions may come to be disputed1   
or exact comprehension of them may be   
lost2 but works like these will  always1
 by their mere professional worth1 bear 
witness for him4 ,life1  thought1       
strength1 and character are carried as  
far as is possible4 ,the  bust of ,hugo 
was the outcome of some few studies that
 the artist was  able to make from the  
life4 ,hugo declared ,david of ,angers  
to have made  so good a bust of him that
 he considered it unnecessary ever to   
sit  again4 ,rodin wished to obtain     
sittings1 but failed2 the poet admitted 
him to his table1 and merely said to    
him1 ,come when you like1 observe  me   
444 and do what you can4 ,at table      
,rodin took sketches of ,hugo in        
cigarette-paper books2 he had a stand   
and some clay in the ante-room1  and    
from time to time he would run in to    
note down anything that had  just struck
 him4    ,,victor ,,hugo4 7,,dry        
,,point7    ,,victor ,,hugo4            
7,,dry-,,point7    ,in this manner was  

that admirable bust completed1 which    
7with the two  etchings here reproduced7
 was the only material of which ,rodin  
could  make use for the ,hugo with the  
bowed head of his future monument1 the  
commission for which was given him by   
the ,government after the death of  the 
national poet in #ahhc1 and which is on 
the eve of completion4    ,the next year
 7#ahhf7 ,rodin exhibited the scheme of 
the monument itself1  which has since   
undergone several variations1 but of    
which the central  theme is always as   
follows3 ,hugo1 naked and half-draped1  
like a god1  is seated on a rock at the 
edge of the sea4 ,with his outstretched 
left  arm he makes a silencing gesture  
towards the sea and the ,nereids1  and  
thus begs them to let him listen to the 
,muse of his ,inner ,voice1  who rises1 
pensively1 behind him1 and to the ,muse 
of ,anger1 who1  crouched on a rock     
above his head1 seems ready to fly up   
into the  sky4 ,this ,muse may also be  
interpreted as an ,ins1 the messenger of

  the voices of the elements1 and the   
,muse of the ,inner ,voice is also      
called ,meditation4 ,she is of the      
greatest beauty2 hers is one of the     
figures in which1 before the ,balzac1   
,rodin indicates his new method  of     
amplifying the relief and systematically
 altering the proportions1  in          
order--according to an idea which ,i    
shall analyse in detail in  the next    
chapter--to secure a decorative effect4 
,nothing can be more  expressive and    
more supernatural than the harmonious   
sadness of this  great drooping shape2  
it is really a soul incarnated in a     
movement of  modesty and secret         
contemplation that disturbs and moves us
 as we gaze4  ,the ,hugo himself is     
truly ,olympian in the majesty of his   
gesture1 the  vastness of his heroic    
nudity1 and the magic of the shadow that
 bathes  his face bowed partly down over
 his breast2 and the monument as a whole
  is of magnificent decorative unity4   
,there are to be two monuments  to      

,victor ,hugo1 one for the ,pantheon1   
the other for the ,luxembourg  ,gardens1
 and they are to have slight variations1
 not in the attitude  of ,hugo himself1 
but in the significance and style of the
 adjacent  figures4 ,these two          
monuments1 however1 have not been       
accepted without  great difficulties    
caused by the very nature of ,rodin's   
conception2 and  the fact that they are 
accepted has not prevented the ,place   
,victor ,hugo  from being disfigured by 
a hideous and gigantic monument1 the    
work of  ,barrias1 which fills the place
 of those that ,rodin had not completed4
  ,rodin's slowness1 which arises from  
the scrupulous circumspection  of his   
mind--never satisfied with itself--and  
from his habit of working               
simultaneously at several subjects1 has 
always contributed towards  driving away
 official commissions from him2 while   
the jealousy of  his fellows and the    
exceptional character of his work have  
further  helped to bring about strained 

relations between him and the official  
circle4 ,rodin does not care about      
pleasing or about being understood  by  
everybody1 and he has no idea of        
concessions4 ,thus almost all his       
important works have given rise to      
incidents likely to disturb his  peace  
and hinder his work4    ,illustration3  
,,bust ,,of ,,victor ,,hugo4            
,illustration3 ,,victor ,,hugo          
,,monument4 7,a ,,fragment7             
,illustration3 ,,victor ,,hugo4 7,a     
,,fragment7    ,together with the sketch
 of the ,hugo monument1 a bust of ,henry
 ,becque1  and a curious etching made   
from it1 ,rodin exhibited in #ahhf the  
first  drawings belonging to ,the ,gate 
of ,hell1 or at least to the work which 
people have agreed to call by that      
title4 ,i have already related the      
origin of that ,government commission4  
,in the beginning ,rodin had been  asked
 to make a door in high-relief1 intended
 for the ,muse des ,arts  ,dcoratifs4   
,but the sculptor's imagination1 beset  

by ideas of ,dante1  soon deviated from 
the original scheme4 ,the door really   
exists in the  studio of the ,rue de    
l',universit1 under the aspect of a vast
 rough  model in plaster and beams1 in  
the very simple shape of a two-leaved   
door #ai  feet high1 with a frieze1 a   
tympanum1 and two lateral  capitals4 ,it
 was1 at first1 to have been surmounted 
by the two figures  of ,adam and ,eve1  
but ,rodin gave them up4 ,he now seems  
determined to  place the ,shades1 here  
reproduced1 in the highest plane4#b ,on 
the  uppermost beam ,the ,thinker is to 
be seated4 ,in the panels of the  door  
and upon the wide uprights are enshrined
 figures--to the number  of over a      
hundred--detached in high-relief1       
exactly as upon the gates  of the       
,baptistery in ,florence1 which ,rodin  
has1 quite simply1 taken  as his model4 
,these figures were1 at first1 direct   
interpretations  from ,dante1 in        
particular ,paolo and ,francesca da     
,rimini and divers  inhabitants of the  

,inferno4 ,then ,rodin intermingled     
figures due solely  to his inspirations 
from ,baudelaire and to his own sharp   
perception  of tragic perversity4 ,he   
enlarged ,dante's conception as he      
modernised  it1 and has ended by making 
this door into what he smilingly calls  
my ,noah's ,ark4 ,that means that he is 
continually putting in little  figures  
which replace others2 there1 plastered  
into the niches left  by unfinished     
figures1 he places everything that he   
improvises1  everything that seems to   
him to correspond in character and      
subject  with that vast confusion of    
human passions4 ,the size of these      
figures  is greatly restricted2 the     
largest scarcely exceed thirty-nine     
inches  in height4 ,the dimensions of   
the final rendering1 however1 still     
remain  to be fixed4 ,the splendid      
figure called ,the ,thinker is carried  
out  in bronze larger than life1 and    
,rodin is credited with an intention of 
bringing up all the other figures to the

 same dimensions1 which would  represent
 an unheard-of outlay and a gate nearly 
a hundred feet high--a  ,cyclopean work 
indeed6 ,the ,thinker1 who has been so  
called on account  of the likeness      
between his attitude and that of        
,michael ,angelo's  ,pensieroso1 is much
 more truly an image1 with his stunted  
body and  a primitive man's face1 of the
 cave-dweller1 the prognathous savage   
beholding the crimes and passions of his
 progeny unroll themselves  below him4  
,immediately beneath him may be seen the
 most celebrated  characters of the     
,dante cycle1 notably the lovers of     
,rimini entwined  and falling into      
hell4#c ,then as we descend towards the 
ground the  figures become more         
independent of the subject1 more        
personally  invented by the artist1 and 
at the foot we find women damned1 such  
as  ,baudelaire conceived1 amid         
characters from heathen mythology4      
,illustration3 ,,nereids 7,group at the 
base of the ,victor ,hugo monument47    

,it may thus be said that1 although1    
perhaps1 the celebrated doorway  may    
never be finished1 it is a storehouse of
 ,rodin's creations4 ,it  stands by him 
as a theme for inspirations1 and he     
brings into it a  whole category of     
thoughts and works1 never troubling     
himself about the  architecture or the  
actual scheme4 ,he will be for ever     
improvising some  little figure1 shaping
 the notation of some feeling1 idea1 or 
form1 and  this he plants in his door1  
studies it against the other figures1   
then  takes it out again1 and if need   
be1 breaks it up and uses the fragments 
for other attempts4 ,many of these      
little figures have developed into      
important separate groups4 ,rodin is    
ruled primarily by the need to  create  
and to satisfy an irresistible vocation2
 he cares little what  may be the       
ultimate transformation of his          
inventions1 and his sculpture  is1      
furthermore1 so conceived that it may be
 executed on a large scale  or a small2 

this is indeed so much the case that it 
is often impossible  to judge from a    
photograph what are the dimensions4     
,illustration3 ,,shades 7,for the top of
 ,the ,gate of ,hell47    ,the ,gate of 
,hell might therefore better be called  
the ,pandemonium1  or some quite other  
name4 ,if it were to be carried out it  
could not  contain all the figures      
destined for it by the artist4 ,there   
they  stand1 innumerable1 ranged on     
shelves beside the rough model of the   
door1 representing the entire evolution 
of ,rodin's inspiration1 and  forming   
what ,i call1 with his consent1 the     
diary of his life as a  sculptor4 ,to   
enumerate these figures and groups would
 take too long2  suffice to say that the
 larger part of ,rodin's small marbles  
and  bronzes are but completions of     
these sketches1 and that on account of  
the essentially decorative character of 
the outlines and the intense            
originality of the proportion and       
balance of the figures1 they can  be    

conceived either as statuettes or as    
lifesized works4 ,such as it  is1 ,the  
,gate of ,hell is the plan of a piece of
 work unique in the  sculpture of modern
 days1 a plan slowly elaborated1 and of 
which every  detail has been foreseen   
and analysed for years4 ,no one has     
dared to  undertake so audacious an     
assemblage of figures upon such a       
scheme1 and  the scheme is present to   
,rodin in its entirety4 ,he by no means 
forgets  the decorative effect nor the  
harmonious aspects1 the concords that   
the  gate should have1 and if ever      
,government should require him to       
deliver  his work he would be able to do
 so without delay4 ,twenty years in the 
studio have matured it in his mind4 ,the
 work that ,dante inspired has  assumed 
a more general significance4            
,low-relief1 high-relief1 figures       
standing free1 groups1 single figures1  
all the styles of sculpture are         
gathered into the symphony of a throng1 
lost amid whirling mists of  hell and   

converging towards the figure of the    
,thinker4 ,the conception  embraces     
centuries4 ,ugolino is there1 and so are
 centaurs1 female  fauns1 satyrs1 and   
creatures dreamed of by ,baudelaire1    
abstract  personifications of vices--in 
particular1 there is the extraordinary  
group of the miser dying of hunger over 
his treasure beside a  prostitute       
7,avarice and ,lewdness74 ,the ,thinker1
 in his austere nudity  and pensive     
strength1 is at one and the same time   
the alarmed ,adam1  the implacable      
,dante1 and the compassionate ,virgil of
 this frightful  unrestrained humanity1 
but he is1 above all1 the ancestor1 the 
first  man1 simple and unconscious1     
looking down on what he has begotten4   
,the  symbolism and philosophy of the   
artist are independent of any religious 
doctrine2 his spiritual ardour excels in
 setting free the symbols of  the       
various creeds1 and he is supported     
mainly by deep and incessant            
consultation of nature1 and by his      

exceptional sense of expression  in     
movements4 ,he attains the decorative   
harmony of his work not by  additions1  
but by systematic suppressions1 as the  
,gothic artists and  those of the       
,renascence did4    ,illustration3 ,,the
 ,,thinker    ,the ,gate of ,hell is the
 outcome of studies made by ,rodin from 
the  ,gothic sculptors1 during his stay 
in ,brussels4 ,in this1 and in ,the     
,burghers of ,calais1 he resumes the    
deep influence that he there  underwent4
 ,as to the influence that the antique  
had upon him1 that only  showed itself  
later1 in his smaller works in marble1  
and especially  in the ,balzac and      
recent productions4 ,the ,gate          
corresponds to the  period in which     
,rodin's great aim was to create1       
through intensity  of movement and      
originality of attitude and outline1 a  
new system  of the dramatic in his art1 
which the taste of the day had frozen   
into a false neo-,greek nobility1       
obtained by immobility1 by inertia  of  

outline1 and by a fear of seeing too    
living a movement break the  general    
harmony4 ,to seek a fresh harmony in the
 very study of movement1  to create1    
side by side with static art1 a dynamic 
art1 such1 in a  brief formula1 was     
,rodin's idea4    ,he was shortly to    
exhibit a work which was still more     
significant of  the thoughts with which 
he was busy4 ,for1 though ,i have spoken
 at once  of that famous ,gate1 which is
 the leit-motiv of ,rodin's art1 it     
must be remembered that in #ahhf nothing
 was known of it but drawings4  ,only by
 degrees have groups and fragments of it
 been seen1 and the  work itself has    
never left the studio in the ,rue de    
l',universit4 ,it  was ,the ,burghers of
 ,calais which revealed most clearly to 
the public  ,rodin's capabilities in the
 way of style and of composing a whole  
work1  and ,i will speak of the         
,burghers in this chapter1 although the 
work  was not completed until #ahib and 
was not set up in ,calais until #ahie4  

,illustration3 ,,danaid                 
,illustration3 ,,danaid                 
,illustration3 ,,thought    ,in #ahhg we
 may note ,perseus and the ,gorgon1 and 
a marble ,head of  the beheaded ,st4    
,john1 which belongs to the ,marchioness
 of ,carcano4  ,in #ahhh was exhibited  
the exquisite ,danaid1 one of the most  
tender  female figures that were ever   
lovingly moulded by this sculptor of    
the energetic1 and one which has a      
subtle delicacy of soul that seems      
strangely placed between two works of   
power4 ,at the same time a naked  figure
 was also shown at the ,exposition des  
,beaux ,arts1 in ,brussels--a  ,man     
,walking1 which was no other than one of
 the ,burghers1 and  of which the robust
 execution made an impression4 ,the year
 #ahhi marked  an increase of the       
artist's activity4 ,he was busy upon    
preparatory work  for the monument of   
,claude ,lorraine1 which he had been    
commissioned to  make for ,nancy4 ,he   
was going on with ,the ,gate of ,hell4  

,he completed a  statue of              
,bastien-,lepage for the cemetery of    
,damvilliers4 ,he began upon  the busts 
of the art critics1 ,octave ,mirbeau and
 ,roger ,marx1 finished  an admirable   
little ,dream-,group in marble1 in which
 a young man is  lying back and trying  
to hold fast a sphinx-woman who takes   
flight1  wild and fateful4 ,an          
impressionist sketch of ,hecuba1        
crouching down  and shrieking1 and      
,thought1 in marble1 completed the      
record of this  well-filled year4       
,thought1 a proud1 sweet head rising    
from a block1  is one of ,rodin's best  
known works and the very symbol of his  
art4  ,it occupies a place in the       
,museum of the ,luxembourg1 where it is 
in  company with ,the ,danaid1 the ,st4 
,john1 ,the ,kiss1 a masterly female    
bust1 and a bronze statuette4 ,the ,fair
 ,helmet-,maker1 from ,villon's  poem1  
is a work on a very small scale1 but    
containing the depth and  strength of   
tragedy--the whole drama of a human     

body's ruin4    ,illustration3 ,,the    
,,fair ,,helmet-,,maker      ,in #ahhi  
,rodin and ,claude ,monet together held1
 in the ,george ,petit  gallery1 an     
exhibition which has remained famous and
 which united  our two greatest artists4
 ,rodin sent to it the ,women ,damned1  
the  ,beheaded ,st4 ,john1 some ,fauns  
and ,bacchantes1 ,bastien-,lepage1  in  
all some thirty works1 among which was  
,the ,burghers of ,calais1  shown       
complete for the first time4 ,the       
sensation produced was immense4  ,rodin 
now tasted unmistakable fame1 and his   
reputation spread all over  the world4  
,this fame1 however1 did not disarm the 
official circle1 and  not until the last
 three or four years have the critics   
been unanimous  in their praise of the  
great ,french sculptor1 whose every     
important  work has given occasion to a 
battle1 because its beauty arose from   
principles opposed to the whole system  
taught in the schools4    ,the five     
following years were marked by various  

works which did not1  however1 interfere
 with the threefold parallel            
continuation of the  ,victor ,hugo1 ,the
 ,burghers of ,calais1 and ,the ,gate of
 ,hell1 which  were exhibited in various
 states in the ,salon4 ,rodin considers 
it his  duty1 indeed1 to submit to the  
public the phases of his work1 rough    
attempts1 clay1 marbles1 or bronzes1    
before the final completion2 and        
understanding very well that his style  
is1 or seems to be difficult1  he thus  
explains himself to the public in the   
exhibitions1 and allows  people to      
follow the stages through which his     
thought passes4 ,in  addition to these  
works may be noted1 for the year #ahij1 
the bust  of a young woman1 in silver1  
,brother and ,sister1 bronze1 and the   
,torso of ,st4 ,john the ,baptist4 ,in  
#ahia1 ,the ,caryatid1 a marble  figure 
of a young woman with a stone upon her  
shoulder1 the group of  ,the ,young     
,mother 7first bronze and then marble71 
and ,a ,nymph4 ,in  #ahib1 the busts of 

,rochefort and of ,puvis de ,chavannes1 
which1 with  those of ,dalou1 ,jean     
,paul ,laurens1 ,hugo1 and ,falguire1   
form  an incomparable series from       
,rodin's hand of portraits that surpass 
all modern ,french sculpture1 and are   
admirable alike in execution and        
expression4 ,the ,puvis de ,chavannes is
 perhaps the finest2 it is a  work that 
does not pall even beside ,donatello    
himself4 ,in #ahib the  ,burghers and   
the ,claude ,lorraine were completed4   
,the ,burghers  waited three years for  
their setting up1 but the monument to   
,lorraine  was inaugurated immediately1 
thanks to the devoted efforts of that   
great art-worker in glass1 mile ,gall1  
and of ,roger ,marx1 who by  his        
writings and his incessant activity has 
had a most noble effect  upon modern    
,french art4 ,these two eminent men1    
both natives of ,nancy1  enforced the   
acceptance of the work4 ,the monument   
consists of a statue  of ,lorraine1     
standing1 palette in hand1 his head     

raised eagerly towards  the east1 and of
 a pedestal from which ,apollo and his  
rearing horses  stand out in splendid   
high-relief4 ,thus did ,rodin seek to   
pay homage  to the master-painter who   
adored movement in light1 by acclaiming 
both these in his turn4 ,fault has been 
found with the importance of  the       
pedestal in comparison with the statue1 
the objectors failing to  understand    
that this allegory of ,apollo incarnated
 the very soul of  the great artist     
whose effigy towered over the whole     
work1 and that  this whole could not be 
dissevered4 ,the idea animating this    
composition  was criticised by the      
authorities4 ,here1 once more1 ,rodin   
with his  symbolic vision1 his tendency 
to bold simplifications of the general1 
synthetic idea1 was found disturbing4   
,he was asked for the sculptured        
portrait of a man1 and he preferred to  
give prominence to a symbol  that       
expressed the dream and the essential   
genius of that man1 the  sun-painter--an

 idea which was logical1 but which ran  
counter to  the received prejudice as to
 portrait statues4 ,the propagandist    
persistence of ,gall and ,roger ,marx1  
however1 convinced the people of        
,nancy1 who are now very proud of their 
monument4 ,the horses and the  ,apollo  
are the most living1 palpitating1 and   
lyrical things that ,rodin  has         
produced4    ,illustration3 ,,puvis ,,de
 ,,chavannes    ,illustration3          
,,jean-,,paul ,,laurens    ,in #ahic    
,rodin made the bust of ,madame         
,sverine1 the medallion of  ,csar       
,franck1 and several works in marble2   
,galatea1 ,the ,death of  ,adonis1 ,the 
,education of ,achilles1 and ,the ,wave4
 ,from #ahid date  the ,eternal ,spring1
 one of his tenderest and purest works1 
besides  an ,orpheus and ,eurydice1 an  
,adonis and ,venus1 and finally ,christ 
and the ,magdalen4 ,for1 by degrees1 he 
was returning to religious and          
mythological subjects1 after having     
expressed only general symbols  or      

