Sculptor Auguste Rodin

Descriptive Essay # 103371

Art > Artists
Art > History
Art > Sculpture

This paper describes the life and work of French artist Auguste Rodin, know especially for his sculpture.

2,635 words () | 7 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Francois Auguste Rene Rodin, born in 1840, was first introduced to sculpture at the Petite Ecole but was not admitted to the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts. The author points out that, unlike many of the famous artists, he didn't suffer from mental disorders, psychotic episodes or disturbing familial relationships. The paper relates that for most of the two decades after school, Rodin was a craftsman and ornamenter, producing decorative objects and architectural embellishments. The author states that, in 1864, Rodin submitted his first sculpture "The Man with the Broken Nose" to the Paris Salon, noting that it is this particular sculpture that Rodin's break from traditional classical sculpture begins to delineate. The author further explains that Rodin's unconventional approach emphasized texture and the emotional state of the subject;while classical sculptures were decorative, thematic and highly idealized the human form.

From the Paper:

"Rodin's experience in Italy was so profound that he returned home to complete work on his first life size nude--"The Age of Bronze", inspired by Michelangelo's "Dying Slave". Rodin wanted to get his major work just right; Auguste Neyt explained the process, "I had to go through all kinds of poses every day in order to get the muscles right. Rodin did not want any of the muscles to be exaggerated, he wanted naturalness." In attempting to achieve the perfection he longed for, "he wanted to understand the fundamental difference between volume, plane and contour.""

Sample of Sources Used:

Butler, Ruth. Rodin: The Shape of Genius. London: Yale University Press, 1993
Chilvers, Ian. Oxford Dictionary of 20th-Century Art. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999
Cole, Bruce and Adelheid Gealt. Art of the Western World: From Ancient Greece to Post Modernism. New York: Summit Books, 1989
Korn, Irene. Auguste Rodin: Master of Sculpture. New York: Smithmark Publishers, 1997
Mason, Antony. A History of Western Art: From Prehistory to the 20th Century. New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc, 2007