DOI issue:
No. 62 (May, 1898)
DOI article:Mourey, Gabriel: The work of Auguste Rodin
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18391#0244
Auguste Rodin
closely, there is very little difference between the ment of his other work—in his smaller productions
sculpture of the ancients and that of the Middle that we may best study and understand Rodin's
Ages. The mode of expression alone has changed, genius. Impulsive as he is, ever keen to note the
in accordance with the difference of the sentiments least movement, the slightest quiver in animate
to be expressed \ but the aesthetic basis of the art form, he naturally finds himself less at ease in
has undergone no variation. monumental work, demanding that patient matter-
These reflections are perhaps not altogether of-fact labour, in which, it must be admitted, he is
beside the mark in connection with an artist of sometimes lacking. But when it comes to seizing
such capacity as Rodin, an artist who, whatever an attitude, and fixing its effect throughout the
may be said of him, has a most lively feeling for human form, portraying the quivering of the
tradition, and represents with all possible force and living flesh, Rodin is incomparable, his genius
dignity the highest forms of modern French sculp- shining out in that absolute perfection which alone
ture. the greatest masters of his art have attained.
It is—be it said without the slightest disparage- Henry Beyle, author of "La Chartreuse de
Parme " and " L'Histoire de la Peinture
en Italie," wrote this strange prophecy
in 1817: "For two centuries political
feeling — so-called — proscribed all
strong passions, and in course of re-
pression succeeded in destroying them
altogether, so that there was no evi-
dence of their existence save in the
villages. The nineteenth century will
restore their rights. If we were blessed
in our days with a Michael Angelo,
what might he not achieve ! What a
torrent of new sensations and pleasures
would he pour forth among a race so
well prepared for him by the drama
and the novel! Perhaps he might
create a modern school of sculpture;
perhaps might make this art express
the emotions, or those at least which
are in accord with it ? "
No words could apply more aptly
than these to Rodin's work, for the
splendid truth he reveals is magnified
by the breath of a burning passion.
The inert matter modelled by the artist
is transfigured, animated by a rhythm
that is more than human, the eternal
rhythm of life and emotion.
See, at this Gate of Hell the mass
of suffering wretches, torn by anguish,
enduring all the tortures of remorse—
the damned, who have received the
wages of their sin, a struggling heap of
writhing bodies falling together in all
the madness of hopeless despair. Such
is the impression of his gigantic
scheme for the Porte de UEnfer, still,
alas ! unfinished. The frame-work of
the door, the door itself, and the lintel
claude lorrain monumknt at nancy by auguste rodix over it are thronged with figures in
closely, there is very little difference between the ment of his other work—in his smaller productions
sculpture of the ancients and that of the Middle that we may best study and understand Rodin's
Ages. The mode of expression alone has changed, genius. Impulsive as he is, ever keen to note the
in accordance with the difference of the sentiments least movement, the slightest quiver in animate
to be expressed \ but the aesthetic basis of the art form, he naturally finds himself less at ease in
has undergone no variation. monumental work, demanding that patient matter-
These reflections are perhaps not altogether of-fact labour, in which, it must be admitted, he is
beside the mark in connection with an artist of sometimes lacking. But when it comes to seizing
such capacity as Rodin, an artist who, whatever an attitude, and fixing its effect throughout the
may be said of him, has a most lively feeling for human form, portraying the quivering of the
tradition, and represents with all possible force and living flesh, Rodin is incomparable, his genius
dignity the highest forms of modern French sculp- shining out in that absolute perfection which alone
ture. the greatest masters of his art have attained.
It is—be it said without the slightest disparage- Henry Beyle, author of "La Chartreuse de
Parme " and " L'Histoire de la Peinture
en Italie," wrote this strange prophecy
in 1817: "For two centuries political
feeling — so-called — proscribed all
strong passions, and in course of re-
pression succeeded in destroying them
altogether, so that there was no evi-
dence of their existence save in the
villages. The nineteenth century will
restore their rights. If we were blessed
in our days with a Michael Angelo,
what might he not achieve ! What a
torrent of new sensations and pleasures
would he pour forth among a race so
well prepared for him by the drama
and the novel! Perhaps he might
create a modern school of sculpture;
perhaps might make this art express
the emotions, or those at least which
are in accord with it ? "
No words could apply more aptly
than these to Rodin's work, for the
splendid truth he reveals is magnified
by the breath of a burning passion.
The inert matter modelled by the artist
is transfigured, animated by a rhythm
that is more than human, the eternal
rhythm of life and emotion.
See, at this Gate of Hell the mass
of suffering wretches, torn by anguish,
enduring all the tortures of remorse—
the damned, who have received the
wages of their sin, a struggling heap of
writhing bodies falling together in all
the madness of hopeless despair. Such
is the impression of his gigantic
scheme for the Porte de UEnfer, still,
alas ! unfinished. The frame-work of
the door, the door itself, and the lintel
claude lorrain monumknt at nancy by auguste rodix over it are thronged with figures in