pieces of pure realism2 and ,i shall    
have to call attention at a  later point
 to the original manner in which ,rodin 
was bold enough to  interpret these     
subjects which the academic classicism  
seemed to have  worn out and left       
insipid for ever4    ,the year #ahie at 
last beheld the inauguration1 on the    
#crd of ,june1 of  ,the ,burghers of    
,calais at ,calais4 ,to the same year   
belongs another  fine work in marble3   
,illusion1 the ,daughter of ,icarus1    
besides  a vigorous bronze1 ,the        
,crouching ,man1 a medallion of ,octave 
,mirbeau1 and--at this early date--some 
nude studies for the ,balzac1  for the  
,balzac was studied minutely in the     
nude1 a point of which  many people know
 nothing1 before appearing draped in the
 famous  dressing-gown which was        
destined1 in #ahih1 to arouse so much   
clamour4    ,illustration3 ,,bust ,,of  
,,madame ,v4    ,the ,burghers were set 
up1 by subscription1 in a square in     
,calais4#d    ,the monument is one in   

which ,rodin has deliberately departed  
from  all the rules of official art4    
,these require that the effect should   
be pursued primarily by a compact       
grouping1 the same thought being        
translated by the same gesture from all 
the persons4 ,rodin1 on the  contrary1  
desired to leave their full             
individuality to his six burghers  going
 in their shirts and with halters on    
their necks to surrender  themselves to 
,king ,edward1 and he has isolated them 
on their one  base4 ,these six men are  
walking1 one behind the other1 two by   
two1  half naked and miserable1 with    
their emaciated faces--men besieged1    
sacrificed4 ,one devotion unites them in
 the name of their town's  salvation1   
but their characters and their thoughts 
remain distinct1  and in each may be    
read a different drama of the           
conscience4 ,they  have not the         
factitious enthusiasm and the           
declamatory gesture with  which an      
ordinary sculptor would have thought    

well to furnish them2  they are simply  
citizens who have resolved to fulfil a  
fatal duty1  and are going to perform it
 without cowardice1 but nevertheless    
were1  yesterday1 trades-people and     
family-men with no pretensions to the   
heroic4 ,they bear with them their      
regrets1 their inner heartbreak1 and    
are not thinking of striking an attitude
 in the eyes of history4 ,they  are the 
unknown1 obscure heroes of a fatality   
such as often arose in  their rough     
times2 and of how many dead men1 devoted
 like them1 has  history forgotten the  
deeds and names6 ,there is ,eustace de  
,st4 ,pierre1  with his shaven          
magistrate's face1 stiff and controlled1
 carrying the  key of the town2 behind  
him ,andrieux d',andres1 with his hands 
clenched  over his sobbing face1 turns  
back1 this last time1 towards the city4 
,jean de ,fiennes1 with his rough beard 
and weak1 old man's shoulders1 is       
listening to ,jean d',aire1 who1 younger
 than he1 is murmuring words that       

perhaps confide to him his horror of    
death1 and entreat from the old  man    
encouragement in renunciation4 ,but in  
front of all the others the  two        
brothers1 ,jacques and ,pierre de       
,wissant1 advance resolutely2 and  one  
turns back to hasten his friends1 while 
one exhorts them1 pointing  with a      
restrained gesture towards heaven4      
,illustration3 ,,the ,,burghers ,,of    
,,calais    ,the entire reality of these
 figures is no less striking than their 
ideality1 just as is the case in the    
beautiful creations of the  ,primitives4
 ,these are men whose absolutely real   
nakedness reveals  itself beneath the   
coarse sacks that clothe them1 a        
nakedness not  harmonised into any      
style1 but shown in all its veracity by 
an artist  who has chosen models        
suitable to his characters without any  
care to  arrange them or to give them   
that pretended beauty which would be    
merely a falsehood and an enfeeblement4 
,these are six wretched men1  shivering 

with cold and anguish4 ,the scene is as 
close as possible  to history1 and the  
faces are real--ugly or ordinary4 ,but  
an idea  transfigures them4 ,the tragedy
 of their sacrifice gives them a strange
  greatness1 and they become fine       
because their soul is fine4 ,we guess   
the gradation of their reflections3 none
 faces his fate just like  another1 and 
the reason is that1 though what they    
will is one1 what  they leave is        
different for each1 and everything in   
them speaks1 from  their faces down to  
the least attitude of their limbs4      
,their expression  is sober2 a heavy    
silence enwraps them2 we follow them    
with our  eyes as the dwellers in       
,calais must have done from the heights 
of  their walls2 and they are so grouped
 that from every point we see them      
separately1 presenting a distinct       
aspect1 and yet the one base unites  and
 uplifts them4 ,this is a marvel of     
psychological composition4    ,technical
 skill assists this composition2 we find

 the power of the  ,st4 ,john1 but more 
simplification4 ,only the essential     
lines attract  the eye1 the details are 
subsidiary to the whole4 ,admirable bits
 of  flesh modelling are only noticed   
after long examination2 the substance   
is scarcely thought of1 so much is the  
mind held at first by the  intellectual 
drama1 and this was what ,rodin desired4
 ,these six beings1  side by side1 are  
august in their sorrow1 and they move us
 by means of  their simplicity and by   
the absence of any theatrical gesture4  
,we feel  the bodies under the shirts1  
for ,rodin made six complete models in  
the  nude before he threw upon them     
these rags of stuff and knotted ropes4  
,the feet are strongly attached to the  
earth2 we guess that their limbs  are   
heavy1 because1 though their will bids  
them walk1 every step leads  towards    
death4 ,the impression is extraordinary 
and such as perhaps no  sculpture ever  
gave before4 ,this is a reality of all  
time3 the epic of  the sacrifice of the 

humble4 ,as for the style1 it recalls   
the ,gothic  sculptors by the rugged    
power of the moulding1 the asceticism of
 the  heads1 and the strength of the    
knotty limbs4 ,we are compelled to think
  of the ,flemish primitives1 and       
especially of those genial ,burgundian  
sculptors and image-makers of genius who
 produced the immortal figures  of      
,philippe ,pot's tomb in the ,louvre4   
,there is the same desire for           
expression in sculpture1 which seeks    
beauty solely in intensity of           
character1 and finds style in the       
sincere study of reality--all  these    
things concurring towards the greater   
synthesis of the work's  general        
thought4 ,rodin there shows himself an  
essentially ,french and  northern       
artist1 alien from all that the         
academies1 hypnotised by the            
,italianism of the second ,renascence1  
have chosen to invent as dogmas  of     
beauty4 ,the ,burghers of ,calais is a  
work of the true ,french  classic       

tradition--of the national classicality 
which has nothing in  common with that  
classicality imported from ,italy in    
#aeej by which our  indigenous artists  
have so long been oppressed1 thanks to  
the cole  de ,rome4 ,standing before    
such a creation we recognise this truth 
sharply--this truth which is the secret 
of ,rodin's genius and of  the          
enthusiasm that he aroused4 ,better than
 ,rude1 better than ,barye1  better even
 than ,carpeaux1 has he found the way to
 free himself1 and to  go back1 by power
 of thought and mastery1 to our true    
national lineage4    ,illustration3 ,a  
,,burgher ,,of ,,calais                 
,illustration3 ,a ,,burgher ,,of        
,,calais    ,illustration3 ,a ,,burgher 
,,of ,,calais    ,the ,burghers ought1  
according to ,rodin's idea1 to be placed
 in front  of the old ,hotel de ,ville  
of ,calais1 facing the sea2 and he      
wished  the group to be placed on a very
 high pedestal1 so that the figures     
should stand out against the open sky1  

or else1 on the other hand1  almost on  
the level1 so that everyone could walk  
round them1 live with  them1 almost     
elbow them4 ,a bad site has been chosen 
and a pedestal of  moderate height and  
ordinary appearance4 ,the ,burghers are 
very fine  all the same1 and are        
certainly the most powerful piece of    
sculpture  of the epoch4 ,i have        
promised to be sober in my praises of   
,rodin1 but  ,i do not see why in       
speaking of such a work as this ,i      
should hide my  convictions4 ,those who 
have seen it cannot fail to consider it1
 as ,i  do1 the work of a thinker and of
 an artist of genius4      #a ,it ,is   
curious to recollect that the very fine 
equestrian statue of  ,general ,lynch   
and the monument to ,president ,vicunha1
 sent to ,america  by ,rodin1 were never
 paid for1 and that1 owing to           
revolutions1 they  actually disappeared1
 so that these works may be considered  
lost4 ,only  the spoiled rough models   
and some photographs remain4    #b      

,these ,shades are a symbolic           
representation of men who are just      
dead1 and who are bending down with     
folded hands in misery and terror       
gazing at the hellish crowd into which  
they are about to fall4    #c ,the final
 version of this group has been treated 
by ,rodin  separately1 and is known by  
the name of ,the ,kiss4 ,the marble     
group is  in the ,museum of the         
,luxembourg4    #d ,a statue of ,eustace
 de ,st4 ,pierre had been asked for4    
,rodin sent  the six effigies of        
burghers1 and this gave rise to fresh   
difficulties  with the authorities4     
,,iii      ,,rodin',s ,,work ,,from     
#ahie ,,to #ahih--,,small               
,,groups--,,the ,,statue ,,of ,,balzac  
--,,the ,,incident ,,of ,,the ,,soci,t  
,,des ,,gens ,,de ,,lettres--,,the      
,,technique  ,,of ,,the                 
,,balzac--,,rodin',s ,,ideas ,,upon     
,,modelling ,,and ,,composition--,,his  
,,opinions ,,about ,,the ,,greeks1 ,,the
 ,,gothic ,,style1 ,,classicism1 ,,and  

,,mythological ,,subjects--,,rodin',s   
,,antique ,,period4      ,the year #ahif
 was occupied by the continuation of    
work for the ,hugo  monument4 ,the ,muse
 of ,anger and the ,muse of the ,inna'  
,voice were  brought to their full      
completion4 ,in addition to these ,rodin
 made a  very fine head of ,minerva1 in 
marble1 with a silver helmet2 a statue  
of a ,conqueror1 holding a statue of    
,victory2 and two groups--,the  ,poet   
and the ,life of ,contemplation 7for ,m4
 ,fenaille1 the faithful  admirer1 who  
was1 at a later date1 to publish his    
sketches7 and ,the  ,eternal ,idol1 a   
marvel of inspiration4 ,a young naked   
woman is in a  half-sitting posture1 her
 head bent1 her gaze lost in a dream4 ,a
 man  kneeling before her1 his arms     
behind him and his desire restrained1   
puts his head gently forward and kisses 
the idol beneath the left  breast over  
the heart1 with mute fervour1 and with a
 mystic1 amorous  concentration of his  
whole being4 ,rarely does sculpture     

allow of so  much pulsating life and so 
much psychological emotion united to    
plastic  perfection and originality of  
arrangement4    ,from #ahig date the    
marble group of the ,women ,bathing1 the
 last  studies for the ,balzac1 and the 
studies for the ,monument to  ,president
 ,sarmiento1 a statue upon a pedestal in
 high-relief4 ,small  groups in marble  
and in bronze are a form of which ,rodin
 is fond4 ,he  has been led to devote   
himself largely to them on account of   
,the ,gate  of ,hell1 the dimensions of 
which necessitated small figures4       
,moreover1  ,rodin reserves this form of
 art for certain categories of works    
that  have a character of passion and   
intimacy4 ,it should be possible to pass
  easily round them1 to lean over them1 
almost to touch them and move  them     
about2 one should be able to live with  
them1 as one cannot do with  large      
figures meant to be looked at from      
below4 ,the happy form of the  small    
sculptured block1 which the eighteenth  

century had employed to  so much        
advantage1 allows this constant         
communion of the spectator and  the work
 of art4 ,rodin1 who executes his bigger
 figures in so large a  style1 reserves 
for these a style that is minute but    
never mannered4  ,the outlines remain   
large1 so much so1 indeed1 that the work
 would  always bear an enlarged scale2  
but the modelling is wrought with an    
almost caressing touch and with a       
strange love of form4 ,here the rough   
sculptor1 so ,gothic in his austerity1  
fingers the marble with the care  and   
the delicacy of a lover2 he reveals     
himself as a fervent adorer of  smooth1 
womanly flesh2 he plays with the        
subtlest variations of light  upon the  
inflexion of marble surfaces1 and the   
man who is reproached  with caring for  
nothing but character and with despising
 beauty  creates arms1 necks1 knees1 and
 bosoms of exquisite perfection4 ,his   
favourite type of woman is the long1    
delicately made woman1 with  a small    

bust1 largely curved hips1 and a face   
full of will1 the  nervous1 feline1     
voluptuous woman1 of head rather than of
 heart1 such  as ,baudelaire and ,rops  
have imagined4 ,the characteristic      
feature of  ,rodin's small groups is the
 seeking after new combinations of      
movement4  ,i have said already that his
 essential idea was the production of   
dynamic art2 that is to say that1       
finding himself face to face  with an   
academic school that had grown inert    
owing to its care for  pseudo-harmony1  
he had determined to draw sculpture out 
of this blind  alley and to show1 before
 all things1 how the expression of      
movement  might lead to an entirely new 
conception of decorative outline4 ,from 
this endeavour arose those little groups
 of lovers in which the  attitudes are  
so infinitely varied1 those curious     
presentments in  which the arms and legs
 are placed as freely as in a painting4 
,but the  painting has the help of      
shadow1 of backgrounds1 and of values1  

which  allow the light to be            
concentrated on a single point and the  
rest to be  blurred4 ,rodin has         
attempted so to compose his most        
audacious movements  that1 in walking   
round1 a new aspect of them is          
constantly presented1  whereas ordinary 
sculpture1 meant to be seen from a      
single point1 does  not allow the       
spectator to pass behind it4 ,this      
difficulty and this  main idea have led 
,rodin to treat modelling and           
composition in a way  upon which ,i     
shall dwell more fully later on1 and to 
invent a style of  statuary which       
borrows some of the laws of painting4   
,these thoughts had long been ripening  
in ,rodin when at last he resolved  to  
apply them to his ,balzac1 which was    
really not his first attempt  in this   
direction1 but the first that was seen  
in public4 ,when this  statue appeared  
in the ,salon of #ahih1 it created such 
a commotion that  for a week the public 
forgot1 over it1 the events of that vast

 serial  story1 the ,dreyfus affair4    
,the clamour was extraordinary2 some    
people  raged at what they considered a 
scandalous practical joke1 others       
warmly defended the new work4 ,the      
,socit des ,gens de ,lettres1 already   
irritated by ,rodin's delays in         
finishing the statue1 declared plainly  
that it refused the ,balzac1 a decision 
which led to the resignation  of the    
committee4 ,rodin might have brought an 
action and won it1  for1 strictly       
speaking1 his agreement required the    
society to accept  the work such as he  
delivered it4 ,he preferred to withdraw 
his work  without claiming its price or 
discussing the matter4 ,once again his  
art  encountered violent opposition from
 the official camp--but to struggle  is 
repugnant to his temper4 ,inflexible in 
his will as a producer1 he is  timid and
 proud in his attitude towards          
contradictions4 ,opportunity1  moreover1
 offered him a roguish and witty        
revenge4 ,falguire was  commissioned to 

make a ,balzac4 ,this put ,falguire in a
 very awkward  position2 after all the  
fuss made about ,rodin's statue1 he must
 needs  produce something finer1 or at  
the very least equally interesting4 ,he 
was certain of a bad reception at the   
hands of ,rodin's admirers and he  was  
bound to please the others4 ,falguire   
only succeeded in producing a  mediocre 
work4 ,the ,balzac that may be seen at  
the present time in the  ,avenue de     
,friedland is nothing but a half-hearted
 imitation of ,rodin's2  it is ,rodin's 
,balzac seated1 and without character or
 interest4 ,this  work appeared in      
#aijj1 at a time when opinion was       
already beginning  to recognise the     
injustice done to ,rodin1 and it pleased
 nobody4  ,then ,rodin1 to show that the
 incident had in no way altered his     
friendly relations with ,falguire1#a    
made an admirable bust of his           
fellow-worker1 which was as fine as the 
second ,balzac was poor1 and  thus gave 
to ,falguire and to the public1 also1 a 

silent and ironical  lesson4    ,what1  
then1 was this ,balzac which was so much
 detested1 and about  which the most    
abusive and extraordinary things were   
written8 ,merely  the image of the great
 writer1 draped in a dressing-gown1 with
 empty1  hanging sleeves2 he has risen  
in the night and is walking up and down1
  disturbed and sleepless1 pursuing an  
idea that has suddenly presented        
itself4 ,he is bent forward1 his head   
thrown back1 the eyes deep-set1  and the
 mouth contracted in a smile of         
challenge4 ,the powerful  neck--the neck
 indeed of a bull--emerges from the open
 wrapper4 ,rodin  made use of various   
daguerreotypes1 and especially of a     
celebrated  portrait of ,balzac1 that   
shows him in shirt-sleeves with one     
brace1  and folded arms4 ,the enormous  
proportions of the head1 the amazing    
strength of the thorax1 the monstrous   
and leonine character of the face  are  
all exact4 ,his was the countenance of  
an element1 said ,lamartine  of ,balzac1

 with a torso that was joined to the    
head by an enormous  neck1 short legs1  
and short arms4 ,these words absolutely 
justify the  statue4 ,rodin had made    
studies for it in the nude 7there are   
some fine  clay models of the subject in
 his studio71 then he clothed it with a 
gown 7or to be more exact1 with a       
bath-wrap1 for that is what ,balzac's   
famous monk's robe was71 and proceeded  
to simplify the folds until  he had left
 only the two or three essential ones4  
,the result thus  obtained1 with the    
disproportion of body and legs1 led     
,rodin to hide  the short1 ugly1 useless
 arms under the drapery1 and the figure 
thus  assumed pretty much the appearance
 of a mummy1 of a sort of monolith1     
from which nothing stood out but the one
 point of interest1 the savage  and     
magnificent animality of the head1 with 
its darkened gaze and the  bitterly     
curved mouth1 of which ,rodin had made a
 separate small study  in bronze4 ,a    
great heave of the shoulders throws the 

body slightly  backward1 causing it to  
rest upon one leg1 which is apparently  
bent1  while the other is moved forward 
to walk4    ,illustration3 ,,balzac     
,the whole work gives the impression of 
a menhir1 a pagan dedicatory  stone4    
,interest is concentrated solely upon   
the head4 ,rodin considered  that the   
representation of a celebrated figure   
offered no corporeal  interest4 ,it is  
evident that a great error prevails on  
this subject4  ,the ancients have       
transmitted to us naked or draped       
statues4 ,it must  be remembered that   
this homage was almost always paid to   
warriors1  athletes1 or courtesans2 to  
represent these at full length was to   
express their fame4 ,their beautiful    
shape received fit homage4 ,the gods    
were conceived as incarnations of moral 
beauty in physical beauty4  ,but as time
 and morality have gradually brought us 
to honour men who  are great in thought1
 the bodily representation of them has  
strayed  into an extremely false path4  

,dress and physical exterior ceased to  
be  of plastic interest1 but the manner 
of our homage remained the same4  ,busts
 with pedestals commemorating in writing
 the deeds or the works  would have been
 the right form of celebration4 ,but    
this1 the only  intelligent form1       
appeared to our modern statue-maniac    
ages too scanty4  ,this heretical       
opinion has given birth to the gentlemen
 in frock-coats  who disfigure our      
present towns and are hoisted upon      
pedestals in our  public squares4 ,to   
this absurd point have we come3 in order
 to honour  the soul we reproduce its   
husk1 the body1 which is destined to the
  nothingness of the grave1 and we      
represent the shoes and coats as        
exactly as the head4 ,we attempt in our 
pious regard for the essence  of a      
thinker to represent that part of him   
which was transitory4 ,the  result is   
photography in bronze1 a wretched       
artistic contradiction4  ,nevertheless1 
if we are to bow to custom and represent

 a man at full  length of whom the head 
is the only important fact1 we must     
indeed  give him a body that is like    
reality2 but the artist should try to   
concentrate interest as much as possible
 on the face4 ,so illogical  is this    
style in itself that the bodies and     
clothes are copied from  chance models2 
the head of the person to be glorified  
is stuck on to  them1 and it is the     
merest bit of luck if it has been       
possible to shape  this head itself from
 actual evidence6 ,for plenty of statues
 represent  individuals who never looked
 like them1 and of whom no authentic    
likeness exists1 which is the height of 
absurdity and the very  burlesque of an 
honour4#b    ,illustration3 ,,balzac    
,in such cases an allegorical monument  
should be a matter of necessity2  yet we
 behold hundreds of such statues1 all   
the same1 and our prejudice  in favour  
of verisimilitude requires us to        
contemplate the embroidery  of their    
doublets or the trimming of their coats4

