Auguste Rodin - Exhibition
Yesterday I went on an art exhibition with my aunt (as usual :D). We went to see Auguste Rodin in the Art Pavillon in Zagreb. The exhibition was a part of the Festival of French Culture "Randez-Vou" that takes place from May until October 2015.
So, here a few words about Rodin :)
Rodin was a french sculptor, born in Paris, in 1840. He is known as a sculptor who broke away from the traditional way of sculpting. "His affinity to partial figure, his focus on formal qualities and relationships rather than narrative structure and his desire to retain the marks of the sculptural process on his finished works—were revolutionary in his time" writes Rodin Museum.
He was never accepted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts (School of Art) in Paris and was mostly self-thought. His art was at odds with the art of his time and the historical art, which mostly focused on traditional themes of mythology, idealism and decorative beauty. Rodin, on the other hand, was a realist and a naturalist. He believed that art should be true to the nature. He wanted to express the inner truths of the human psyche - inner turmoils or overwhelming joy, passion and tragedy. He expressed it through detailed textured surfaces and interplay of light and shadow. He saw suffering and conflict as hallmarks of modern art. In his own words: "Nothing, really, is more moving than the maddened beast, dying from unfulfilled desire and asking in vain for grace to quell its passion."
Materials he uses are: bronze, clay, marble and plaster.
His most famous sculptures are: "The Age of Bronze", "Monument to Honore de Balzac" , "The Kiss" and "The Gates of Hell" .
All in all, the exhibition was pretty good. I learned some new things about Rodin that I didn´t know before. Such as what my aunt told me - Rodin´s sculptures were made in pieces (and you can see it when you approach the sculptures very closely), Rodin didn´t build the scultpures himself, he hired workers who did that for him, he was close friends with a croatian sculptor Ivan Mestrovic, he married his lifelong companion Rose Beuret. Sweet :)
The atmosphere was pretty relaxed and I managed to take some nice shots with my cell phone, they didn´t mind :D
Sneak peaks from the exhibition:
