DOI Heft:
No. 300 (March 1918)
DOI Artikel:Mourey, Gabriel: A few words on the death of Rodin
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21356#0064
The Death of Rodin
substitution of a teaching artificial and super- Yes, Rodin was of the Renaissance rather
ficial, contemptuous alike of nature and of life, than of the moyen Age; more pagan than
a teaching narrow and restricted, frivolous and believer; and he had within him more of the
unworthy. In this way Rodin's art, like that spirit of the days of Pericles or of Laurent de
of all the great artists, all the great creators, Medecis than of those of Saint Louis. He loved
appears to our eyes ' form for form's sake ;
like the outcome, the above all, he had an
summary, of the ^ inborn sense of the
concentrated in his ' 'MffB^ft in his eyes everything
vast output, on the mhe9u|9hL *n nature anc^ in life
one hand, all that ^<^j jjTMHK was lovely, therefore,
French genius from among the vi-
throughout the ages ^SsShSi^^mll^SB^.'''' awns they presented
has contrived to as- ^S^BlpE^lH^Sl he could not admit
similate of the genius fc:' T\^^ that he had the right
of Greece, and on the ^*«^J|j|jjki|j^> to Pick and choose,
other, all that it has •B&fe** For him there was no
been able to acquire i^Sr ''jmtr such thing as absolute
of the genius of Italy, J j ugliness. Should any
especially as regards assert the contrary it
is allied, too, with the j^^jMB^ ceptive powers are
mediaeval, with that ^^^^^^^^^^^^^.'^ not great enough to
strange how rela- ^^B^^^p|^^^^B^^^^^B| their metier, or have
who, nevertheless, ^^SP^' ' This sense of delight
wrote or delivered the ' • ifl^fl^HE m form animates all
ments on French sta- is that there exists
tuary of the twelfth "la defense' by auguste rodin nothing that has been
and thirteenth cen- {Photo J. E. Bulloz) modelled by his hand
turies—from the ex- which can ever be un-
ample of the anonymous image-makers, the un- deserving of interest; and it was, fundamentally,
known stone-cutters whose chisel has peopled owing to this sense of delight in form that he
the porches of our cathedrals with throngs of fair became the perfect craftsman, the prodigious
and inspiring figures, fully worthy to stand— technician, the extraordinary executant he was.
and I do not say it lightly—beside the most My friend Jules Desbois, the accomplished sculp-
glorious statues of Greece and of Florence. tor and master-statuary, who lived and laboured
58
substitution of a teaching artificial and super- Yes, Rodin was of the Renaissance rather
ficial, contemptuous alike of nature and of life, than of the moyen Age; more pagan than
a teaching narrow and restricted, frivolous and believer; and he had within him more of the
unworthy. In this way Rodin's art, like that spirit of the days of Pericles or of Laurent de
of all the great artists, all the great creators, Medecis than of those of Saint Louis. He loved
appears to our eyes ' form for form's sake ;
like the outcome, the above all, he had an
summary, of the ^ inborn sense of the
concentrated in his ' 'MffB^ft in his eyes everything
vast output, on the mhe9u|9hL *n nature anc^ in life
one hand, all that ^<^j jjTMHK was lovely, therefore,
French genius from among the vi-
throughout the ages ^SsShSi^^mll^SB^.'''' awns they presented
has contrived to as- ^S^BlpE^lH^Sl he could not admit
similate of the genius fc:' T\^^ that he had the right
of Greece, and on the ^*«^J|j|jjki|j^> to Pick and choose,
other, all that it has •B&fe** For him there was no
been able to acquire i^Sr ''jmtr such thing as absolute
of the genius of Italy, J j ugliness. Should any
especially as regards assert the contrary it
is allied, too, with the j^^jMB^ ceptive powers are
mediaeval, with that ^^^^^^^^^^^^^.'^ not great enough to
strange how rela- ^^B^^^p|^^^^B^^^^^B| their metier, or have
who, nevertheless, ^^SP^' ' This sense of delight
wrote or delivered the ' • ifl^fl^HE m form animates all
ments on French sta- is that there exists
tuary of the twelfth "la defense' by auguste rodin nothing that has been
and thirteenth cen- {Photo J. E. Bulloz) modelled by his hand
turies—from the ex- which can ever be un-
ample of the anonymous image-makers, the un- deserving of interest; and it was, fundamentally,
known stone-cutters whose chisel has peopled owing to this sense of delight in form that he
the porches of our cathedrals with throngs of fair became the perfect craftsman, the prodigious
and inspiring figures, fully worthy to stand— technician, the extraordinary executant he was.
and I do not say it lightly—beside the most My friend Jules Desbois, the accomplished sculp-
glorious statues of Greece and of Florence. tor and master-statuary, who lived and laboured
58