    ,rodin1 for his part1 to whom such  
ideas1 which degrade his art to the     
lowest level1 are revolting1 believes   
that composition and expression  should 
be so arranged as to make the spectator 
forget the plastique  of the body4 ,in  
his busts he neglects the inevitable    
linen collar1  coat-collar1 and necktie4
 ,the graceful dress of ,claude         
,lorraine1 the  shirt and rope of ,the  
,burghers of ,calais1 had served his    
purpose  well1 and in the statues of    
,general ,lynch and ,bastien-,lepage he 
had reduced the modern dress to large   
bronze reliefs without precise  details4
 ,especially in the image of a thinker  
he seeks to annul the  costume4 ,the    
,olympian character of ,hugo allowed of 
the nude2 for the  massive deformity of 
,balzac the dressing-gown was           
appropriate4 ,the  majority of those who
 mocked did not even know that this     
careless  costume was habitual to the   
author1 and that ,rodin chose to        
surprise  him in his home and in the    

fever of work1 instead of showing him in
 the  street with a hat and stick1 as   
they would no doubt have expected4      
,the ,balzac1 then1 presents the aspect 
of a sheath of stone pushed out  by a   
few twisting folds1 which give it the   
appearance from behind of  an upright   
sarcophagus4 ,the size of the head1 the 
abnormal largeness  of the chest and    
neck1 which have aroused mockery1 are   
historic4 ,apart  from these points1 one
 honestly wonders what it is that can   
have  shocked people in this bold and   
sincere work4 ,the face is admirable in 
its pride1 its strength of will1 its    
haughty irony1 and penetrating  power of
 thought4 ,the modelling and the leading
 lines are masterly4  ,the rather       
ghostly look of the clay disappears in  
the bronze1 as may  be seen from the    
little head in that material1 of which  
the monument  was to be made4 ,it is the
 freedom1 the spontaneity1 the life of  
the  statue1 which1 as in the case of   
the ,burghers1 gave a shock to the      

conventions of the official world and   
disturbed the ideas of the public  at   
large4    ,it is true1 nevertheless1 and
 is generally admitted even by its most 
active adversaries that this great      
figure possesses a strange haunting     
power2 when one had seen it in the      
,salon one could see nothing else  after
 it1 and could not succeed in getting   
away from it4 ,people  returned to it1  
in order to attack it1 but they did     
return to it  inevitably4 ,the same     
official sculptors who in #ahgg had     
accused ,the  ,age of ,brass of being   
cast from life because the figure was so
 exact  did not shrink from accusing    
this same ,rodin1 matured by twenty     
years  of work1 of not knowing the      
figure and hiding his ,balzac under a   
robe out of weakness4 ,besides these    
reproaches1 which were made in  bad     
faith1 reproaches arose which exclaimed 
at ,rodin's madness or  hypocritically  
regretted that a man of so much talent  
should have made  so great a mistake4   

,but one thing which the ,bahac never   
encountered  was indifference2 what was 
the spell which compelled everybody to  
regard it as an irritating puzzle1 as a 
challenge1 as a work out of the         
ordinary run8 ,plenty of hostile faces  
were to be seen1 but many of  them      
showed a secret fear of being in the    
wrong1 of misunderstanding a  fine      
thing1 a work which was a forerunner4   
,this same fear might have  been read as
 early as #ahfg upon the faces of the   
detractors who stood  in a ring around  
,manet's first works4    ,the spell lay 
in the extreme simplification1 the      
reduction of the  elements to a powerful
 unity1 according to a scheme with which
 ,rodin  had made experiments in silence
 and which he now revealed4 ,and at     
this point ,i am led to a brief         
explanation of ,rodin's ideas upon the  
technical part of his art4    ,at the   
time of the ,balzac's appearance ,i gave
 an account of the way  by which ,rodin 
had been led to a new conception of     

sculpture4 ,this was  in an article#c   
that has been reproduced more or less   
everywhere1 and  that ,rodin has been   
good enough to consider as the emanation
 and direct  expression of his artistic 
wishes4 ,i cannot enter into all the    
details4  ,the scale of this book would 
not allow of that1 but the following are
  the principal points of that          
evolution4    ,rodin's is above all a   
temperament inclined to the expression  
of  passionate and tragic character4    
,thence comes his constant study of     
movement4 ,as ,i said before1 that study
 has led him to give unlooked-for       
values to the general outline and to    
produce works which may be viewed  on   
all sides and which continually show a  
fresh and balanced aspect  that explains
 the other aspects3 otherwise the daring
 gestures and the  bold combinations of 
the limbs would have given an air of    
absurdity  to the groups4 ,rodin is at  
the same time very reflective and very  
instinctive4 ,he matures a thought      

slowly1 but he often passes by  chance  
from that thought to its realisation4   
,this is the predominant  feature of his
 nature1 and it explains his entire art4
 ,rodin often  appears unconscious1     
astonished at what he had in him and at 
what he  has brought into existence1 to 
such a degree that he explains it badly 
enough4 ,he sees his thought in the     
whole of nature and finds it there      
again2 that thought1 indeed1 is fed by  
general ideas1 and is1 if ,i may  say   
so1 almost elemental4 ,from this point  
of view ,rodin's genius  is independent 
of his talent as a sculptor4 ,it        
sometimes happens to  him to see a block
 of marble or a knob of wood1 and the   
form of such an  object will show him   
what he will make and the movement of   
the figure4  ,he adapts to it one of the
 ideas which he always has in reserve3  
the  aspect of the wood or the marble   
determines the passage of the thought   
to the material which will incarnate it4
 ,i said one day to ,rodin3 ,one  would 

say that you knew there was a figure in 
that block1 and that you  do nothing    
beyond breaking away the stone that     
hides it from us4 ,he  answered that    
that was exactly his feeling as he      
worked4 ,upon the naked  figure ,rodin  
has ideas that are peculiar to his      
nature as a mystic and  a realist4 ,he  
considers the body with its four limbs  
as a cypher1 of  which the combinations 
are infinite4 ,that is an old idea that 
was held  by primitive theologians of   
the ,eastern religions4 ,and it is the  
fact  that ,rodin has invented an       
immense series of attitudes and         
combinations  that one would not have   
thought possible3 he attaches little    
groups to  the side of a block of marble
 with the freedom of a painter throwing 
a figure upon a background4 ,he makes   
his people light1 he makes them  soar1  
he entwines them in surprising          
positions4    ,it was therefore         
absolutely essential that he should find
 means to  constitute a logical harmony 

on every side of his works4 ,scholastic 
statuary is opposed to this principle4  
,its tendency is to treat groups  as    
bas-reliefs4 ,the spectator must stand  
in front1 at a certain spot1  and       
whatever is behind is accessory3 the    
decorative line produces its  effect    
only from that point4 ,so true is this  
that statues are very  often so placed  
in public squares that people cannot    
pass round them4  ,the academic         
sculptors treat a piece of sculpture    
like a picture2 it  has a right side and
 a wrong side4 ,rodin1 shocked at this  
method1 began  by working in quite a    
different way4 ,he made successive      
sketches of all  the faces of his works1
 going constantly round them so as to   
obtain a  series of views connected in a
 ring4 ,travels in ,italy had led him to
  think that the ancients proceeded in  
this manner and that their great        
endeavour was to get the design of the  
outline by means of movement1  which    
continually modifies the anatomy4       

,anatomy1 indispensable to  the artist1 
becomes the source of all the academic  
errors if once  we forget that it is but
 inertia1 the state of non-action1 and  
consequently incapable of expressly     
teaching us about life and about  the   
modifications that thought imposes upon 
flesh4 ,the real value of  a living     
figure is given by profiles studied     
successively in a full  light4 ,rodin   
was delighted by this way of working4   
,but his pictorial  inclinations1 his   
ideas about the possible formation of a 
background  in sculpture as in painting1
 were not satisfied4    ,when the       
academic school wishes to make use of a 
background to a figure  it confines     
itself to a hollow or a relief4 ,rodin  
desired that a statue  should stand free
 and should bear looking at from any    
point1 but he  desired nevertheless that
 it should remain in relation with light
 and  with the surrounding atmosphere4  
,he was struck by the hard1 cut-out     
aspect of ordinary statues1 and asked   

himself how an atmosphere might  be     
given to them4 ,painting has two means  
to this end3 of which the  first is     
values4 ,values are independent of      
colour4 ,values1 an element  common to  
both arts1 are in painting and sculpture
 the relations as  to opacity or        
transparence of an object and the       
background against  which it is seen4   
,they may be dark on a light ground1    
light on a dark  ground1 or light upon a
 ground that is likewise light2 but they
 are  always the very life of the       
outline1 and the important point is to  
fix  that outline first of all4 ,when we
 see a person placed between the  sun   
and ourselves1 against the light1 we do 
not at first perceive the  details      
within the outline1 but we do see the   
general mass of the body1  and that mass
 is filled with more or less intense    
colour1 in which we  presently          
distinguish details4 ,our perception at 
the moment is as much  sculptural as    
pictorial4 ,rodin1 struck by the        

importance of this idea1  devoted       
himself to obtaining1 at once and       
together1 the volume2  that is to say1  
the equivalent in sculpture of the      
value1 and the  design of successive    
views of one movement4    ,but the      
second means in painting is the         
employment of intermediate  tones       
encircling the figure and combining with
 the background4 ,how  could an         
equivalent be found for that8 ,logic led
 ,rodin on to a step  which alarmed him3
 he made experiments after examining the
 antiques  very closely4 ,he took       
fragments of his statues and began to   
raise them  in certain places by layers 
of clay1 intensifying the modelling and 
enlarging the lines4 ,he observed that  
the light now played better upon  these 
enlarged lines2 the refraction of light 
upon these amplified  surfaces was      
softer1 the hardness of the cut-out     
outline vanished1  and a radiant zone   
shaped itself around his figures and    
united them  gradually with the         

atmosphere4 ,in this way1 therefore1 by 
means of  this systematic accentuation  
of the outlines1 an intermediate tone1 a
  radiancy of the forms1 was produced4  
,rodin understood at once that he had   
found his way to the deepest  secret of 
his art2 that is to say1 to the ideal   
limit where through its  hidden laws a  
plastic art touches the other arts in a 
negation of all  that is merely         
materialistic4 ,the intermediate tones  
in painting1 the  radiating surfaces in 
sculpture1 are the same principle as the
 nervous  radiations noted in           
photographing a hand1 where it may be   
seen that  the fingers are prolonged by 
emanations4 ,nothing is fixed1 limited1 
or finished in nature1 and the radiating
 state is the only real one4  ,but this 
was a dangerous discovery for a         
sculptor1 since people would            
immediately exclaim upon the deformation
 of what was seen1 the  alteration of   
the fact1 the falsification of anatomy4 
,therefore ,rodin  proceeded in silence 

and with very great prudence4 ,the point
 was not1  of course1 to enlarge all    
surfaces equally1 for that would have   
produced only an increase of scale4 ,the
 thing was to amplify1 with  tact1      
certain parts of the modelling1 the     
edges of which were swept  by the light1
 so as to give a halo to the outline4   
,at the same time1  ,rodin experimented 
in a series of drawings made on purpose1
 forbidding  himself to give any detail1
 tracing only the outlines of bodies    
filled  in with one wash of water-colour
 that gave the value4 ,i shall return   
to these sketches4 ,they cannot be      
understood without a knowledge of  their
 original purpose4    ,this theory1 to  
which ,rodin approved of my giving the  
name of  deliberate amplification of    
surfaces1 is simply the critical        
principle of ,greek sculpture1 which has
 been entirely misunderstood  by the    
academic school4 ,that school1 which is 
supposed to honour the  ,greeks1 is     
really false to their spirit and their  

teaching4 ,moreover1  this principle1   
which belongs to all the primitive      
statuary that  was made for the open    
air1 is to be found among the ,egyptians
 and  the ,assyrians4 ,it calls in      
question the academic tradition whereby 
exactitude is confounded with truth4 ,in
 reality it may be said  to be a        
profoundly classic principle which has  
been denied by the  academic school4    
,here1 as in painting1 classicism is    
opposed to the  academic4 ,hence it     
should be concluded that in reality     
,rodin is by  no means an innovator     
opposing himself to a school that       
retains  classic traditions1 but1       
speaking precisely1 a classic1 returning
 to  nature1 replacing himself in the   
state of mind of a ,greek before his    
model1 and opposing himself to a school 
that has overloaded art with  methods1  
formulas1 and expedients that change the
 character of antique  and ,gothic art4 
,rodin has a horror of what is called   
originality1  and an even greater horror

 of what is called inspiration4 ,he only
  trusts completely to work and to      
minute1 sincere observation of nature4  
,slowness is a beauty1 he often says4   
,he has the greatest antipathy  for     
sculpture with literary meanings1 and   
has often been galled1  without saying  
so1 by certain praises1 in which        
writers1 reeling off  pages of          
description about his works1 have       
thought to please him by  dwelling on   
the idea and not on the execution4 ,i   
invent nothing1  he says2 ,i rediscover4
 ,and the thing seems new because people
 have  generally lost sight of the aim  
and the means of art2 they take  that   
for an innovation which is nothing but a
 return to the laws of  the great       
sculpture of long ago4 ,obviously1 ,i   
think2 ,i like certain  symbols1 ,i see 
things in a synthetic way1 but it is    
nature that gives  me all that4 ,i do   
not imitate the ,greeks2 ,i try to put  
myself in the  spiritual state of the   
men who have left us the antique        

statues4 ,the  'cole' copies their      
works2 the thing that signifies is to   
recover  their method4 ,i began by      
showing close studies from nature like  
,the  ,age of ,brass4 ,afterwards ,i    
came to understand that art required a  
little more largeness1 a little         
exaggeration1 and my whole aim1 from    
the time of the ,burghers1 was to find a
 method of exaggerating  logically3 that
 method consists in the deliberate      
amplification of the  modelling4 ,it    
consists also in the constant reduction 
of the figure to  a geometrical figure1 
and in the determination to sacrifice   
any part of  a figure to the synthesis  
of its aspect4 ,see what the ,gothic    
sculptors  did4 ,look at the cathedral  
of ,chartres2 one of the towers is      
massive  and without ornament3 they     
sacrificed it to give value to the      
exquisite  delicacy of the other tower4 
,in sculpture the projection of the     
muscular fasciculi must be  accentuated1
 the foreshortening forced1 the hollows 

deepened2 sculpture  is the art of the  
hole and the lump1 not of clear1        
well-smoothed1  unmodelled figures4     
,ignorant people1 when they see         
close-knitted true  surfaces1 say that  
'it is not finished4' ,no notion is     
falser than that  of finish unless it be
 that of elegance2 by means of these two
  ideas people would kill our art4 ,the 
way to obtain solidity and life is  by  
work carried out to the fullest1 not in 
the direction of achievement  and of    
copying details1 but in that of truth in
 the successive  schemes4 ,the public1  
perverted by academic prejudices1       
confounds art  with neatness4 ,the      
simplicity of the 'cole' is a painted   
cardboard  ideal4 ,a cast from life is a
 copy1 the exactest possible copy1 and  
yet it has neither motion nor eloquence4
 ,art intervenes to exaggerate  certain 
surfaces1 and also to fine down others4 
,in sculpture everything  depends upon  
the way in which the modelling is       
carried out with a  constant thought of 

the main line of the scheme1 upon the   
rendering of  the hollows1 of the       
projections and of their connections2   
thus it is  that one may get fine       
lights1 and especially fine shadows that
 are not  opaque4 ,everything should be 
emphasised according to the accent that 
it is desired to render1 and the degree 
of amplification is personal1  according
 to the tact and the temperament of each
 sculptor2 and for  this reason there is
 no transmissible process1 no studio    
recipe1 but  only a true law4 ,i see it 
in the antique and in ,michael ,angelo4 
,to work  by the profiles1 in depth not 
by surfaces1 always thinking of the few 
geometrical forms from which all nature 
proceeds1 and to make these  eternal    
forms perceptible in the individual case
 of the object studied1  that is my     
criterion4 ,that is not idealism1 it is 
a part of the  handicraft4 ,my ideas    
have nothing to do with it but for that 
method2 my  ,danaids and my ,dante      
figures would be weak1 bad things4 ,from

 the large  design that ,i get your mind
 deduces ideas4    ,rodin1 then1 is     
convinced that he is classical1 and     
rebels against the  cole which claims to
 be so4 ,he has the greatest admiration 
for the  ,renascence1 but declares that 
he does not so clearly understand the   
genius of the ,gothic sculptors4 ,he    
admires it1 but has not thoroughly      
penetrated it4 ,i feel it1 but ,i cannot
 express it1 he says4 ,i cannot  analyse
 the ,celtic genius to my own           
satisfaction4 ,in the ,middle ,ages  art
 came from groups1 not from individuals4
 ,it was anonymous2 the  sculptors of   
cathedrals no more put their names to   
their works than  our workmen put theirs
 on the pavement that they lay4 ,ah6    
what an  admirable scorn of notoriety6  
,the signature is what destroys us4 ,we 
do  portraits1 but what we do is not so 
great4 ,these kings and queens1 on  the 
cathedrals1 were not portraits4 ,the    
fellow-workers stood for one  another1  
and they interpreted2 they did not copy4

 ,they made clothed  figures2 the nude  
and portraiture only date from the      
,renascence4 ,and  then those fellows   
cut with the tool's end into the block1 
that is why  they were called sculptors4
 ,as for us1 we are modellers4 ,and what
 a  disgraceful thing that casting from 
life is1 which so many well-known       
sculptors do not blush to use6 ,it is a 
mere swindling in art4 ,art was  a vital
 function to the image-makers of the    
thirteenth century2 they  would have    
laughed at the idea of signing what they
 did1 and never  dreamed of honours and 
titles4 ,when once their work was       
finished1  they said no more about it1  
or else they talked among themselves4   
,how curious it would have been to hear 
them1 to be present at their            
gatherings1 where they must have        
discussed in amusing phrases1 and with  
simple1 deep ideas6444 ,whenever the    
cathedrals disappear civilisation  will 
go down one step4 ,and even now we no   
longer understand them1 we  no longer   

know how to read their silent language4 
,we need to make  excavations not in the
 earth1 but towards heaven4444 ,an      
admirable  saying that ,rodin has often 
repeated to me and that ,i have never   
heard  without deep emotion6 ,he has the
 secret of these true formulas1 and  his
 words1 which are not eloquent1 but1    
rather1 obscure1 are suddenly  lighted  
up by them4 ,his speech1 like his       
sculpture1 is born from  sincere contact
 with the essence of nature4 ,in regard 
to the ,renascence  and ,michael        
,angelo1 he reports that he received no 
decisive lesson  from either until after
 a journey to ,italy in #ahge4 ,i       
believed before  that1 he says1 that    
movement was the whole secret of this   
art1 and  ,i put my models into         
positions like those of ,michael        
,angelo4 ,but  as ,i went on observing  
the free attitudes of my models ,i      
perceived  that they possessed these    
naturally1 and that ,michael ,angelo had
  not preconceived them1 but merely     

transcribed them according to the       
personal inspiration of human beings    
moved by the need of action4 ,i  went to
 ,rome to look for what may be found    
everywhere3 the latent  heroic in every 
natural movement4 #d    ,then ,i        
gathered the elements of what people    
call my symbolism4 ,i do  not understand
 anything about long words and theories4
 ,but ,i am willing  to be a symbolist1 
if that defines the ideas that ,michael 
,angelo gave  me1 namely that the       
essence of sculpture is the modelling1  
the general  scheme which alone enables 
us to render the intensity1 the supple  
variety of movement and character4 ,if  
we can imagine the thought of  ,god in  
creating the world1 ,he thought first of
 the construction1 which  is the sole   
principle of nature1 of living things   
and perhaps of the  planets4 ,michael   
,angelo seems to me rather to derive    
from ,donatello  than from the ancients2
 ,raphael proceeds from them4 ,he       
understood that  an architecture can be 

built up with the human body1 and that1 
in  order to possess volume and harmony1
 a statue or a group ought to be        
contained in a cube1 a pyramid2 or some 
simple figure4 ,let us look at a  ,dutch
 interior and at an interior painted by 
an artist of the present  day4 ,the     
latter no longer touches us1 because it 
does not possess the  qualities of depth
 and volume1 the science of distances4  
,the artist who  paints it does not know
 how to reproduce a cube4 ,an interior  
by ,van  der ,meer is a cubic painting4 
,the atmosphere is in it and the exact  
volume of the objects2 the place of     
these objects has been respected1  the  
modern painter places them1 arranges    
them as models4 ,the ,dutchmen  did not 
touch them1 but set themselves to render
 the distances that  separated them1    
that is1 the depth4 ,and then1 if ,i go 
so far as to say  that cubic truth1 not 
appearance1 is the mistress of things1  
if ,i  add that the sight of the plains 
and woods and country views gives me    

