New Delhi: Born on November 12 1840, Auguste Rodin is recognised as the most important modernist sculptor in France during the 1880s and became world-renowned by the turn of the century for his mastery of the human form and use of light and shadow in his figurative sculptures.
His popular works such as Le Penseur (The Thinker) and Le Baiser (The Kiss) are widely used as symbols of human emotion and expressive character. Rodin primarily worked in clay, and made plaster casts that were forged into bronze or carved marble. His unique perspective and attention to line, form and volume created by deeply pocketed surfaces reveal his adept relationship with light and darkness; elements that reflect movement and bring his sculpture to life.
Rodin's partial figures and mid-size sculptures were works he made for himself during his lifetime and how he wanted his art to be seen. He worked with live models and studied them from all angles, at rest and in motion, by candlelight and in sunlight.
His themes of rumination, passion and tragedy were inspired by Italian Renaissance sculptor, Michelangelo, French poet Charles Baudelaire and Dante Alighieri's epic poem, The Divine Comedy. Many of his sculptures were derived from Greek and Roman myths and biblical allegories of physical and human spirit.
Many of his famous sculptures were panned during his lifetime. Rodin was sensitive to the controversy surrounding his work, but he refused to change his style. Continuous works brought favour from the government and the artistic community.
By 1900, he became a world-renowned artist. He married his lifelong companion, Rose Beuret, a few weeks before his death. He died at the age of 77 on November 17, 1917.
Celebrating the 172nd birthday of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin, Google has posted a doodle featuring one of his most famous works "The Thinker". The second 'O' of Google has been replaced with Rodin's bronze and marble sculpture - The Thinker - which depicts a man in grave meditation. This sculpture is generally used to represent philosophy. This time, all Google colours - green, yellow, blue and red - are not there in the doodle. Instead, the doodle has only two colours - blue and black.
The first cast (of 1902) of The Thinker, is now in the Musee Rodin in Paris. There are around 20 other original castings and posthumous castings.
Comments
0 comment