DOI issue:
No. 64 (July, 1898)
DOI article:Another word on Rodin, with especial reference to the Balzac monument
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21969#0130
Rodin s Balzac
NOTHER WORD ON RODIN,
WITH ESPECIAL REFER-
ENCE TO THE BALZAC
MONUMENT.
Not for a long time has a contro-
versy arisen such as that which is now raging over
M. Rodin’s statue of Balzac. The bitter feeling
aroused is, moreover, far from being uninstructive ;
for it proves that the want of understanding between
the masses and the chosen few is unchanged, and
that the assertion, often made, that artistic educa-
pr
m
“ EE BAISER ”
tion has advanced is nothing better than a joke.
In any case, Auguste Rodin, the master, need not
trouble himself about it; a young artist at the
outset of his career might well be discouraged by
so virulent an outburst of anger and spleen—for
there are no milder words to express the bitter feel-
ings of his detractors—but when an artist has a
name and a record like Rodin’s there is only one
thing to do in similar case—shrug one’s shoulders
and go on with one’s work, as he has done.
Let me retrace the facts of the case. Some years
ago the Societe des Gens
de Lettres—which, by the
way, is avowedly a com-
mercial undertaking, ad-
mission to which is gained
• apparently by virtue rather
of the quantity than of the
quality of the work one
has produced —- realised,
somewhat tardily, that the
sublime creator of the
“Comedie Humaine”
had no statue. A public
subscription was accord-
ingly opened; a certain
sum was raised; and the
sculptor Chapu was com-
missioned to execute a
memorial of the great
writer. But ere he could
complete his work death
carried off the artist. M.
Falguiere, a friend of
Chapu’s, offered to com-
plete the statue. But
Emile Zola, who was then
president of the Societe
des Gens de Lettres,
objected to this course,
and suggested that, as the
Society was thus relieved
of its previous obligation,
it should entrust the statue
of Balzac to the one artist
whose previous achieve-
ments pointed to him as
being obviously best fitted
for the task, Auguste
Rodin. This proposal was
agreed to; compensation
was paid to Chapu’s
widow, and Rodin set to
work.
BY AUGUSTE RODIN
IO7
NOTHER WORD ON RODIN,
WITH ESPECIAL REFER-
ENCE TO THE BALZAC
MONUMENT.
Not for a long time has a contro-
versy arisen such as that which is now raging over
M. Rodin’s statue of Balzac. The bitter feeling
aroused is, moreover, far from being uninstructive ;
for it proves that the want of understanding between
the masses and the chosen few is unchanged, and
that the assertion, often made, that artistic educa-
pr
m
“ EE BAISER ”
tion has advanced is nothing better than a joke.
In any case, Auguste Rodin, the master, need not
trouble himself about it; a young artist at the
outset of his career might well be discouraged by
so virulent an outburst of anger and spleen—for
there are no milder words to express the bitter feel-
ings of his detractors—but when an artist has a
name and a record like Rodin’s there is only one
thing to do in similar case—shrug one’s shoulders
and go on with one’s work, as he has done.
Let me retrace the facts of the case. Some years
ago the Societe des Gens
de Lettres—which, by the
way, is avowedly a com-
mercial undertaking, ad-
mission to which is gained
• apparently by virtue rather
of the quantity than of the
quality of the work one
has produced —- realised,
somewhat tardily, that the
sublime creator of the
“Comedie Humaine”
had no statue. A public
subscription was accord-
ingly opened; a certain
sum was raised; and the
sculptor Chapu was com-
missioned to execute a
memorial of the great
writer. But ere he could
complete his work death
carried off the artist. M.
Falguiere, a friend of
Chapu’s, offered to com-
plete the statue. But
Emile Zola, who was then
president of the Societe
des Gens de Lettres,
objected to this course,
and suggested that, as the
Society was thus relieved
of its previous obligation,
it should entrust the statue
of Balzac to the one artist
whose previous achieve-
ments pointed to him as
being obviously best fitted
for the task, Auguste
Rodin. This proposal was
agreed to; compensation
was paid to Chapu’s
widow, and Rodin set to
work.
BY AUGUSTE RODIN
IO7