the principle of the plans that ,i      
employ on my statues1 that ,i feel      
cubic truth everywhere1 and that plan   
and volume appear to me as laws  of all 
life and all beauty1 will it be said    
that ,i am a symbolist1 that  ,i        
generalise1 that ,i am a metaphysician8 
,it seems to me that ,i have  remained a
 sculptor and a realist4 ,unity         
oppresses and haunts me4    ,what1 says 
,rodin again1 is the principle of my    
figures1 and  what is it that people    
like in them8 ,it is the very pivot of  
art1  it is balance2 that is to say1 the
 oppositions of volume produced  by     
movement4 ,that is the striking1        
material fact in art1 with all  due     
deference to those persons who conceive 
art as distinct from  'brutal' reality4 
,art is like love4 ,for many people it  
is a dream1 a  psychological            
complication1 a palace1 a perfume1 a    
stage scene2 but  nothing of the sort6  
,the essential of love is the pairing2  
all the  rest is only detail1 charming1 

and full of passion1 but detail4 ,it is 
the same in art3 people come and praise 
my symbols and my expressions  to me2   
but ,i know that the plans are the      
essential thing4 ,respect the  plan1    
make it exact from every point2 movement
 intervenes1 displaces  these volumes   
and creates a fresh balance4 ,the human 
body is like a  walking temple1 and like
 a temple it has a central point around 
which  the volumes place and spread     
themselves4 ,when one understands that1 
one has everything4 ,it is simple1 but  
it must be seen1 and academism  refuses 
to see it4 ,instead of recognising that 
that is the key to my  method they      
prefer to say that ,i am a poet4 ,that  
expression signifies  that people feel1 
confusedly1 the difference between an   
art resting  on conventions and one     
derived from truth2 only they think that
 the  'poetic' art is the conventional  
one4 ,they call that inspiration4  ,that
 is the belief that has led to the      
theory of genius being madness4  ,but   

men of genius are just those who1 by    
their trade-skill1 carry the  essential 
thing to perfection4 ,people say that my
 sculpture is that  of an 'exalt4'#e    
,i do not deny that there is exaltation 
in my works2 but that  exaltation       
existed not in me1 but in nature1 in    
movement4 ,the divine  work is naturally
 exalted4 ,as for me1 all ,i do is to be
 true2 my  temperament is not 'exalted'2
 it is patient4 ,i am not a dreamer1    
but a mathematician2 and if my sculpture
 is good it is because it is            
geometrical4    ,from these fragments of
 conversation the reader will conceive  
how  ,rodin's generalising spirit leads 
him from the realism of his daily  work 
to the synthesis of a sort of           
ideo-realistic metaphysical system4  ,he
 has the sense 7belonging only to       
genius7 of the continuity of  the       
universe1 and he certainly had it at a  
time when1 unlettered  as he was1 he    
would not have known how to explain it  
specifically  to himself4 ,he constantly

 formulates this metaphysical system1 as
 ,i  have seen it formulated by ,stphane
 ,mallarm1 who could never see  anything
 without instantly bringing together two
 ideas or images that  no one would ever
 have thought of connecting4            
,spontaneous analogy  is the mark of    
genius and the secret of all real       
poetry4 ,this is  why ,i consider ,rodin
 as a very great poet--not in the sense 
that he  dislikes1 but on the contrary1 
by giving to the word poet its deep     
etymological significance according to  
the ,greek1 that of making1  creating1  
vivifying4 ,we may understand1 too1 in  
how great a degree an  intellectuality  
of this kind offers a living challenge  
to the ideas  of the cole4 ,the man who 
thinks thus is necessarily isolated and 
has struggled all his life1 never making
 a concession and saying  nobly1 ,the   
artist1 like the woman1 has an honour to
 preserve4 ,i will  further quote from  
,rodin the following reflection#f3      
,where you follow  nature1 you get      

everything4 ,when ,i have a beautiful   
woman's body for  a model the drawings  
that ,i make from it give me images of  
insects1  birds1 and fishes4 ,that seems
 improbable1 and ,i had no suspicion of 
it myself4 ,formerly ,i used to be      
seeking shapes for vases1 either to  use
 them at ,svres1 where ,i used to work1 
or elsewhere4444 ,i never  succeeding in
 finding a beauty of proportions and    
lines such as ,i had  the feeling of1   
because ,i only founded my attempts upon
 imagination4  ,since that time ,i have 
drawn women's bodies1 and one of these  
bodies  gave me1 in the synthesis of it1
 a magnificent shape for a vase1 with   
true and harmonious lines4 ,the point is
 not to create4 ,creation and           
improvisation are useless words4 ,genius
 only comes to the man who  understands 
with his eye and his brain4 ,everything 
is in the things  about us4 ,manufacture
 and ornamental art want reforming      
according to  these ideas4 ,i should    
have liked to see that4 ,everything-is  

contained  in nature4 ,there is an      
harmonious1 continual1 uninterrupted    
movement4 ,a  woman1 a mountain1 a      
horse1 in conception they are all the   
same thing1  they are made on the same  
principles4 ,young artists compose      
instead of  following their models and  
understanding that therein lies         
infinity4  ,here ,rodin directly touches
 a scientific truth--the relative       
monotony  of ,nature's productive forms4
 ,nature does everything with very few  
forms3 the variations are so infinite   
that there are no two leaves  alike1 but
 the nerves of a leaf1 the lines of a   
vein1 an artery1 a  bird's wing1 a      
fishbone1 a nerve-cell1 are identical2  
multiplicity  derives from identity and 
returns to it1 so that everything is    
reduced  to a fundamental geometry which
 perhaps is but the effect of a single  
cellular generation4 ,in this respect   
the laws of art and of science  are the 
same1 even as among all the arts there  
is a synthesis of  common laws1 an      

identity where we seem to behold a      
difference4 ,recent  work in science1 by
 establishing the existence of states of
 radiation  7,crookes1 ,rntgen1 ,hertz7 
is busy undermining our old conception  
of  matter1 showing us the identity of  
it with the immaterial1 and thereby     
abolishing our preconceptions about the 
idea and the fact1 music and  sculpture1
 considered as different manifestations4
 ,i remember that ,i  one day kept      
,rodin's curiosity excited for a long   
time by explaining  the details of this 
theory to him2 he was not acquainted    
with it1  and listened to me as to a    
writer in love with general ideas4 ,but 
it  was clear that in his mere province 
as a sculptor he knew far better  and   
had penetrated far more deeply into this
 enthralling problem of  identity4 ,his 
is a luminous mind1 of the same kind as 
the electric  rays2 it rather penetrates
 than surrounds what is obscure to it4  
,on  that day he was disturbed1 and ,i  
was irritated by certain declamations   

which had been written about his        
philosophy1 and of which the author  had
 assuredly not comprehended the logical 
consequences2 and we came  to the       
conclusion that it would be much better 
for ,rodin's peace of  mind to keep     
silent upon these points1 for his       
philosophy could only  be made          
comprehensible to those who could       
understand the method of his  sculpture4
    ,it is time1 however1 to pause in   
this path and to return simply to  the  
question of sculpture4 ,nor was it my   
purpose to tire the reader  by these    
abstractions when ,i began to say a few 
words about ,rodin's  opinions          
concerning the antique4 ,it must be     
understood1 then1 that the  ,balzac and 
even the ,hugo1 as well as some figures1
 were the result  of all these preceding
 reflections4 ,when ,i saw my ,balzac   
brought  into the yard from the         
storehouse of the statues in order to go
 to  the ,salon1 says ,rodin1 ,i had it 
purposely placed beside ,the ,kiss1     

which had been finished rather earlier4 
,i was not dissatisfied with the        
simplified vigour of that group1 to     
which ,i had already applied these      
experiments4 ,but ,i saw that it looked 
slack1 that it did not hold its  place  
beside the ,balzac as ,michael ,angelo's
 torso does beside a fine  antique1 and 
then ,i understood that ,i was in the   
right path4 ,i have  had hesitations1   
you know1 pangs that ,i do not speak of4
 ,and then1  little by little1 as ,i    
looked at nature1 as ,i came to         
understand it  better and to throw aside
 my prejudices more frankly1 ,i took    
courage4  ,it seemed to me that ,i was  
doing better4 ,when ,i began ,i did     
skilful  things1 things that were       
smartly done1 but they were thin and    
dry1 but  ,i felt there was something   
beyond1 and that something is           
amplification4  ,i only ventured on it  
when ,i was over fifty years old1 but do
 you not  think ,i have a right now to  
disregard the objections of the mob and 

the  newspapers8 ,i have taken time to  
know why ,i was doing as ,i did4 ,the   
essential things of my modelling are    
there1 and they would be there  in less 
degree if ,i 'finished' more4 ,as to    
polishing or repolishing a  toe or a    
curl1 ,i find no interest in it2 it     
impairs the large line1  the soul of    
what ,i desired to do1 and ,i have      
nothing more to say to  the public on   
that point4 ,there the line of          
demarcation comes between  the          
confidence that the public ought to have
 in me and the concessions  that ,i     
ought not to make to the public4 ,to    
this firm and discreet  resolution      
,rodin has kept in all the works wrought
 out by him since  #ahih4               
,illustration3 ,,primitive ,,man4    ,i 
cannot better set forth his opinions    
about the antique than by  quoting the  
following fragments from two articles   
that he wrote for  the ,muse1 a review  
of ancient art1 in ,january and         
,february1 #aijd2  for ,rodin sometimes 

writes1 quite unpretentiously1 but with 
the same  lucidity of thought that he   
shows in his familiar conversation4 ,one
 of  these articles refers to a ,greek  
statuette in the ,museum of ,naples1 the
  other to the lesson that the ancients 
give us4    ,in the first place1 the    
,antique is ,life itself4 ,nothing is   
more alive1  and no style in the world  
has rendered life as it has4 ,the       
ancients  were the greatest1 most       
serious1 and most admirable observers of
 nature  who have ever existed4 ,the    
antique was able to render life because 
the ancients saw the essential thing in 
it--large blocks4 ,they confined        
themselves to the large shadows cast by 
these large blocks1 and as  truth itself
 lies in that1 their figures being so   
made could never be  feeble4 ,moreover1 
the antique is simple1 and that gives it
 astonishing  energy4 ,and then there is
 much more study in it than appears2    
that  was brought home to me once4 ,when
 ,i had finished my ,age of ,brass1 ,i  

went to ,italy and ,i found an ,apollo  
whose leg was in exactly the same       
position as one in ,the ,age of ,brass  
that had taken me six months'  work4    
,then ,i saw that though on the surface 
everything seems to be done  at a       
stroke1 in reality all the muscles are  
built up and one sees the  details come 
to light one by one4 ,that is because   
the ancients studied  everything in its 
successive profiles1 because in any     
figure and every  part of a figure no   
profile is like another2 when each has  
been studied  separately the whole      
appears simple and alive4    ,the great 
error of the neo-,greek school is really
 this3 it is not  type that is antique1 
but modelling4 ,for want of having      
understood  that1 the neo-,greek school 
has produced nothing but papier-mch4 ,it
  is bad to put the antique before      
beginners2 one should end1 not begin    
with it4 ,if you wanted to teach someone
 to eat1 you would give him  fresh food1
 that he might learn to chew2 it would  

never occur to you  to give him food    
already triturated to exercise his teeth
 upon4 ,well1  when you want to teach   
sculpture to anyone1 set him face to    
face with  nature1 and when he has      
gained plenty of power to deal with     
nature1  then say to him3 ',now1 here is
 what the antique has done4' ,and that  
will give him a new source of energy4   
,whereas if you give the antique  to the
 beginner who has never struggled with  
nature1 he does not  understand anything
 about it1 and loses his individuality  
over it4  ,you make a plagiarist of him1
 and instead of making his own prayer to
  nature he will repeat the prayer of   
the antique without understanding  the  
words of it4 ,he will die an old pupil2 
he will not die a man4    ,to teach the 
antique at the outset of a man's studies
 is to render  the antique              
incomprehensible4 ,in the first place1  
no one can teach the  antique1 it is not
 possible2 that art of truth and        
simplicity cannot  be taught4 ,the      

sculptor works from nature1 and         
afterwards he goes to  look1 in the     
galleries1 and see how the antique      
rendered what he has  been trying for   
from the life4 ,but if he goes straight 
to the antique1  shutting his eyes to   
nature1 as the antique has always been  
done from  nature1 our sculptor will    
only be able to carry that vision into  
his  own work in a factitious way2 he   
will be neither antique nor modern1  but
 bad4    ,a man may do antique work in  
our day1 not in the false sense of      
producing the antique type1 but in the  
true sense of modelling  like the       
antique4 ,such a man 7painter1 etcher1  
or sculptor7 will  take nature1 and if  
he has the power of the antique he will 
produce  antique work1 which will       
entirely disagree with what is taught as
  such1 but will agree with that in the 
museums4 ,the 'cole' begins  at the end2
 when a man begins with nature1 he may  
go on to the most  improbable           
inventions2 the antiques themselves show

 that4 ,do you know  of anything more   
impossible than the centaur8 ,but is    
there anything  finer in ,olympia8 ,the 
ancients knew nature so well that they  
became her  fellow-workers and created1 
not phantoms1 but beings that were alive
 in  spite of physical impossibilities4 
,to my mind it would be better not  to  
study the antique than to study it      
wrong4 ,it is not the artist's          
alphabet1 but the reward of his work4   
,the command which it gives us is  not  
to copy it1 but to do like it4          
,illustration3 ,,young ,,woman ,,between
 ,,good ,,and ,,evil ,,council4    ,to  
say that the antiques1 which portray the
 plain marvel of life1  are beautiful is
 a superficial sort of praise4 ,beauty  
is not the  starting-point1 but the     
point of arrival2 a thing can only be   
beautiful  if it is true4 ,truth itself 
is only a complete harmony1 and harmony 
is finally only a bundle of utilities4  
,the miracle of life could not  be      
perpetuated but for the constant renewal

 of universal balance4 ,the  ancients   
felt that vast rhythm1 and their art1   
being modelled upon it1  appears to us  
as a natural and sublime expression of  
beauty4444 ,one  of the ancients made a 
statue4 ,how did he set about it8 ,it is
 useless  to bring in rules that only   
grew up in the brains of commentators   
dissecting a series of works1 centuries 
afterwards4 ,the antique remains        
uncomprehended because we have not a    
simple enough spirit4 ,it is not  by    
studying the antique that we shall learn
 its secret2 in order to  understand1   
not its nomenclature1 but its spirit1 we
 must begin by  studying nature4        
,rembrandt cannot be understood by      
copying him at the  ,louvre1 he can only
 be understood when we travel through   
nature to him4  ,well1 nature is always 
there1 waiting patiently for antiques to
 be  made afresh2 the model is there    
waiting for someone to come at last1  no
 matter whence4 ,for it is an error to  
think the antique comes from  the south3

 it comes from everywhere4 ,the antique 
can be produced from a  ,dutch woman or 
an ,american woman2 the type is nothing1
 the modelling is  everything4    ,what 
makes the strength of the antique is the
 plan1 the connection of  all the       
profiles4 ,the neo-,greeks say3 ',the   
antiques are line1 and  their works1 in 
which all the lines1 except two1 dance  
about1 show  their error4 ,the antiques1
 we will say1 are lines or rather plan4 
,look at an antique2 you can guess the  
full face from the profile4  ,the eye   
cannot grasp the shape on the opposite  
side to that which it  beholds1 but it  
deduces it from this side3 walk round1  
and the study  of the profiles will     
afford you an irrefragable proof by rule
 of  three4 ,the sculptor swells the    
half-tones by slight exaggerations1 so  
as to heighten the light by a tone4 ,the
 drapery lives2 like the body  that it  
hides1 it receives life from that body  
without needing the  subterfuge of      
wetted drapery4'#g    ,there is in the  

antiques an astonishing mystery of life 
which causes  all idea of dimension to  
disappear4 ,a figure an inch or two high
  might just as well be life-size2 when 
a thing is well organised1 the          
greatness is in the modelling and not in
 the size4 ,if one were to  photograph a
 ,tanagra figure and the ,eiffel ,tower1
 and were to show the  two photographs  
to some person unacquainted with either 
object1 ,i am  sure he would declare the
 ,tanagra figure to be larger than the  
tower4 ,a  pear or an apple1 from the   
point of view of modelling1 is as large 
as  the celestial sphere4 ,thus the     
splendour of truth is such that finding 
no word to render it1 we have called it 
',ideal4'    ,these quotations will     
suffice1 ,i hope1 to show ,rodin's      
inmost thought4  ,these judgments are   
implicit condemnations of the cole2 they
 are  also definitions of his classical 
art1 which is by no means literary1  and
 which is governed1 even in its lyrical 
and tragic developments1  by good sense1

 that is to say1 by an inborn taste for 
balance in the  midst of boldness4 ,if  
,i am anxious to insist so strongly upon
 ,rodin's  profound normality1 this is1 
,i repeat1 in order to forewarn the     
public against the declamations of some 
of his untoward admirers1 who  reckon   
one of his merits to be an originality  
which they confound  with that          
exaggeration1 that emphasis and         
eccentricity that never mark  the great 
artist4 ,whatever tragic or passionate  
subject a great artist  may treat1 to   
whatever height of strangeness his      
imagination may rise1  beauty of form   
will1 if he is1 like ,rodin1 a master of
 technique1  confer upon t him an       
exalted and permanent serenity4         
,rembrandt and  ,delacroix come from the
 depth of their vastly differing worlds 
to meet  ,raphael and ,watteau in that  
conciliatory region where we admire the 
great masters--and ,rodin is already    
placed in that region4      #a ,rodin   
has never forgotten ,falguire's loyalty 

at the time of ,the  ,age of ,brass     
affair4    #b ,a recent example in      
,paris is the double statue of the      
chemists  who invented quinine4 ,when   
will people understand that a discovery 
of this kind1 however honourable1 is    
nevertheless quite incapable of  being  
associated with any plastic idea8 ,the  
same thing is true of the  statues of   
,chappe and ,lavoisier1 flanked by      
instruments of telegraphy  and          
chemistry4 ,these are ridiculous        
signboards1 melancholy compliments      
translated by a tradesman's art that    
renders our streets hideous4    #c      
,revue des ,revues 7of ,paris71 ,june   
#aeth1 #ahih4    #d ,i find myself      
underlining-3 it is not ,rodin whose    
voice makes this  emphasis4 ,but ,i am  
attempting to mark out in this way the  
formulas  which spring up in his        
conversation1 and which1 collected      
together1  will give the public an idea 
of his instinctive synthesis1 deduced   
from  life4    #e ,the word exalt has in

 this use no precise equivalent in      
,english4  ,enthusiast1 as the          
eighteenth century knew the word--that  
is1 with  the infusion of a touch of    
lunacy--conies perhaps                  
nearest4--,,trans4    #f ,an observation
 noted by ,mlle4 ,judith ,cladel in her 
curious volume1  ,rodin1 drawn from     
life4 7ditions de ,la ,plume1 #aijc47   
#g ,loe ,fuller has obtained1 by means  
of stuffs not wetted1 the  effects that 
the 'cole' loves1 because her plastic   
dance is logically  derived from nature4
          ,,iv      ,,works ,,since     
,,the ,,balzac--,,small ,,works ,,in    
,,marble--,,plan ,,of ,,the ,,monument  
,,to ,,labour--,,drawings ,,and         
,,etchings      ,i shun father and      
mother and wife and brother1 when my    
genius calls  me4 ,i would write on the 
lintels of the door-post1 ,whim4 ,i hope
 it  is somewhat better than whim at    
last1 but we cannot spend the day in    
explanation4444 ,whoso would be a man   
must be a nonconformist 444 must  not be

 hindered by the name of goodness1 but  
must inquire if it be  goodness4        
,nothing is at last sacred but the      
integrity of our own mind4  ,absolve you
 to yourself1 and you shall have the    
suffrage of the world4    ,i quoted     
these high-minded words of ,emerson's to
 ,rodin at the time of  the ,balzac     
incident4 ,they are1 ,i said to him1 the
 very epigraph  of your whole life4 ,nor
 have they ceased to epitomise the man  
and  the artist4 ,from the time of the  
,balzac ,rodin's work has proceeded     
very regularly and on the same          
principles4 ,the ,victor ,hugo is being 
finished in marble1 in its two versions1
 in the studio of the ,rue de           
l',universit4 ,the group in which ,hugo1
 his extended arm commanding  silence of
 the waves1 sits surrounded by ,muses is
 almost ready2 the  other1 in which     
,hugo1 dreamily listening to the        
counsels of ,iris1  stands on the edge  
of a rock washed by waves1 amid which   
,nereids are  entwined1 is not quite so 

