{"id":2301,"date":"2011-12-30T13:05:52","date_gmt":"2011-12-30T20:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chezarts.com\/?p=2301"},"modified":"2011-12-30T13:47:49","modified_gmt":"2011-12-30T20:47:49","slug":"an-artistic-innovator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chezmana.com\/?p=2301","title":{"rendered":"An Artistic Innovator"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Auguste<\/a>

Auguste Rodin; The Age of the Bronze<\/p><\/div>\n

Rodin and America, Influence and Adaptation, 1876 \u2013 1936<\/em> is currently on exhibit at the Cantor Arts Center<\/a> at Stanford University. It features the works of Rodin<\/a> and the American artists he influenced. These artists include John Storrs<\/a>, Gertrude Whitney<\/a>, Georgia O\u2019Keeffe<\/a>, Alexander Calder<\/a>, Edward Steichen<\/a> and many others. His late drawings influenced John Singer Sargent<\/a>\u2019s drawings of nude figures. In addition to a wide range of Rodin\u2019s work, the work of 42 other artists are on display, showing the influence of Rodin\u2019s artistic innovations. This powerful exhibit gave me many things to think about but two elements particularly struck me, the setting and the idea of fragmentation.<\/p>\n

\"\u00c9cole<\/a>

\u00c9cole nationale sup\u00e9rieure des Beaux-Arts<\/p><\/div>\n

Rodin applied to the \u00c9cole des Beaux-Arts<\/a> three times and his application was rejected. He finally applied to a less prestigious school that trained craftsmen rather than fine artists. Yet he became the most celebrated artist of his day. Rodin is credited with several innovations: the truncation of human body, which was intensively investigated by Edward Steichen and other American photographers, the dissolution of form, a more naturalistic approach to sexual subject matter, the use of unfinished surfaces, and the addition of powerful feelings of movement in sculpture. Rodin\u2019s work was a tipping point in America\u2019s transition from the academic tradition to modernism. <\/p>\n

Of all his contributions, the introduction of the fragment as a complete work affected me the most. Rainer Maria Rilke<\/a> says \u201cIt is left to the artist to make out of many things one thing, and from the smallest part of a thing an entirety. \u201c One can communicate powerfully, spiritually, and emotionally in a fragment.
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\"Fragmented<\/a>

Fragmented view of Rodin's sculpture<\/p><\/div>
\nA fragment can express better a certain mood than the whole object. The exhibit starts with a large banner showing Steichen\u2019s photograph of Rodin\u2019s statue of Balzac<\/a>. Steichen talks about the dialectic between the photographer and its subject:\u201cThe photographer not only sees \u2013 he looks and in the process of looking, insight is developed to the point where the object looks back at the photographer and together they make the photo. \u201c The photos I have taken are also fragments of his works, to create a dialectic between his work and my feelings. <\/p>\n

I have seen Rodin\u2019s sculptures in the beautiful Mus\u00e9e Rodin<\/a> in Paris. It is an elegant hotel particulier<\/em> with elaborate boiseries in a lovely garden which contains many of the famous sculptures in natural settings. However I found the setting at the Cantor a perfect atmosphere to surround his works. The modern stair case and the clean lines of the windows provide a minimalist background that frames each sculpture and enhances it, bringing out the modern aspects of his work.<\/p>\n

\"Staircase<\/a>

Staircase at Canot Arts Center<\/p><\/div>\n

The way in which the artist reaches his goal is the secret of his own existence.—Auguste Rodin<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let us get a glimpse through Rodin\u2019s existence by seeing this exhibit. I am leading a Meetup group called Les Bons Vivants<\/a>. It is for French speaking people or those who would like to be involved with French culture. We will be meeting at 2:00 pm on January 7th at the Cantor Arts Center. Please join us.<\/p>\n\r\n\t

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