far advanced4 ,the ,gate of ,hell is    
ready  to receive its finally chosen and
 ordered figures4 ,in the ,salon of     
#aijb ,rodin exhibited the three ,shades
 from its summit1 inspired by  the      
celebrated ,lasciate ogni speransa4 ,in 
#aijj ,rodin only showed  two or three  
old productions at the ,universal       
,exhibition1 because his  work was      
collected in a special pavilion at the  
,rond-point de l',alma1  the concession 
of which pavilion was made uncomfortable
 for him by  his colleagues1 so much so 
that the artist was obliged to remove on
  the very day of closing1 with less    
delay and consideration allowed to  him 
than to the most unimportant industrial 
exhibitor4 ,this special  exhibition    
was1 nevertheless1 a great international
 success for ,rodin1  and the amazing   
development of his fame may be said to  
date from it4  ,before #aijj ,rodin     
stood in the position of an exceptional 
artist1  celebrated but envied1 isolated
 and challenged1 whose relations with   

the ,government were strained1 whom a   
minority upheld1 but on whom the        
official world looked coldly4 ,since    
that time his eminence is so firmly     
established that he now holds the rank  
that ,puvis de ,chavannes held  in the  
estimation of all artists4 ,his         
triumphant journey to ,prague           
7#aija-b71 ,london's enthusiastic       
reception1 and ,rodin's recent election 
to be ,president of the ,society over   
which ,whistler presided1 have  finally 
given him the acknowledgment so long    
looked for4 ,in #aijc his  marble bust  
of ,hugo aroused enthusiasm1 and at the 
,salon of #aijd the  colossal bronze    
,thinker had a most flattering          
reception1 and disarmed  the last of his
 former detractors4    ,a woman's bust  
accompanied ,the ,thinker to the ,salon4
 ,rodin1 who does  portraits now and    
again1 had previously made an admirable 
one of ,mme4  ,fenaille1 wife of the    
art-patron who had been of such great   
service  to him2 and he is attempting a 

curious variation of it4 ,he has just   
finished a bust of a helmeted ,minerva1 
as impressive as a ,donatello1  and     
this1 too1 is a portrait4    ,various   
works have been produced by ,rodin since
 the ,balzac1 in  addition to the       
,monument of ,president ,sarmiento1     
which shows an  admirable bas-relief of 
a radiant ,apollo4 ,these works are     
nearly all  in marble1 and small4 ,it is
 almost impossible to describe and      
classify  them2 a much larger book would
 be required1 and my main purpose here  
has been to give a general idea of      
,rodin's art and an explanation  of     
principles4 ,i have spoken about some of
 his poems of the flesh1  especially    
that ,eternal ,idol1 which will be the  
glory of thought  in modern sculpture4  
,rodin's recent works in marble have the
 same  inspiration4 ,some demand special
 notice3 ,the ,hand of ,god1 a gigantic 
hand1 between the fingers of which1 and 
amid a handful of clay1 two  beings are 
tenderly embracing2 ,icarus1 falling    

from the sky to be  crushed on the earth
 amid his whirling wings2 several groups
 of lovers1  entwined1 and breathing    
immeasurable tenderness1 the most       
celebrated  of which is ,spring or ,love
 and ,psyche4 ,another ,psyche1 alone1  
is discovering ,love asleep1 with       
extraordinary restrained emotion2  and  
there are several attempts at ,poets and
 ,muses1 embracing or  consoling one    
another1 as well as a splendid sketch of
 the ,magdalen  wiping ,christ's ,body  
with her ,hair4 ,rodin has thus         
sometimes touched  religious subjects1  
but with an undogmatic symbolism1       
philosophic  and wide4 ,we may also     
enumerate another version in marble of  
the  ,nereids of the ,hugo monument1 a  
winged ,inspiration coming to  breathe  
upon the sleeping poet1 and holding back
 the tips of her  wings with one hand   
lest she should make a sound in closing 
them2 a  faun drawing towards him a     
nymph1 who struggles in silent1 fierce  
resistance2 two high-reliefs of ,summer 

and ,autumn in stone2 tall  women with  
children1 intended for the town of      
,evian1 where ,baron  ,vitta is         
accumulating treasures of modern art2   
,pygmalion beholding  his statue come to
 life1 who1 as soon as she feels herself
 live1  turns from him with a surprising
 movement of coquetry and aversion4     
,such works as these cannot be described
 in words4 ,in them ,rodin has  excelled
 to an unparalleled degree in rendering 
the profoundest  psychological          
complexities1 refined intentions1 and   
the hesitations  of feeling4 ,i will    
further note a sketch of ,sappho1 seated
 at  rest1 with her arms leaning upon   
two little naked women1 which is a  work
 inspired equally by the ,greeks and by 
the eighteenth century2  it bears       
witness to the artist's wish of avoiding
 the massive1 and  making as many holes 
as possible within the general block1 so
 as to  give lightness and to allow a   
circulation of light1 as the ,greeks    
did in works that were meant to stand   

against a background of sea or  of sky4 
,many studies of men and women          
crouching1 or squatting1 in  curious    
attitudes1 recall the art of the        
,japanese bronzes1 which ,rodin         
immensely admires4 ,we must further note
 some groups of ,women ,damned1  in     
which ,rodin's art attains the highest  
point of voluptuous tension1  audacious 
suggestiveness1 and tragic eagerness of 
the flesh aspiring  to impossible       
delight4 ,this whole world of figures is
 ruled by the  same lyrical and poetic  
imagination1 the same symbolism         
incarnated  in impeccable forms4        
,everywhere we find the same nervous    
art1  agitating1 sad1 and ardent in its 
voluptuous character1 expressing the    
insatiability of human souls2 the       
aspiration of a troubled time towards   
an ideality which would deliver it from 
the solicitations of pessimism2  the    
hope of escape by the way of desire2 and
 love sought for in the  over-excitement
 of neurosis4 ,rodin1 gloomy            

psychologist of passion1  understands   
the disease of the age1 and at the same 
time pities it2 a  true thinker1 he     
extracts its mournful beauty without    
ceasing to retain  faith1 admiration1   
and affection for the human creature4   
,bending over  life and over his work1  
he is himself his own ,thinker1         
attentive and  reverent before an       
unknown and terrible divinity4 ,never   
did any other  sculptor attempt to      
vivify his art with such intellectual   
superiority  and by such meditations1   
and ,rodin is at once the most realistic
 and  most metaphysical of poets in     
stone and bronze4    ,illustration3     
,,isis    ,two or three works of more   
important dimensions stand out from his 
recent productions2 besides a nude      
female torso 7in bronze7 of  startling  
truthfulness1 and two plaster studies   
that astonished at  the ,salons1 and    
besides ,the ,christian ,martyr1 so     
masterly in its  modelling1 ,rodin has  
continued to work at his ,ugolino1 taken

 out of  ,the ,gate of ,hell1 and has   
put the finishing touch to two plans4   
,one  of these is the ,monument to      
,labour1 a grand conception1 which one  
may  dream of seeing carried out and    
rising up in some square of busy ,paris1
  but which want of money will prevent  
from ever being realised4 ,it is a      
column upon a vast rectangular base1    
with a crypt in it4 ,two colossal       
figures of ,night and ,day would stand  
at the entrance4 ,in the crypt  would be
 shown1 in bas-relief1 different        
subterranean works--mining1  etc4       
,around the column would run a covered  
spiral staircase1 and upon  the column  
itself would be figured in bas-reliefs  
all the various  manifestations of      
labour1 so that as one ascended the     
stairs all the  divers phases of human  
genius could be successively studied4   
,on the  top would hover the            
,benedictions1 two--winged spirits1     
descended  from heaven1 which are       
already executed in marble on a small   

scale1  and are among ,rodin's finest   
conceptions4 ,this colossal project was 
conceived as long ago as #ahig4 ,the    
rough model is in the studio at         
,meudon-,val-,fleury4    ,illustration3 
,,nude ,,study    ,the monument to      
,puvis de ,chavannes was entrusted to   
his friend ,rodin1  and is already      
finished4 ,rodin conceived it in an     
original and charming  way4 ,instead of 
making the customary statue1 he         
considered the purely  ,greek quality of
 ,puvis' genius and chose to pay homage 
to him in a form  reproduced from the   
antique4 ,the bust of the great painter 
is placed  on a plain table1 as the     
ancients placed those of their dead upon
  little domestic altars4 ,a fine tree  
loaded with fruit bends over and  shades
 the head4 ,leaning on the table behind 
the bust is a beautiful  naked youth1   
who sits dreaming in a well-chosen      
supple attitude4 ,the  whole design is  
intimate1 gentle1 and pure4 ,placed on  
the ground in a  garden this votive     

monument would show how much delicacy   
and caressing  lightness sometimes lies 
in ,rodin's sombre and pathetic         
thoughts4    ,another important group is
 that of ,orpheus and ,eurydice4        
,orpheus has  fallen on one knee and is 
lifting his great lyre towards the gods 
whom  he has just implored4 ,above him1 
almost on his back1 suspended in a  way 
that would appear to contradict the laws
 of equilibrium and the  material       
conditions of sculpture1 soars          
,eurydice1 compassionate and  almost    
vaporous1 truly an immaterial shade1    
with a smile of despair4  ,i regret that
 the unfinished condition of this model 
does not allow  me to publish a         
photograph of it1 for nothing would give
 a clearer  impression of ,rodin's      
originality in the matter of contour and
 in the  mutual relation of figures4    
,the extreme freedom of his attitudes   
and  his caprices of balance are1       
indeed1 the newest features that he has 
brought into his art and are not to be  

found in anyone else in any  country or 
time4 ,in these is his true signature1  
and by them his work  might be          
recognised among a hundred statues of   
all periods4 ,as to the  expressive     
beauty of the faces and bodies1 that is 
supreme4 ,no one has  better            
comprehended than ,rodin all that can be
 rendered by the naked  human body and  
all the intellectual significations that
 it can hide4  ,the nude is to ,rodin a 
whole language4    ,in his latest       
spiritualised works there is something  
,correggio-like  in the vibration of    
light upon the softened forms and       
amplified  surfaces4 ,they suggest the  
,antiope1 at once soft and muscular1 and
  ,rodin often speaks of morbidezza as a
 quality which he no longer  distrusts1 
whereas he formerly banished it from his
 ascetic1 sinewy1  and dry figures4 ,he 
gives his women the pulpy flesh of      
fruits4 ,the  lines of landscape seem to
 him to correspond to the planes of the 
body2  he lately said to me that since  

he has lived at ,meudon1 opposite the   
flowing ,seine1 the wooded hills and the
 fields1 he has found useful            
resemblances between the modelling of   
the body and that of a horizon4 ,i  have
 even once suggested to him the title of
 ,the ,hill for the body of  a young man
 reclining1 the outline of which did in 
truth resemble the  undulations of a    
hill1 and he retained the name and the  
analogy1 for he  delights in everything 
that binds the human being to the earth1
 and1  like a true metaphysician1       
conceives of nothing isolated or        
distinct in  nature4    ,i come now to  
,rodin's drawings1 drawings which were  
not made to be  shown1 but which1 having
 nevertheless become known1 have        
surprised  and puzzled people4 ,rodin's 
drawings1 like some other drawings by   
sculptors1 are not themselves works of  
art2 they are thoughts noted  down1 and 
are not comprehensible unless they are  
seen with the statues  of which they    
indicate the first idea1 or some        

variation4    ,rodin has published some 
of his sketches2 and has produced some  
dry-points 7in particular the ,ronde1#a 
,antonin ,proust1 the three  portraits  
of ,henry ,becque1 full face and two    
profiles upon the same  sheet1 and two  
heads of ,hugo71 some drawings for books
 by ,m4 ,mirbeau  and ,m4 ,bergerat1 and
 a complete set of illustrations of the 
,fleurs  du ,mal1 in the form of        
marginal drawings for a unique copy     
belonging  to ,m4 ,gallimard4 ,many     
drawings in black or colour have been   
published  7by the clever lithographer  
,clot71 and ,m4 ,fenaille has           
superintended  an admirable edition de  
luxe of #adb drawings by ,rodin4#b      
,notwithstanding this partial publicity1
 these works must be considered  as     
standing apart2 and to consider them by 
themselves would actually  be to injure 
,rodin with the public at large1 since  
they form an  integral part of his      
statues4 ,for this reason ,i have not   
chosen to  reproduce any of them here1  

studies so purely professional not      
seeming  to fall within the scope of a  
work intended to give a general idea of 
an artist's work4    ,having said so    
much1 ,i wish to dwell upon the great   
beauty of these  drawings--a special and
 terrible beauty4 ,many deal with       
,dante4 ,rodin  did some painting under 
,lecoq de ,boisbaudron1 landscapes1 a   
portrait  of his father1 and sketches   
after ,rubens2 but there has never been 
any danger of painting intruding upon   
his vocation1 and his sketches  rapidly 
became nothing but notes for sculpture4 
,the objective reality  of his          
,dantesque figures is vague1 if their   
subjective reality is  intense4 ,rodin1 
anxious to note down his impressions1   
and not to  illustrate1 made his        
sketches into a sort of passionate      
writing1 only  devoting himself to the  
scheme and to the contrasts of black and
 white1  and neglecting every detail4   
,in these violent washes1 these         
pencillings  and pen-scribbles1 the     

spectator who is not forewarned sees    
nothing1  but the lover of art1 who     
knows beforehand what to seek1 follows  
the  creative thought4 ,nothing can be  
less like what is generally known as  a 
drawing4 ,after the regular drawings1   
the painter's drawings of  his first    
period1 which have but a restricted     
interest1 and which are  no longer      
known1 those of his second manner are   
confusions of light and  shadow1 and    
show fantastically4 ,i will quote at    
this point a passage  from an essay by  
,m4 ,clment ,jasmin1 a discerning       
critic1 whose noisy  rivals do not give 
him his due place1 and who has described
 these works  excellently4    ,these    
sketches are altogether the work of a   
sculptor1 even in their  colour1 which  
seems to have sunk into plaster or clay1
 and especially  in the firmness of     
their modelling1 which is imparted by   
shaded touches  of body-colour1 on grey 
paper1 or rendered by spaces left white4
 ,these  blanks1 these white spaces1 are

 the extreme point of the modelling1    
the 'high light' of some projection1    
which lower down is wrapped in          
half-tints that carry the eye to the    
shadows of the inflections or  the      
hollows4 ,there is a constant relation  
between the contour and  the interior   
modelling4 ,a thrill is communicated by 
the fantastic  lighting of some         
sketches4 ,rodin adds further strength  
to this dramatic  distribution of lights
 and shadows by one or two tones that   
accentuate  the impression or fix a     
plan4 ,often his ink will become blue or
 yellow1  7water-colours1 sepia1 or     
coloured inks being employed71 in order 
to  settle a value or intensify a       
feeling4 ,such is the case in the       
,fenaille  publication1 with the gloomy 
red in the face of the ,ugolino1 of the 
,dantesque ,mahomet1 whose entrails are 
hanging out1 and of some other  figures 
dashed in1 in black1 on a violet        
background4 ,one plainly feels  the     
material in which the work1 of which the

 sketch is the first idea1  will be     
executed4 ,it is always a sculptor who  
is at work1 even when he  exchanges the 
chisel for the pen or the brush4        
,painters would scorn these drawings4   
,they commonly believe that  sculptors  
cannot express upon a plane surface the 
mass and movement of  a body4 ,in       
reality a painter's sketch and a        
sculptor's sketch differ  in intention  
and execution4 ,rodin's are translations
 of movements1  in no way decorative and
 not attempting to express either       
modelling  or detail1 but1 if we may say
 so1 the abstract geometry1 the thought 
that commands the movement4 ,the use of 
coloured inks1 which are solely  meant  
to modify certain values that black or  
white would not express to  ,rodin's    
mind1 has given rise to mistakes4 ,these
 colours are not there  to express real 
tints1 as is the case in ordinary       
drawings thus touched  up2 inaccurate   
things have been said about these       
colourings1 and about  the fantastic and

 almost ,japanese appearance of some of 
the plates4  ,rodin is certainly not    
thinking of prints in colour4 ,he makes 
these  notes instinctively1 and displays
 not so much a deliberate thought as a  
natural faculty of transcription4    ,in
 his early drawings ,rodin refers       
to--for ,i must insist upon the  point  
that the drawings do not represent      
things--many of ,dante's  persons and   
many fanciful animals1 and later1 to his
 statues4 ,now he  does not draw at all 
from literary impressions1 but solely   
from the  living model4 ,he uses        
ordinary cheap paper1 a pencil or a pen2
 he  makes his model take some          
transitory1 absolutely free position1   
often  in the rest between two sittings1
 and rapidly draws contour without      
taking his eyes from the model and      
without looking at his sketch4          
,sometimes the stroke will fall upon    
emptiness1 the sheet of paper will  be  
too small1 a head or a limb will fail to
 find its place4 ,naturally  this       

instantaneous sketch will be deformed in
 the most unexpected  way2 the          
proportions are false1 but the scheme of
 the contour and the  modelling of each 
piece are true4 ,often the hurrying     
pencil will miss  the curve of a breast 
or a leg4 ,then the artist will return  
to that  point with hasty1 intermingled1
 impatient strokes that play around the 
true line4 ,his only concern is to fix  
the first view1 the absolutely  living  
impression4 ,afterwards1 in tracing his 
sketch1 he rectifies1  but his chief aim
 is to amplify the impression of the    
life1 taken  spontaneously1 according to
 his principle of enlarging the form1 in
  order to place it better in the       
atmosphere 7about in the proportion of  
#e_/d instead of #d_/d74 ,then he       
connects the contours and further       
enlarges  the modelling1 filling the    
outline with a wash of burnt-sienna1    
which  gives the general value1 or      
sometimes with blue or red water-colour4
  ,rodin likes this practice in catching

 movements1 and he has in his  studio   
hundreds of drawings of this kind that  
differ from his early  ones4 ,those     
aimed at the imaginative transcription  
of tragic and  literary elements under  
strange illuminations1 and were almost  
like the  drawings of ,odilon ,redon2   
the later ones are merely graphic notes 
of  movements1 and are incapable of     
having any direct aim or meaning4    ,i 
must add a few words upon a delicate    
point of which ,i should not  have      
spoken if others had not spoken         
mistakenly upon the subject4  ,rodin's  
drawings1 especially those of the       
present time1 have shocked  some people 
who have seen them by their licentious  
character4 ,why  should we assume       
embarrassment in explaining this8 ,in   
all ,rodin's work  there is a profound  
and violent sense of the voluptuous1 and
 the stern  painter of the vices and    
damnations of hell does not need to     
think of  prudery4 ,the elevation and   
dramatic character of his conceptions   

clothe  the most daring attitudes with  
the severe chastity of the beautiful4   
,in his sketches1 made for himself      
alone1 and in the privacy of his        
studio1 ,rodin no more fears erotic     
positions than did ,hokusai4 ,beneath   
the original animality he perceives     
nature2 and feminine sexuality1  its    
movements1 and impulses interest him1   
because therein woman is                
psychologically revealed4 ,everything1  
in physical desire1 that exalts1        
maddens1 contorts1 and fevers the human 
body is1 for the sculptor1 the  object  
of an intensely interested study that he
 does not communicate  to the general   
public2 nor is he the only one among the
 great artists  of form whom the erotic 
has interested from this point of view4 
,only  mediocre minds and minds capable 
of low intentions see anything low in   
the movements of life4 ,rodin's studies 
from the model1 naked and free1  without
 spectators1 in the serious presence of 
work1 never sully his  grand and        

melancholy inspiration2 and his daring  
art is assuredly that  which most leads 
away the beholder from erotic ideas1    
because it notes  in every human being  
the melancholy of the insatiable1 and   
makes the  pleasure of the senses a     
suffering of the flesh and the spirit4  
,by this  point he touches the profound 
morality of art1 and his consciousness  
is  free from any equivocation4 ,the    
recent drawings in which he catches the 
animal attitudes of the model are thus  
no more questionable1 from the  delicate
 point of view of which ,i am speaking1 
than anatomical plates1  or the sad     
immodesties of a post-mortem            
examination4 ,he adds to them  the power
 of expressing passion with which he is 
endowed1 but since he  only shows these 
drawings to friends and artists in whom 
nudity does  not arouse silly thoughts1 
this concerns no one else4 ,a comparison
  cannot even be ventured between these 
drawings and the masterly  etchings of  
,rops1 which are deliberate             

illustrations of licentious  subjects1  
relieved only by beauty of execution1   
and which should only  be shown with    
express reservations4 ,rodin admires    
certain bronzes in  the secret museum at
 ,naples1 and certain ,japanese prints1 
because in  these1 too1 art has done its
 work by expressing a secret and        
essential  spring of the nervous and    
psychological life of humanity2 a fierce
  and serious subject which only fools  
consider laughable or indecent1  because
 their minds approach it with indecorum 
and ridicule4 ,but ,i  do not know that 
,rodin ever even yielded to the fancy of
 modelling  one of these subjects for   
himself1 as ,rubens and many others did 
not  forbid themselves to do4 ,it is    
time1 therefore1 to have done with this 
question in regard to the great ,french 
sculptor4 ,i do not know for whom  he   
intends these recent drawings1 a whole  
framed collection of which  occupies one
 of the storerooms of his country house4
 ,perhaps he will  have them destroyed2 

in any case1 they are but studies of    
movements and  masses1 and in no way    
direct representations of life4         
,rodin's drawings are rough drafts to be
 compared with those of  a writer4 ,some
 are very impressive1 and all constitute
 precious  evidence of his psychological
 preoccupations and of his desire for   
simplification4 ,but they remain on the 
margin of his work1 and neither  the    
public nor the critics have those rights
 over them that belong to  biographers  
and friends4 ,that is a point to be     
plainly specified1 and  ,i desire to    
repeat that that is the reason this book
 contains none of  them4      #a ,this  
word may mean either a certain sort of  
dance1 or the round  of a               
patrol4--,,trans4    #b ,album of #adb  
sketches1 reproduced in heliogravure by 
,m4 ,manzi and  published by ,goupil1   
#ahig4 ,these sketches in wash or colour
 have been  selected according to the   
advice of ,m4 ,fenaille1 their owner1   
who lent  them1 from the most           

imaginative of ,rodin's drawings in his 
second  manner4          ,v4            
,,rodin',s ,,private ,,life--,,his      
,,person1 ,,studio1 ,,and ,,home--,,his 
,,influence2  ,,sculptors ,,inspired    
,,by ,,his ,,ideas--,,rodin',s ,,place  
,,in ,,the ,,french  ,,school--,,his    
,,present ,,position ,,in ,,respect ,,to
 ,,academic ,,sculpture      ,auguste   
,rodin is in person a man of middle     
height1 with an enormous  head upon a   
massive torso4 ,at first sight one sees 
nothing of him but  this leonine bust1  
the head with its strong nose1 flowing  
grey beard1  and small1 keen1           
light-coloured eyes1 slightly veiled by 
short sight  and by a gentle irony4 ,the
 impression of power is accentuated by  
the  rolling gait1 the rocky aspect of  
the troubled brow under the rough  brush
 of hair1 the bony thickness of the     
aquiline nose and the ample  curls of   
beard4 ,but the first impression is     
partly contradicted by  the reticent    
line of the mouth1 the quick look1      

penetrating1 simple1  and arch1 7one of 
the most composite glances ,i have ever 
seen71 and  especially by the voice1    
which is hollow1 not easily modulated1  
with  deep inflections and sudden       
returns to a dental pronunciation1 and  
of which the meaning and intention are  
further modified by certain  very       
expressive tossings of the head4 ,he    
appears simple1 precise1  reserved1     
courteous1 and cordial1 without         
liveliness4 ,little by little  his      
shyness gives place to a calm and       
remarkable tone of authority4  ,he is   
neither emphatic nor awkward1 and would 
seem rather dispirited  than inspired4  
,an immense energy breathes in his sober
 and measured  gestures4 ,the slowness  
and apparent embarrassment of his speech
 and  the pauses in his conversation    
give especial significance to what he   
says2 moreover1 ,rodin has acquired of  
late years a genuine case as a  talker  
and even as a writer1 which previously  
he did not possess4 ,i was  intimately  

acquainted with ,stphane ,mallarm1 who1 
measured by ,rodin1  was incomparably   
eloquent1 and ,i often associate these  
two men in my  thoughts4 ,the voices    
were alike1 and ,rodin1 too1 with his   
improvised  phrases1 has the same veiled
 circumspect way of speech1 hitting     
suddenly upon words that illuminate the 
idea4    ,illustration3 ,,auguste       
,,rodin    ,rodin1 in speaking of any   
work of his1 has a way of explaining it 
that  is very elliptical1 but very      
clear1 and which has caused some        
brilliant  chatterers to say1 because he
 did not offer a prolix commentary1 that
  he did not know what he had done4 ,in 
reality he utters the essential1  and   
his gesture1 which seems to model his   
thought in space1 completes  his words4 
,he looks lovingly on his creations1 and
 sometimes seems to  meditate in        
astonishment at the idea of having      
created them2 he speaks  of them as     
though they existed apart from himself4 
,gradually1 beneath ,rodin's essential  

simplicity1 one discovers features  that
 were at first hidden2 he is ironical1  
sensuous1 nervous1 proud4  ,he contains 
as possibilities all the passions that  
he expresses with  so vibrating a       
magnificence1 and one begins to perceive
 the secret  links between this calm1   
almost cheerful man and the art that he 
reveals4 ,at certain moments his clear  
and rather vague eyes become  full of   
phosphorescent points1 the face grows   
sardonic and almost  faunlike2 at others
 it saddens and discloses a sickness for
 infinity4  ,this man is the comrade of 
his dumb white creatures2 he loves them1
  follows their abstract life1 has moral
 obligations towards them4              
,fundamentally the one thing with which 
,rodin is really concerned is  the life 
of permanent forms4 ,of late celebrity1 
age1 and experience  have disposed him  
to become an adviser1 a master1 and he  
has begun  to talk aesthetics4 ,but his 
ideas and opinions are restricted4 ,he  
perceives human beings only very        

summarily1 his cordiality is a way  of  
fulfilling his social duties hastily4   
,he has1 if ,i may venture the          
expression1 very fine moral antennae1   
and they serve to recognise the  persons
 whom he will like4 ,very capable of    
friendship1 ,rodin reduces  friendship  
to tacit agreements upon the essential  
subjects of thought1  and it is only if 
one meets him upon one of these points  
that one  takes a place in his          
remembrance or his liking4 ,he does not 
put his  faith in individuals1 but in   
general ideas4 ,he loves nothing but his
  work1 and endures everything else with
 civil boredom4 ,he has a horror  of    
debates and disturbances4 ,i have never 
heard him speak ill of bad  artists2 he 
neglects1 but does not criticise4 ,he   
has a silent humour  which leads him to 
make busts of official and mediocre     
sculptors1 with  an amusing good grace4 
,uncompromising in everything that      
touches his  art1 ,rodin has throughout 
his whole career endured severe         

struggles  and grave injustices1 and1   
too proud to dispute1 has never shown   
his  secret revolts4 ,at the time when  
the ,balzac was refused all ,rodin's    
friends said to him3 ,resist1 force your
 work upon them2 you ought1  for the    
work's sake1 and a court would surely   
decide for you1 for your  agreement is  
definitely in your favour4 ,he listened 
and thanked them1  always good-tempered1
 and then withdrew his statue without   
saying  anything4    ,it is not         
weakness1 for ,rodin has had an         
excessively hard life and  is strong and
 patient2 it is dignity of the inner    
life and profound  indifference for the 
life about him4 ,rodin is a high        
dignitary of  the ,legion of ,honour1 a 
president of the judges of sculpture of 
an  important society of artists 7the   
,socit ,nationale71 he is honoured  all 
over ,europe1 has been received in      
,england as a genius1 and has  succeeded
 ,whistler as the head of a chosen band 
of artists2 but he  remains the man that

 he was when he was unknown and poor in 
his  solitude at ,brussels4    ,he likes
 few things1 but likes those thoroughly4
 ,he reads little1 but  what he reads   
strikes home to him as to no one else2  
,baudelaire and  ,rousseau1 in whom he  
delights1 are instances4 ,he is         
passionately fond  of music1 especially 
of ,gluck1 but seldom speaks of it4 ,he 
simplifies  everything1 sees only the   
main lines in morality as in art1 lives 
by  two or three principles1 and has an 
aversion for everything that is  not    
essential4    ,illustration3 ,a ,,corner
 ,,of ,,rodin',s ,,studio ,,at ,,meudon 
,when one knows ,rodin well one ceases  
to be able to separate him from  his    
work4 ,he can no longer think otherwise 
than symbolically by slow  deposits of  
accumulated sensation which work on in  
the deep strata of  his consciousness   
and suddenly blossom and take a name4   
,his statues are  states of the soul4   
,he is himself a representative being1  
surprised at  his own immanence1 and his

 intelligence is outdone by his         
instinct4  ,that is how it comes about  
that he does not always know how to name
  the beings that he has discovered1 as 
we discover1 by means of pain1  corners 
of our consciousness that we had not    
suspected4 ,in the same way  that ,rodin
 seems to break away the fragments of a 
block from around  an already existing  
statue hidden in it1 he is himself a    
sort of rock  concealing shapes within  
it and embracing in its secret recesses 
immense crystallised arborescences4     
,with a simple enough personal          
psychology he expresses infinite shades 
and inflexions of emotion4 ,his  thought
 is like the monad of ,leibnitz2 it     
seems1 when one sees the man1  to have  
no window to the outer world4           
,rodin's opinions upon social life are  
vague4 ,he contents himself with        
repeating that work lovingly done is the
 secret of all order and all  happiness4
 ,to love life and natural forms1 and to
 attempt nothing  disobedient to ,nature

 or her aims1 that is his whole         
morality4    ,he sees very few people   
and visits nobody4 ,he would baffle     
visitors  accustomed to elegant1        
literary1 well-informed1 brilliant      
artists4 ,his  studio in the ,rue de    
l',universit1 at the end of an old yard 
encumbered  by blocks of marble and     
shaded by aged chestnut trees1 is like  
the  work-place of a poor beginner4     
,neither a carpet nor an ornament is  to
 be seen2 the stone floor1 the bare     
walls1 a few rush chairs1 some          
modelling stands1 some cloths1 a shabby 
deal table loaded with papers1  sketches
 piled up on shelves1 blouses hanging on
 nails1 a cast-iron  stove--these and   
nothing more are found by the many      
foreign admirers  who come to see       
,rodin1 and whom he receives with       
invariable amiability  amid his         
assistants at work upon the ,hugo       
monument or upon some smaller  piece of 
marble4    ,illustration3 ,a ,,corner   
,,of ,,rodin',s ,,studio ,,at ,,meudon  

,setting aside his journeys to ,london  
and ,prague and his travels in  ,germany
 and ,italy1 ,rodin leads an extremely  
retired life in ,paris1 and  is rarely  
to be met4 ,he invariably lunches at his
 own house at ,meudon1  then goes to the
 ,rue de ,l',universit to work1 and goes
 home again to  dinner4 ,formerly1      
before he had his house at ,meudon1 he  
used to lunch  at a caf in the ,place de
 ,l',alma1 where he was to be seen for  
twenty  years1 and to which people used 
to go to see him1 rather as people  go  
to see ,ibsen in ,christiania4 ,the     
house1 of a sixteenth-century  style1   
that ,rodin has inhabited at ,meudon    
since #aijj1 is situated amid           
vineyards1 and stands alone at the end  
of a sort of cliff1 overlooking  all    
,paris1 the ,seine1 and the ,bois de    
,boulogne1 and facing the wooded        
heights of ,saint ,cloud and ,bellevue4 
,the site is open and fine2 ,rodin      
enjoys immense expanses of sky1 sunsets1
 storms1 and moonlight nights  that     

delight him4 ,the house is spacious1    
light1 furnished with extreme           
simplicity1 and adorned by a few        
pictures1 the works of friends 7in      
particular his portraits by ,sargent and
 ,legros74 ,rodin has added to  it the  
pavilion in iron and glass1 in which he 
exhibited all his  work1 at the         
,rond-point de l',alma1 in the          
exhibition of #aijj4 ,this  pavilion1   
rebuilt and full of brilliant sunlight1 
contains all the  artist's statuary4    
,there are also several small studios1  
in which  ,rodin has his marble         
rough-hewn1 keeps the casts of his      
statues or  accumulates the collections 
of bronzes1 marbles1 antique or ,gothic1
  and fragments which he is never tired 
of finding out and buying4 ,in  this    
place1 which1 after a life of           
difficulties and worries1 ,rodin has    
been able to purchase1 he leads a life  
that fully suits his tastes1  among     
beautiful trees and flowers1 with a     
majestic landscape before  him4 ,it is  

touching to see the man1 here1 amid the 
enormous mass of  his work1 a whole     
world of statues1 with which he lives   
and which sums  up all his labours and  
all his existence4 ,a photograph which  
,i am able  to add to the illustrations 
of this volume will give a partial idea 
of that surprising and imposing cohort  
of figures in clay1 marble1  and        
bronze--that impassioned or tragic      
throng4 ,rodin receives very  few       
visitors at ,meudon--hardly any but old 
friends1 and he spends his  mornings in 
his garden or in his light and cheerful 
studio drawing or  superintending his   
workmen4 ,it is chiefly at ,meudon that 
he prepares  his rough drafts1 the main 
lines of his compositions2 and in order 
to  see an effect he will often hastily 
put together with clay some of  the     
plaster limbs that he keeps in a number 
of glass cases--quite an  anatomical    
museum in fact1 filling a whole storey1 
and containing  hundreds of pieces and  
of attitudes piled together4            

,illustration3 ,,study 7,,in ,,bronze7  
,,for ,,the ,,balzac    ,rodin appears  
to stand alone in his own time2 first1  
by his genius2  and secondly1 by the    
special character of his artistic       
conception4  ,this solitude1 however1 is
 only apparent4 ,rodin's ideas1 as      
opposed  to the teaching of the cole1   
form a body of logical principles  which
 are slowly attracting the adhesion of  
young artists4 ,the long  struggle of   
impressionism against academism has now 
entered upon its  last phase3 the return
 to the ,french tradition1 to national  
affiliation  in opposition to the ,roman
 neo-classicism4 ,that idea1 which is   
the  programme of all independent and   
interesting critical intelligence in    
our country1 finds in ,rodin its perfect
 demonstration1 and the only  one       
afforded by contemporary sculpture4     
,until now ,rodin has preached  only by 
example1 and we know how slow the       
critics and the public are in           
extracting from a work the ideas that it

 contains4 ,but the extraction  is now  
begun1 and ,rodin himself speaks with   
undisputed authority4 ,since  the       
exhibition of #aijj his moral position  
stands ten times higher4  ,youth greets 
him as a chieftain and his detractors   
are silent4 ,while  the synthetic and   
symbolic mind of ,rodin arouses the     
enthusiasm and  inspires the thoughts of
 writers1 the theory of the             
amplification of  the modelling is      
making its way in the studios of        
sculptors4 ,rodin has  opened a large   
window in the pale house of contemporary
 sculpture1  declares ,pierre ,roche1   
the sculptor2 out of the timid and much 
impaired craft that was before his day  
he has shown that a bold art  full of   
hope can be made4 ,this opinion of one  
of the most delicate  artists of our    
generation is precisely that of many    
independent  sculptors4 ,among these we 
must quote ,emile ,bourdelle1 ,rodin's  
pupil  and friend1 an impassioned1      
vibrating1 and generous artist1 whose   

works are among those first looked for  
in each ,salon4 ,others are the  two    
brothers ,gaston and ,lucien ,schnegg1  
the latter of whom exhibited  in the    
,salon of #aijd so beautiful a head of  
,aphrodite1 almost worthy  in the       
mysterious and vaporous beauty of its   
planes1 of the ancients1  and of ,rodin2
 ,jules ,desbois1 of the first rank in  
technical skill and  of a violently     
original temperament2 ,alexandre        
,charpentier1 a former  collaborator of 
,rodin's1 whose success in applied art  
has not turned  him aside from his      
expressive and vigorous work in         
statuary2 ,mlle4  ,camille ,claudel1    
,rodin's pupil1 who is the first woman  
sculptor of  existing-art in ,france1   
and whose name has appeared upon        
admirable  works2 and finally1 ,pierre  
,roche1 although his supple and         
decorative  fancy denies itself the     
expression of the tragic4 ,the ,swiss   
sculptor  ,niederhausern-,rodo1 ,george 
,minne1 the sculptor of ,ghent1 who has 

a  powerful creative genius1 not        
understood1 and the ,italian sculptor   
,rosso1 are also partisans of ,rodin's  
art1 and so is the ,englishman          
,bartlett4 ,in another direction it is  
very interesting to note the  curious   
reciprocal influence of ,auguste ,rodin 
and ,eugne ,carrire1  who are united by 
friendship and by the same aesthetic    
creed4 ,eugne  ,carrire1 the most       
profound painter of the inner life      
existing in the  ,french school of      
to-day1 has great analogies with ,rodin1
 both as a man  and as an artist4 ,he1  
too1 reduces his art to essentials1 to  
the main  lines and the deliberate      
amplification of surfaces4 ,thus his    
figures1  bathed in shadow1 are akin to 
,rodin's statues1 while the latter1     
bathed  with dewy light1 seem to be     
pictures by ,carrire4 ,the painter      
becomes  massive and powerful1 the      
sculptor becomes vaporous4 ,rodin seeks 
the  bland1 half-shadows of ,correggio1 
and ,carrire desires that his figures   

should have the powerful relief of      
bronze4 ,the painter sacrifices  colour 
to the sole study of values1 and by his 
black-and-white comes  back to          
sculpture4 ,very curious is this point  
of junction between  two great artists4 
,rodin is beginning to explain himself  
with the  pen2 and ,eugne ,carrire has1 
for some years past1 been writing--too  
rarely--passages upon art of which the  
style is admirable and the              
concentration of thought astonishing1   
passages which recall ,mallarm  and     
,baudelaire1 and leave far behind the   
commonplaces of journalistic  criticism4
 ,rodin and ,carrire have their school1 
their circle of chosen  admirers1 and   
their double influence may soon be the  
most decisive1 if  not the most         
brilliant and the noisiest1 in ,french  
art of to-day4    ,,nude ,,figure       
7,,photographed ,,in ,,the ,,open ,,air 
,,at ,,twilight ,,in ,,the ,,garden ,,at
  ,,meudon7    ,the prevailing note of  
opinion about ,rodin among his friends  

and his  detractors is that he is like  
no one else1 and that no statue can1 in 
a  manner1 be looked at beside his1 so  
individual is the conception from  which
 they spring4 ,by the mere fact that    
they exist1 they compel us to  choose   
between them and the others4 ,their     
silhouettes1 their planes1  the quality 
of their shadows1 and their lights1 make
 them technically  works apart4 ,if such
 a man understands sculpture thus1      
either he is  right1 against everybody1 
or he is totally mistaken2 we cannot    
like him  and also approve of ordinary  
statuary4 ,his psychological and tragic 
genius conquers the admiration even of  
those who oppose his material           
execution4 ,rodin does not set himself  
up as a chief1 nor recognise  followers2
 yet he is a chief by his very work4    
,he is the greatest living ,french      
artist1 and one of the most complex  and
 powerful movers of thought in modern   
art4 ,he does not found a  school1 but  
he influences the soul of a generation4 

,he remains alone1  not susceptible of  
imitation2 but if he did not exist      
sculpture would  be deprived of its     
greatest regenerator4#a ,by inscribing  
passions  in symbols1 he touches the    
sensibilities of all1 and is a master   
to poets as much as to sculptors1       
because his subjects are moral1         
affecting1 never commanded by an        
anecdote1 bathed in the universally     
lyric4 ,attempts have been made to blame
 him because of the admiration  of      
writers2 it has been said1 with an      
inflexion of scorn 7especially  in the  
circles of his fellow-artists71 he is a 
littraire4 ,an  injustice easily        
committed at a time when the intellect  
of painters  and sculptors seems to     
blush at itself1 and when they make it a
 sort  of false merit to show that their
 eye and hand are separate from their   
brain4 ,rodin's splendid technical power
 annuls the reproach and retains  the   
praise4 ,resting firmly upon nature1 his
 symbols may rise high4  ,rodin delights

 poets because he makes the infinite    
emanate from the  most finite of arts4  
,everything has been patiently meditated
 by him4 ,he dares1 but is never        
overbold2 his balance and his taste are 
those of a classic1 despite  the        
uncomprehending astonishment of the     
academic sculptors1 hypnotised  by the  
sophistry of finish and elegance1 and   
confusing the exact  with the true4     
,there is a synthesized form1 that      
corresponds to  reality synthesized in  
symbols1 a second truth2 and that       
proportion  is observed by very few     
artists4 ,most of them1 contenting      
themselves  with an immediate1          
momentary1 anecdotic truth1 translate it
 by  picturesque observation1 or by     
minutely detailed copying4 ,this attempt
  of a sterile cleverness to transcribe 
the instantaneous is the very  contrary 
of art1 the first character of which is 
to display the laws  of vital permanence
 underlying fugitive aspects4 ,herein   
lies the reason  why sculptors become   

uneasy over ,rodin1 while writers1 more 
familiar  with general ideas1 become    
enthusiastic4 ,the impressionist        
crisis--the  study1 that is to say1 of  
instantaneous lights and actions--hardly
 got  over1 he brings in this second    
truth1 the transcription of general  and
 permanent feelings into a form that    
speaks as much to the mind as  to the   
senses4 ,such a man dominates           
impressionism as much as he does        
academism4    ,a whole order of curious 
and fundamental relations between       
nervous  sensibility and thought has    
arisen out of his work4 ,rodin's        
personality  is specially representative
 in the line of ,french sculptors4 ,he  
goes  back1 as ,i have said1 to the     
,egyptians and the ,greeks in the matter
  of technical ideas4 ,in his tragic    
feeling he proceeds directly from  the  
,gothic artists4 ,it is from them that  
he descends1 and especially  from the   
sculptors of the ,french ,renascence1 in
 particular ,germain  ,pilon2 and he    

blends his ,greek remembrances1 passed  
through an ,italian  influence1 with a  
conception altogether national1         
vigorous1 and  decorative4 ,rodin's     
actual part is to take up sculpture     
exactly at  the moment of the ,french   
evolution4#b ,since that time we have   
had  some great masters2 native genius  
has been triumphantly upheld1 in        
opposition to the false school that came
 from the ,alps1 by ,coysevox1  ,houdon1
 ,puget1 ,pajou1 ,pigalle1 ,clodion1    
,falconet1 ,couston1 ,rude1  ,carpeaux1 
and ,barye1 a line of splendid inventors
 of shapes1 all of  whom1 in            
contradistinction to the official       
school1 have represented  the inmost    
qualities of their race4 ,all these men 
,rodin emulates by  the importance of   
his work2 perhaps the future may regard 
him as  the magnificent outcome of their
 efforts carried on through three       
centuries4 ,in this succession of       
artists1 ,puget1 ,rude1 and ,barye are  
those with whom his technical relations 

are closest4#c ,but he has been  less   
decorative than ,puget and less hampered
 by the themes imposed  upon him2 he has
 gone further than the great ,rude in   
the expression of  inward emotion1 and  
he surpasses even ,barye in power of    
modelling and  boldness of silhouette4  
,he has created a world which is fully  
his own1  a feeling and a pathos not to 
be found elsewhere1 which are the very  
soul of his time4    ,rodin1 then1 can  
be set only beside ,puget and ,rude4    
,like ,puget1 he is  overflowing with   
vitality and with passionate frenzy2 he 
worships power  and heroic beings2 but  
his are sad1 and nearer to ,gothic      
asceticism  and to the nervous          
derangement of ,baudelaire than to the  
resplendent  pomp of the seventeenth    
century1 into which ,puget transposed   
his  heroes of ,rome and of ,corneille4 
,like ,rude1 he is attracted by deep    
things1 by soul tragedies2 but he is    
more abstract than the creator  of the  
,napoleon ,awakening to ,immortality1   

the ,joan of ,arc1 or  the              
,marseillaise4 ,rodin is more general1  
more synthetic2 he turns  his mind to   
permanent symbols1 outside of ages and  
races4 ,taking up1  as if in challenge1 
the mythological subjects that the cole 
had  most spoiled1 he has shown how a   
great mind can renew all things and     
impress upon them the magic of its      
vision4 ,he is the most symbolic  of our
 men of genius2 and if the modelling of 
the ,greeks1 ,gothic  austerity1 the    
strength of ,puget and of ,rude1 have   
helped ,rodin to  make up his           
personality1 the fusion of these        
elements and the addition  of a personal
 imagination and an extraordinary       
contemplative faculty  have enabled him1
 like ,wagner1 who descended from ,bach1
 ,beethoven1 and  ,liszt1 to create1    
after and apart from all of them1 work  
that resumes  them and forgets them1 to 
become in its turn an initiator4 ,the   
point  in which ,rodin is inimitable is 
the expression of the voluptuous with   

all its latent woes2 and this point     
strongly recalls to memory ,tristan  and
 ,isolde1 which is such a paroxysm as   
might touch the most perilous  region of
 exceptional art2 but ,rodin is kept    
within the bounds of the  normal1 and   
protected from the audacities of his    
strange and troubled  imagination1 by   
his imperturbable technical certainty   
and by his  admiration for some few     
masters4 ,as was the case with          
,baudelaire and  with ,poe1 his purity  
and grandeur of form save him2 like     
,dante1 this  lover of gloomy beauty    
hangs over the verge of passion's hell  
without  falling into it4    ,rodin's   
art is healthy because it feeds upon    
natural truth and general  logic4 ,he is
 the supreme painter of man bowed by    
intense1 melancholic1  feverish1        
constricting thought2 but also1 with a  
candid tenderness  unknown to ,wagner1  
he is the caressing creator of women in 
love1 the  poet of youth1 embracing and 
radiant4 ,only a genius can have the    

diversity of mind that produces ,the    
,burghers of ,calais1 ascetic  and      
medival1 the spasmodic ,hell1 the almost
 abstract ,balzac1  the bronze busts    
worthy of ,donatello1 and the images of 
women carved  in the radiant and golden 
marble of ,attica by a sensuous and     
subtle  enthusiast who has rediscovered 
the soul of ,hellenic beauty4 ,this     
union  of technical skill1 evolved      
according to the secrets of the antique 
with a power of expressing all human    
sentiments from gentleness to  lewdness1
 from the mystic to the pathetic1 from  
nervous disorganisation  to carnal      
frankness1 this union of contraries and 
this universality are  not to be found  
in any of our forerunners4 ,not ,puget1 
nor ,rude1 nor  any of our masters has  
had such intellectual ubiquity1 such    
strength  of condensation2 in these     
points it is allowable1 even in our own 
day1  to acknowledge ,rodin as supreme  
in the rich ,french school1 and thus to 
anticipate the judgment of the future1  

in whose eyes he will loom yet  larger4 
,in any case it was high time he should 
appear2 he has been as useful  as was   
,manet by his intervention in ,french   
art4 ,in spite of ,dalou1  sculpture had
 fallen very low after the death of     
,carpeaux and ,barye2  the deplorable   
school of the ,second ,empire had       
brought it into  degeneracy1 and we     
could reckon no one in sculpture to     
correspond  to the great impressionists4
 ,such men as ,dujalbert1 ,chapu1       
,merci1  ,frmiet1 ,saint ,marceaux1 and 
,falguire1 are but sham great sculptors1
  nothing of whose work will last2 the  
cole group1 from ,paul ,dubois  to      
,barrias1 ,aube and ,guillaume1 is a    
mere example of pretentious             
insignificance4 ,the few vigorous       
temperaments1 or workers of genuine     
technical merit1 like ,denys ,puech1    
,jean ,dampt1 ,gardet1 ,camille         
,lefvre1 ,devillez1 and ,jean ,bassier1 
did not know how to put together  their 
efforts in such a way as to found a real

 school4 ,they produced  without        
attaining a cohesion of thought capable 
of guiding a fresh  generation4         
,bartholom1 thoughtful1 pure1 dreamy1   
and proud1 stands  apart4 ,mme4 ,besnard
 and ,m4 ,thodore ,rivire are charming1 
but without  influence4 ,i have spoken  
of the group that has spontaneously     
placed  itself around ,rodin4 ,amid this
 interesting1 unequal1 and scattered    
sculpture he appeared with the authority
 of a master and a prophet2  his work   
set the question upon its true basis    
again1 showing whence we  came1 what was
 to be avoided1 and whither we were to  
go2 and all this  with such clearness of
 evidence that the appearance of ,rodin 
becomes1  in like degree with that of   
,goujon and that of ,puget1 a capital   
date  in the history of the ,french     
school1 ,i declared in the ,preface my  
intention to avoid any extravagant      
eulogy of ,rodin1 and have uttered  my  
dislike of the idolatry by which some   
people think it necessary  publicly to  

emphasise their admiration1 with its    
snobbish accretions4  ,but ,i should    
fall into the opposite fault if ,i did  
not declare the  truth and the          
importance of what such an artist brings
 to his art1 and  did not mark his exact
 place in the line of his country's     
sculpture4  ,henley has called ,rodin   
the ,michael ,angelo of the modern      
world4 ,that  opinion of a foreign      
critic1 a critic justly esteemed one of 
the most  upright in contemporary       
literature1 ,france may justly make her 
own1  far from extravagant and puerile  
praises1 and in the face of the work    
accomplished4 ,i shall be but too happy 
if ,i have contributed to make  clearer 
to the public certain secret reasons1   
certain inner frameworks1  of that      
logical and beautiful work4      #a ,a  
vehement but indiscriminating critic1   
,m4 ,octave ,mirbeau1 has seen  good to 
write1 by way of affirming that ,rodin's
 art moved him strongly3  ,a style takes
 rise from him4 ,i have neither the     

space nor the wish to  recriminate2 but 
it would be dangerous to let such       
artistic heresies  pass without protest4
 ,rodin is an admirable example1 but to 
say that  a style arises from him is to 
say that he may become the creator of a 
perishable formula1 and to understand   
nothing about his art4    #b ,some      
surprise may be felt at my having failed
 to insist upon the  name of ,michael   
,angelo4 ,everybody has hit upon the    
obvious comparison4  ,it is the         
exceeding obviousness that leads me to  
distrust it4 ,rodin is  much nearer to  
,puget than to ,michael ,angelo1 who is 
muscular strength  carried to heroic    
proportions4 ,rodin1 like ,puget1 and   
more than ,puget1  is nervous strength4 
,rodin appears much more akin to        
,michael ,angelo  than he really is4    
,careful study causes us more and more  
to leave  behind that preliminary       
likeness which has sufficed so many     
critics4    #c ,we might perhaps say the
 same in regard to the great ,carpeaux1 

too1  who carried the art of movement   
and expression to so high a degree1 and 
who did the same liberal work against   
the cole as ,rodin was to do at  a later
 time4 ,but their visions1 aims1 and    
minds differ profoundly4          ,,vi  
,,appendix--,,chronological ,,list ,,of 
,,rodin',s ,,principal ,,works--,,list  
,,of ,,the  ,,principal ,,books ,,or    
,,articles ,,written ,,about            
,,him--,,quotations ,,referring ,,to    
,,him--,,an ,,opinion ,,of ,,eug,,ne    
,,carri,,re',s2 ,,an ,,opinion ,,of     
,,henley',s--,,various  ,,notes         
,chronological catalogue of ,rodin's    
works is almost impossible to draw  up4 
,i do not think ,rodin himself could do 
it4 ,it must be remembered  that before 
#ahgg he made a quantity of studies     
which he destroyed1  and such a producer
 as he is willing to neglect things of  
which  others would keep count4 ,in his 
poor and wandering days ,rodin must     
have abandoned many things4 ,how would  
it be possible to recount the  figures  

that were retouched or even executed at 
,carrier-,belleuse's1  the earliest     
independent works1 the characters       
executed by him at  ,brussels1 the      
statues that were planned and left      
unfinished for lack  of money1 those    
that were broken or that failed--all the
 immense store  of work accomplished in 
the course of twenty years by a man who 
worked  every day8 ,how would it be     
possible even to enumerate the sketches 
and varied renderings of different      
subjects piled up in the studio at      
,meudon1 in the ,clos ,payen1 in the    
,rue des ,fourneaux1 and at ,vaugirard8 
,it is a whole world4 ,i will confine   
myself1 therefore1 to a statement  of   
known and exhibited works3 and these1   
indeed1 are what is essential4          
,,list ,,of ,,the ,,principal           
,,exhibited ,,works    #ahfd4 ,the ,man 
with a ,broken ,nose4    #ahfe-gj4      
,works in the studio of                 
,carrier-,belleuse4    #ahgb-gg4        
,friezes upon the ,bourse and various   

works at ,brussels4    #ahgg4 ,the      
,primitive ,man 7,the ,age of ,brass74  
,decorative work on the  ,trocadro4     
#ahgh-hj4 ,saint ,jerome4 ,saint ,john  
the ,baptist4 ,works in the  manufactory
 of ,svres4 ,competition for the        
,national ,defence ,monument4    #ahha4 
,adam 7destroyed74 ,eve4    #ahhb4      
,ugolino 7a sketch taken up again       
later74 ,busts of ,alphonse  ,legros and
 ,,iv4 ,e4 ,henley4 ,studies for ,the   
,gate of ,hell4    #ahhc4 ,bellona4     
,general ,lynch 7equestrian statue74    
,the ,genius of  ,war4    #ahhd4        
,monument of ,president ,vicunha4 ,bust 
of a ,young ,woman4    #ahhe4 ,the ,man 
and the ,serpent4 ,busts of ,dalou1     
,hugo1 and ,antonin  ,proust4    #ahhf4 
,first sketch of the ,hugo monument4    
,drawings dealing with ,the  ,gate of   
,hell4 ,bust of ,henry ,becque4 ,the    
,kiss 7a small group74    #ahhg4        
,perseus and the ,gorgon4 ,head of ,st4 
,john beheaded4    #ahhh4 ,the ,danaid4 
,alan ,walking4 ,nude study for one of  

the ,burghers  of ,calais4 ,several     
little groups4    #ahhi4 ,studies for   
the ,gate of ,hell and the monument to  
,claude  ,lorraine4 ,torso of a ,woman4 
,group of ,the ,dream4 ,the ,dream of   
,life4  ,women ,damned 7in marble74     
,hecuba4 ,bust of ,roger ,marx4         
,destitution4  ,thought 7in marble74    
#ahij4 ,bust of a ,young ,woman 7in     
silver74 ,torso of ,saint ,john4        
,brother and ,sister4    #ahia4 ,the    
,caryatid4 ,the ,young ,mother4 ,a      
,nymph4    #ahib4 ,busts of ,puvis de   
,chavannes and ,henri ,rochefort4       
,grief4  ,claude ,lorraine4 ,the        
,burghers of ,calais4    #ahic4 ,the    
,death of ,adonis4 ,medallion of ,csar  
,franck4 ,galatea4  ,bust of ,sverine4  
,the ,crest and the ,wave4              
,resurrection4 ,the ,child  ,achilles   
7group in clay74    #ahid4 ,eternal     
,spring4 ,hope 7a reclining figure in   
back view47  ,orpheus and ,eurydice     
7first version74 ,christ and ,magdalen4 
#ahie4 ,inauguration of ,the ,burghers  

of ,calais4 ,illusion1 the ,daughter  of
 ,icarus4 ,medallion of ,octave         
,mirbeau4 ,nude studies for the         
,balzac4 ,man ,crouching4    #ahif4 ,the
 ,inner ,voice4 ,the ,muse of ,anger    
7for the ,hugo monument74  ,the         
,conqueror4 ,minerva4 ,the ,poet and the
 ,life of ,contemplation4 ,women        
,bathing4 ,studies for the ,balzac4     
#ahig4 ,victor ,hugo4 ,balzac4 ,monument
 of ,president ,sarmiento4    #ahih4    
,statue of ,balzac4 ,bust of a ,young   
,american4 ,bust of ,madame  ,f4 ,statue
 of ,sarmiento1 with a high relief of   
,apollo in marble4  ,monument of        
,labour4 ,the ,benedictions 7marble74   
,twilight4 ,clouds4  ,the ,parc and the 
,young ,girl4    #ahii4 ,works for the  
,hugo monument4    #aijj4 ,marble       
groups4 ,exhibition at the ,rond-point  
de l',alma4    #aija4 ,shades 7for ,the 
,gate of ,hell74    #aijb4 ,groups in   
marble4 ,the ,hand of ,god4 ,busts4     
#aijc4 ,bust of ,hugo4 ,the ,poet and   
the ,muse4 ,various sketches4  ,ugolino 

7fresh version74 ,the ,prodigal ,son4   
#aijd4 ,the ,thinker1 and various works 
in marble in process of  execution4#a   
,the work of ,rodin may thus be         
estimated at about ten works on a grand 
scale1 forty groups or statues1 some    
thirty important busts1 and  perhaps two
 hundred figures or portraits1 without  
counting sketches1  from #ahgg to #aijd4
    ,i come now to the mention of some  
significant writings that deal with  his
 aesthetic theory or with his work2 and1
 as may be supposed1 ,i leave  out of   
question a quantity of valueless        
articles1 for ,rodin has been  directly 
or indirectly the pretext for a great   
mass of writings1 and  is the modern    
,french artist who has been most talked 
of1 justly or  unjustly4 ,the works     
quoted are such as may be consulted with
 advantage4      #a ,to these may be    
added1 in #aije1 a bust of the ,rt4     
,hon4 ,george  ,wyndham1 and ,the ,hand 
of ,god4          ,,articles ,,or       
,,books ,,relating ,,to ,,rodin         

,balzac and ,rodin1 by ,roger ,marx 7,le
 ,voltaire1 ,march1 #ahib74    ,claude  
,lorraine1 by ,roger ,marx 7,le         
,voltaire1 ,june1 #ahib74  7,excellent  
studies in the criticism of sculpture47 
,auguste ,rodin1 by ,roger ,marx 7,pan1 
and ,the ,image1 ,september1  #ahig74   
,drawings by ,rodin1 #abi plates1       
containing #adb heliogravures 7,goupil  
and  ,co41 #ahig71 from the suggestions 
and loans of ,m4 ,fenaille4    ,rodin's 
,studio1 by ,edouard ,rod 7,gazette des 
,beaux ,arts1 ,may1 #ahih74    ,rodin1  
by ,gabriel ,mourey 7,revue illustre1   
,october1 #ahii7    ,exhibition of      
#aijj3 ,rodin's ,works1 with four       
prefaces by ,eugne  ,carrire1 ,jean     
,paul ,laurens1 ,claude ,monet1 and     
,albert ,besnard4    ,rodin and ,legros1
 by ,arsne ,alexandre 7,figaro1 ,june1  
#aijj74    ,the ,gate of ,hell1 by      
,anatole ,france 7,figaro1 ,june #ast1  
#aijj74    ,la ,revue des ,beaux ,arts  
et des ,lettres1 ,january #ast1 #aijj4  
,la ,plume1 #aijj4 ,special number4     

,les ,matres ,artistes1 special number1 
,october #aeth1 #aijc4  7,illustrated   
collections1 containing a certain number
 of critical  studies by various        
authors47    ,rodin1 by ,lon ,riotor3 a 
pamphlet1 reproducing in ,french1       
,german1  ,english1 ,italian1 ,spanish1 
and ,russian1 a study that appeared in  
the  ,revue populaire des ,beaux ,arts1 
,april #hth1 #ahii4    ,rodin1 the      
,sculptor1 a volume of criticism1       
illustrated2 by ,lon  ,maillard         
7,floury72 #ahii4    ,the ,sculptor     
,rodin1 drawn from life4 ,a volume by   
,mlle4 ,judith ,cladel  7,la ,plume     
office1 #aijc74    ,rodin1 a study by   
,l4 ,brieger-,wasser 7,vogel4           
,strassburg2 #aijc74    ,rodin1 by      
,george ,treu 7,jahrbuch der bildenden  
,kunst4 ,berlin1  ,marstersteig1 #aijc74
    ,rodin1 by ,r4 ,m4 ,rilke 7,berlin1 
,bard1 #aijc74    ,rodin4 ,articles     
upon1 by ,w4 ,e4 ,henley1 #ahij2 ,d4 ,s4
 ,mac,coll1 #aijb2  ,henri ,duhem1      
#ahij2 ,karel ,b4 ,made 7,prague72      

,vittorio ,pica 7,rome74    ,of these   
various writings devoted to ,rodin1     
those of ,roger ,marx should  be        
particularly noted1 on account of their 
technical understanding2  ,lon          
,maillard's volume is a sincere1        
well-informed1 well-illustrated  book1  
produced by a man who comprehends4 ,the 
book by ,mlle4 ,judith  ,cladel1        
daughter of the distinguished novelist1 
is an originally  conceived volume1 the 
only one that relates certain           
conversations1 and  attempts1 with      
charming acuteness1 to present ,rodin in
 his private  character4 ,it is a work  
that deserves to be much better known   
and  appreciated1 and of which ,rodin's 
first panegyrists1 jealous of being  the
 only inventors of the artist1 have been
 very careful not to  speak4 ,the       
article by the graceful painter1 ,henri 
,duhem1 is likewise  excellent2 and ,i  
consider ,mr4 ,mac,coll's very          
remarkable1 on account of  its elevation
 and precision of judgment4 ,the others 

have such value  as belongs to admiring 
articles written hurriedly in           
newspapers3 they  express sympathetic   
feelings1 or comment in a poetical way  
upon the  subjects1 but their critical  
value is ngligeable1 and there is       
nothing  to be quoted from them for the 
information of my readers4 ,the ,balzac 
gave rise to a shoal of newspaper       
articles4 ,georges1 ,rodenbach1 and     
,france1 on that occasion1 said the     
acute and witty thing's about  ,rodin   
that they say about all manifestations  
of thought1 and ,m4  ,mirbeau made      
,rodin the theme of some of those       
polemical variations1  conjoining       
hyperbolical praise with abuse of his   
adversaries1 which  he is accustomed to 
offer as art-criticisms1 and which have 
gained  him a reputation of a certain   
kind4 ,there is nothing to note in these
  pamphlets mixed with eulogistic       
effusions1 the whole of which do not    
contain the substance of twenty lines by
 ,henley or of ,eugne ,carrire's        

admirable ,preface1 which ,i am desirous
 of reproducing here because it  is a   
masterpiece of synthetic divination4#a  
#a ,preface to the ,catalogue of the    
,rodin exhibition in the ,pavillon  de  
l',alma1 #aijj4 7,the work mentioned    
above2 other prefaces by ,claude        
,monet1 ,a4 ,besnard1 and ,j4 ,p4       
,laurens47        ,,the ,,art ,,of      
,,rodin      ,rodin's art comes from the
 earth and returns to it1 like those    
giant  blocks--rocks or dolmens--which  
mark deserts1 and in the heroic         
grandeur of which man recognises        
himself4    ,the transmission of thought
 by art1 like the transmission of life1 
is  the work of passion and of love4    
,passion1 whose obedient servant ,rodin 
is1 makes him discover the laws  that   
serve to express it2 she it is that     
gives him the sense of volumes  and     
proportions1 the choice of the          
expressive prominence4    ,thus the     
earth projects external apparent forms1 
images1 and statues  that fill us with a

 sense of its internal life4    ,these  
terrestrial forms were the real guides  
of ,rodin4 ,they have set  him free from
 scholastic traditions1 in them he found
 his being and the  creative instinct of
 men whom humanity celebrates4    ,trees
 and plants revealed to him their       
likeness to those fair women1  with     
sleek limbs rising1 like delicate       
columns1 to the moving torso and        
swelling breast1 above which the head   
hangs heavily in the company of a       
strong and supple neck1 even as a fine  
fruit full of savour weighs down  its   
branch4    ,the massive brow overshadows
 the eyes1 and the cheek brings the lip 
softly to the lover's entreaty4         
,forms seek and meet in voluptuous      
desires of violence and of  resignation1
 rebellious and obedient to laws from   
which nothing  escapes2 everywhere      
conscious logic triumphs4    ,the       
generalising spirit of ,rodin has       
imposed solitude upon him4 ,it  has not 
been his lot to work upon the cathedral 

that is not1 but his  desire of humanity
 links him to the eternal forms of      
nature4    ,after such a passage1 in    
which every word is significant and     
eloquent1  and is a great artist's      
reflection1 everything seems pale4 ,i   
will not1  however1 confine myself to a 
mere dry mention of the essay by        
,vittorio  ,pica1 the great ,italian    
critic1 who generously arranged for     
,rodin's  participation in the ,venetian
 ,exhibition 7,gallery of ,modern ,art1 
#ahig71  and ,i should have liked to    
quote ,anatole ,france's fine article1  
and  some assertions of ,mr4            
,mac,coll's1 who very logically recalls 
to our  memory the sculptor ,auguste    
,prault1 who is too much forgotten1 and 
who was1 indeed1 a sort of imperfect    
precursor of ,rodin4 ,i must at  least  
transcribe a few lines from ,w4 ,e4     
,henley1 who was1 from the very         
beginning1 a clear-sighted admirer of   
,rodin1 and who spoke of him with       
eloquence and passion3--    ,m4 ,dalou  

444 has declared that when the century  
goes out it will  remember the aforesaid
 doors 7i4e4 ,the ,gate of ,hell7 as its
 heroic  achievement in sculpture4 ,and 
if that be true--as ,i believe it to be 
true--then where1 between himself and   
,michael ,angelo1 is there so  lofty a  
head as ,rodin's8444 ,his busts alone   
were enough to place him  in the future1
 the style of them is so complete1 the  
treatment so  large and so              
distinguished1 the effect so personal1  
yet so absolute in  art4444 ,here1 if   
you will1 are a thousand hints of the   
possibilities of  human passion3 from   
,paolo and ,francesca melting into each 
other3        ',la bocca mi bacio tutta 
tremante'    as no man and woman have   
done in sculpture since sculpture       
began4444  ,here is sculpture in its    
essence4444 ,you may read into it as    
much  literature as you please1 or as   
you can2 but the interpolation is  not  
,rodin's1 but your own4444 ,it is not   
literature in relief1 nor  literature in

 the round2 it is sculpture pure and    
simple4444 ,passion is  with him wholly 
a matter of form and surface and line1  
and exists not  apart from these4444 ,he
 is our ,michael ,angelo2 and if he had 
not been  that1 he might have been our  
,donatello4 ,and with ,phidias and      
,lysippus  all these some-and-twenty    
centuries afar1 what more is left to say
 of  the man of genius whose art is     
theirs8    ,we see that ,henley's       
admiration returns to the comparison of 
,michael  ,angelo and ,rodin4 ,i persist
 in thinking that the resemblance rather
  lies in moral identity1 in conception 
than in technicalities4 ,the  muscular  
enlargement of the ,italian hero is not 
,rodin's amplification  nor his         
expressiveness1 which is altogether     
nervous4 ,it is none the  less true that
 these two men are the only ones who    
have imagined and  realised a           
sculpturesque conception of so vast a   
reach4 ,not even ,puget  and ,rude1 who 
came between them1 ventured such wholes 

as ,the ,tomb of  the ,medici or ,the   
,gate of ,hell4      ,,museums    ,rodin
 has in the ,luxembourg ,museum 7,paris7
 the following works3--    ,the ,age of 
,brass1 originally placed in the        
,luxembourg ,gardens near  the ,school  
of ,mines4    ,the ,danaid 7marble74    
,thought 7marble74    ,st4 ,john the    
,baptist ,preaching 7bronze74    ,the   
,fair ,helmet-maker 7bronze74    ,bust  
of ,jean ,paul ,laurens 7bronze74       
,the ,kiss 7marble74    ,bust of ,mme4  
,v4 7marble74    ,at the ,petit ,palais 
7,ville de ,paris71 one work4    ,at    
,beziers1 ,cognac1 ,dijon1 ,douai1      
,lille1 and ,lyons1 several works4      
,at ,brussels1 one work4    ,at         
,copenhagen1 several works4    ,at ,new 
,york1 ,boston1 ,chicago1 and           
,philadelphia1 works4 ,at ,helsingfors1 
one work4    ,at ,rotterdam1 one work4  
,at ,geneva 7,rath ,museum71 three      
works4    ,at ,venice1 ,christiania1    
,st4 ,petersburg1 ,stockholm1           
,dsseldorf1 ,munich1  ,weimar1 ,vienna1 

,prague 7town hall71 one work in each   
town4    ,at ,hamburg1 three works4     
,at ,hagen1 three works4    ,at ,berlin 
7new gallery of ,charlottenburg71 five  
works4    ,at ,crefeld1 two works4      
,at ,buda-,pest1 five works4    ,in     
,london 7,victoria and ,albert ,museum71
 two works2 7,british ,museum71  one    
work4    ,at ,glasgow1 one work4        
,museum of ,marseilles1 ,the ,inner     
,voice 7clay74    ,the new works in     
these various museums are originals or  
casts4      ,,private ,,collections     
,m4 ,vever 7,eve1 in marble74    ,m4    
,pontremoli 7the ,national ,defence47   
,m4 ,antony ,roux 7,the ,kiss74    ,m4  
,roger ,marx 7bust1 ,the ,young         
,mother74    ,m4 ,blanc 7,the ,eternal  
,idol47    ,m4 ,desmarais 7the ,idyll47 
,mme4 ,durand 7,thought1 in marble1     
given to the ,luxembourg74    ,m4       
,peytel 7various groups74    ,mme4      
,russell 7,minerva47    ,m4 ,fenaille   
7,the ,spring1 ,bust of ,mme4 ,f41 ,the 
,poet and the ,life of  ,contemplation1 

a twisted column with figures1          
surmounted by a mask74    ,baron ,vitta 
7high-reliefs in stone74    ,the        
,marquise de ,carcano 7,head of ,st4    
,john beheaded1 marble74    ,this1 of   
course1 is a very cursory list1 and     
includes only collections  in ,paris4   
,i must add separately to the works     
published about ,rodin those for  which 
,i am responsible3 7#a7 a study1 called 
,the ,art of ,m4 ,rodin1  ,revue des    
,revues1 #aeth ,june1 #ahih2 this has   
been approved by the  artist1 and very  
frequently reproduced4 7#b7 ,a lecture  
delivered on  the #cast of ,july1 #aijj1
 at the ,rodin exhibition1 and published
 by  ,la ,plume1 with four unpublished  
drawings4 7#c7 ,an essay upon the       
surroundings1 personality1 and influence
 of ,rodin1 which appeared in  the      
,revue ,universelle in #aija1 and has   
likewise been reprinted1  particularly  
in the ,matres ,artistes 7special       
number1 #aeth ,october1  #aijc74    ,the
 high price of the work published by    

,messrs4 ,goupil 7,a ,hundred  and      
,fort-two ,drawings by ,rodin7 prevents 
that fine volume from being  accessible 
to the public4 ,the amateur photographer
 ,druet has taken  photographs of all   
,rodin's work1 which are rather misty1  
but which  render admirably the         
caressing touch of light on the main    
planes1 and  which in a measure         
reproduce the artistic atmosphere of the
 statues4  ,messrs4 ,haweis and ,coles  
have likewise taken some beautiful and  
curious  proofs4 ,more classic1 but also
 more definite1 are the fine photographs
  which the art publisher ,buloz has    
recently taken1 and which have been     
employed to illustrate this volume4     
,,portraits    ,there is a remarkable   
portrait of ,rodin by ,mr4 ,john        
,sargent 7dating  from about twenty     
years ago74 ,another1 by ,m4 ,alphonse  
,legros 7a  profile71 is more of a fancy
 head1 and wears a sort of tiara4 ,a    
more  recent portrait has been produced 
by ,mr4 ,alexander4 ,there is a very    

forcible bust by ,mile4 ,camille        
,claudel1 as well as a bust by ,j4      
,desbois1 a lithograph by ,eugne        
,carrire1 and some amusing studio       
sketches by ,mile4 ,cladel4 ,an         
interesting lithograph of ,rodin in his 
,studio1 by ,w4 ,rothenstein1 appeared  
in the ,artist-,engraver1 ,april1       
#aijd4    ,a curious photograph1 taken  
by ,m4 ,steichen2 a poster for the      
,rodin  exhibition1 containing a        
portrait1 and drawn by ,carrire2 and    
some  excellent photographs taken at    
,prague 7of which the one here          
reproduced  is astonishingly faithful7  
complete this list of likenesses4       
,,index        ,achilles1 ,the          
,education of      ,adam 7destroyed7    
,adonis1 ,the ,death of      ,age of    
,brass1 ,the      ,antiope 7of          
,correggio71 ,the      ,antique1 ,the1  
influence of1 on ,rodin        ,rodin's 
analysis of        its right use        
its truth and beauty      ,aphrodite 7by
 ,lucien ,schnegg7      ,apollo1 the two

 reliefs      ,aube      ,autumn 7stone7
      ,avarice and ,lewdness            
,balzac1 ,statue of      ,barrias2 his  
monument to ,hugo      ,bartholom       
,bartlett      ,barye      ,bassier1    
,jean      ,bastien-,lepage1 ,statue of 
,baudelaire      ,beauvais      ,becque1
 ,henry1 ,bust of        dry-point      
portraits of      ,bellona              
,benedictions1 ,the      ,bergerat1 ,m41
 ,rodin's drawings for his book         
,besnard1 ,mme4      ,boisbaudron1      
,lecoq de      ,boucher1 the sculptor   
,bourdelle1 ,emile      ,broken ,nose1  
,the ,man with the      ,brother and    
,sister      ,brussels      ,burghers of
 ,calais1 ,the      ,burgundian         
sculptors1 #ch      ,busts1 ,rodin's    
portrait1 #ag1 #ah1 #ba1 #bi1 #ca1 #cc1 
#hd        ,carcano1 ,marchioness of    
,carpeaux      ,carrier-,belleuse       
,carrire1 ,eugne        his opinion of  
,rodin's art      ,caryatid1 ,the       
,celtic genius1 ,the      ,chaplin      
,chappe1 ,a statue of      ,chapu       

,charpentier1 ,alexandre      ,chartres1
 ,the cathedral of      ,christ and the 
,magdalen      ,christian ,martyr1 ,the 
,cladel1 ,mlle4      ,classicism1       
,rodin's      ,clodion      ,clot1      
lithographer      ,conqueror1 ,a1       
holding a ,statue of ,victory           
,corneille      ,correggio      ,costume
 in sculpture1 ,the question of         
,couston      ,coysevox      ,crouching 
,man1 ,the      ,dalou2 ,rodin's bust of
      ,dampt1 ,jean      ,danaid1 ,the  
,dante      ,david of ,angers           
,devillez      ,day      ,delacroix     
,delaplanche      ,desbois              
,donatello      ,drawings and sketches1 
,rodin's      ,dream-,group             
,dry-points1 ,rodin's      ,dubois1     
,paul      ,duhem1 ,henri               
,dujalbert      ,dutch painting         
,egyptian sculpture      ,eiffel ,tower 
,emerson quoted      ,erotic subjects1  
,rodin's treatment of      ,etchings1   
,rodin's      ,eternal ,idol1 ,the      
,eve      ,exhibited works              

,exhibition with ,claude ,monet1 the    
,fagel      ,falconet      ,falguire    
his ,balzac        ,rodin's bust of     
,faun and ,nymph      ,fauns and        
,bacchantes      ,fenaille1 ,bust of    
,mme4      ,fenaille1 ,m42 his edition  
of        ,rodin's drawings             
,fiennes1 ,jean de1      ,finish1 ,false
 notions of      ,flemish primitives    
,fleurs du ,mal1 ,baudelaire's          
,rodin's illustrations to      ,florence
 ,baptistery ,gates1 as model of ,the   
,gate of ,hell      ,france1 ,anatole   
,franck1 ,medallion of ,csar            
,frmiet      ,fuller1 ,loe              
,galatea      ,gall1 ,emile             
,gallimard1 ,m4      ,gardet      ,gate 
of ,hell1 ,the      ,genius of ,war1    
,the      ,gluck1 #aje      ,gothic     
sculptures1 ,rodin's study of           
,goujon      ,greek sculpture           
,guillaume        ,hand of ,god1 ,the   
,hecuba      ,helmet-maker1 ,the ,fair  
,henley1 ,w4 ,e4        his opinion of  
,rodin's art      ,hokusai      ,houdon 

,hugo1 ,victor1 ,bust of                
dry-point portraits of        the       
,monument to        ,icarus             
,illusion1 the ,daughter of ,icarus     
,inferno1 ,dante's      ,inspiration    
,iris      ,italy1 ,rodin's travels in  
,japanese bronzes and prints1 ,rodin's  
admiration of      ,jasmin1 ,clment     
,joan of ,arc1 ,rude's        ,kiss1    
,the        ,labour1 ,monument to       
,lamartine      ,laurens1 ,jean ,paul1  
,bust of      ,lavoisier1 ,a statue of  
,lefvre1 ,camille      ,legros1         
,alphonse2 bust of      ,lorraine1      
,claude1 ,the ,monument to      ,louvre1
 the      ,love and ,psyche             
,lovers1 ,groups of      ,luxembourg1   
,the      ,lynch1 ,statue of            
,mac,coll1 ,d4 ,s4      ,magdalen1 ,the 
,mahomet 7drawing7      ,mallarm1       
,stphane      ,manet      ,man ,walking 
,man with the ,broken ,nose1 ,the 7clay 
head7        7marble7                   
,marseillaise1 ,rude's      ,marx1      
,roger        bust of      ,meditation  

,meudon1 ,rodin's house and studio at   
,michael ,angelo      ,minerva 7helmeted
 bust7       7marble and silver7        
,minne1 ,george      ,mirbeau1 ,octave  
bust of        medallion of             
,rodin's drawings for his books         
,monet1 ,claude      ,monument to the   
,defenders of the ,nation               
,morbidezza      ,mother1 ,the ,young   
,muse of ,anger        ,muse of the     
,inner ,voice      ,museums             
,nancy      ,naples ,museum             
,napoleon ,awakening to ,immortality1   
,rude's      ,neo-,greek ,school1       
,errors and defects of      ,nereids1   
,the      ,niederhausern-,rodo          
,night1      ,nude1 ,the      ,nymph1   
,a1        ,orpheus and ,eurydice       
,paintings1 ,rodin's      ,pajou        
,pantheon1 ,the      ,perseus and the   
,gorgon      ,pica1 ,vittorio           
,pigalle      ,pilon1 ,germain      ,poe
      ,poet and the ,life of            
,contemplation1 ,the      ,poets and    
,muses      ,prault1 ,auguste           

,private ,collections      ,proust1     
,antonin1 ,bust of        dry-point of  
,psyche      ,puech1 ,denys      ,puget 
,puvis de ,chavannes2 bust of           
monument to      ,pygmalion             
,raphael      ,redon1 ,odilon           
,rembrandt      ,renascence1 ,rodin's   
admiration for the1 #fc-e      ,rimini1 
,paolo and ,francesca da      ,rivire1  
,thodore      ,rochefort1 ,bust of      
,roche1 ,pierre1 in      ,rodin1        
,auguste1 birth1 parentage1 and         
schooling        early art-training     
under ,barye        works for           
ornament-maker        in                
,carrier-,belleuse's studio        early
 works in sculpture        goes to      
,brussels2 work there        friendship 
with ,legros        takes painting      
lessons from ,lecoq de ,boisbaudron     
accepted at ,salon        accused of    
casting from life        his first sale 
cleared of accusations        sudden    
emergence from obscurity        slow    
development        attitude to academic 

art        his originality and power    
noticed        studios granted him by   
,government        works at ,svres      
his stay in ,brussels a formative time  
deeply impressed by ,dante and          
,baudelaire 7and see under these names7 
monument to ,hugo described             
impatience of officialism        ,gate  
of ,hell described        exhibition    
with ,claude ,monet in #ahhi            
monument to ,claude ,lorraine described 
,burghers of ,calais described          
friendship with ,m4 ,fenaille        the
 ,balzac and the controversy it excited 
visits to ,italy2 articles        in the
 ,muse quoted at length        at the   
,paris ,exhibition of #aijj        visit
 to ,prague1 #hd2 welcomed in ,london   
elected ,president of the ,international
 ,society        honours        personal
 appearance        portraits of him     
private life and home        house and  
studios        tastes        travels    
as a talker        social opinions      
influence        friends and pupils     

characteristics of his art              
artistic descent and affinities         
place in the ,french school        lost 
works        paintings        dry-points
        drawings and treatment of       
voluptuous subjects        photographs  
of his works        essentially a poet2 
as thinker        classicism1 his       
his symbolism        his composition    
his conception of his art analysed      
fondness for small groups        his    
treatment of costume        his         
treatment of flesh        his principles
 of portraiture        his endeavour to 
give atmosphere        his works treated
 to be viewed from all sides        his 
modelling        his study and power of 
representing movement        dynamic    
character of his art        his         
synthetic power        his veracity     
his favourite type of woman1 #db2       
influence and value of the antique      
,ronde1 ,the 7dry-point7      ,rops     
,rosso      ,rousseau      ,rubens      
,rude        ,st4 ,john ,baptist        

,st4 ,john ,baptist 7torso7      ,st4   
,john1 ,head of the ,beheaded 7marble7  
,saint ,marceaux      ,st4 ,pierre1     
,eustacede      ,salon1 the      ,sappho
      ,sargent      ,sarmiento1         
,monument to ,president      ,schnegg1  
,gaston and ,lucien      ,sverine1 ,bust
 of ,madame      ,svres      ,shades1   
,the      ,socit des ,gens de ,lettres  
,spring1 ,eternal      ,spring          
,summer        ,tanagra figures         
,thinker1 ,the      ,thomas             
,thought1      ,torso 7nude female      
bronze7      ,turquet        ,ugolino   
7drawing7        ,values in painting and
 sculpture      ,van der ,meer      ,van
 ,rasbourg      ,venus and ,adonis      
,vicunha1 ,monument to the ,president   
,villon        ,wagner1 #aai1 #abj      
,watteau1 #ha      ,wave1 ,the          
,whistler      ,wissant1 ,jacques and   
,pierre de      ,woman1 ,bust of        
,woman1 ,bust of a ,young      ,woman1  
,bust of a ,young 7silver7      ,women  
and ,children      ,women ,bathing      

,women ,damned