By the end of the nineteenth century, academic theory towards sculpture stifled the creative process. Canons from previous centuries continued to dominate the public’s view of sculpture. Neoclassical emphasis on heroic models and emotional restraint was evoked through its modeling on classical antiquity. As a result of artists replicating the aesthetics of a past era, the contemporary works created were incongruous with modern life. However, modernity began to emerge in three-dimension and fully develop in the twentieth century through the Auguste Rodin’s (French, 1840-1917) innovative approach towards sculpture. The works of artisan-trained Auguste Rodin reveal his non-compliance with the traditional practices of sculpture in an effort to depict the pathos of the modern psyche.

While academic sculptors continued to represent allegory in human form, Rodin strived to deny symbolic representation as seen in Walking Man. After fusing two studies for his previous sculpture John the Baptist circa 1885, Rodin allowed the sculpture to maintain its’ unfinished look of a headless and armless figure. One could argue that Rodin revisits the Greek classical tradition of the fragment thereby following the academic tradition of referencing antiquity but with a modern twist. Without reference to a recognizable form of a whole body, the absent appendages cause the viewer to be troubled by what is lacking. In addition, the figure’s unconventional stance adds to a sense of realistic naturalism versus classical naturalism. This studied movement of the inherent motion of the human form highlights its dynamic nature with the impression of a singular forward action and movement.[1] The roughness of texture in Walking Man demonstrates an expressive surface in which the interplay between the concavities and convexities of light and shadow generates an emotional immediacy. As opposed to carving, Rodin relied on his skill at subtly modelling the clay using an additive technique which successfully translated into the later bronze casting. The lack of a specific subject allows for the viewer to focus on the ‘harmony’ and ‘plastic rhythm’ of the animated surface.[2] By reducing the figure of Walking Man to its bare essence, Rodin relates a modern sensibility of movement and ambiguity.

Although The Burghers of Calais is a narrative scene, Rodin’s depiction focuses on the expression of pain rather than visually describing the event. In 1884, the mayor and the councilors of Calais commissioned Rodin to create a monument in honor of the men who offered to sacrifice their lives to save the city from destruction in the fourteenth century. The committee’s initial vision for the public sculpture was an idealized rendering of Eustache de Saint-Pierre as an embodiment of the heroic act of martyrdom. However, in Rodin’s typical manner of refusing to compromise and being “completely inflexible” towards the patrons’ view,[3] The Burghers of Calais consists of six individualized figures each with varying reactions to his own impending death. Rather than romanticizing the narrative, Rodin chose to realistically capture the moment before departure in which each individual appears more like a victims than hero. The wretched figures seem borne along by an invisible force implying the movement of a march.[4] Eustache Saint-Pierre is depicted as a tired old man with drooping shoulders and large swollen hands; his battered countenance betrays fatigue and determination, resignation and courage.[5] Another figure seems to halt in his track in order to bid farewell which is conveyed by a strange instinctive gesture of a half raised arm and outspread fingers expressing almost a straightforward submission to fate.[6] Unlike the current setting of Burghers of Calais in which the work is positioned upon a plinth, Rodin had intended the sculpture be at street level so that the viewer became a physical part of the tragic scene creating a more direct emotional impact. The lack of a pedestal would also further reinforce Rodin’s choice to not elevate the status of figures to historical heroes but rather humble kinsman. Through Rodin’s unorthodox emphasis on vulnerability, the historical context of The Burghers of Calais acquires a timeless quality in which the darker side of human bravery is revealed; thus, a new type of public monument is created.

In Monument to Balzac, the visual representation of a genius is redefined without the aid of ideal beauty or classical allegory. Rodin was commissioned by the Société des Gens des Lettres to sculpt a monument of the French writer Honoré de Balzac. Instead of modelling a physical similitude of the stocky writer, Rodin stated that he wished to capture Balzac’s creative genius: “But it is the feeling, the intimate inner life of the man I want to get and that’s a tough customer to find. I want the soul of Balzac.”[7] This inner strength of intellect is evoked in Rodin’s stylized sculptural figure; the simple monk’s robe as a choice of dress causes the viewer’s eye to be drawn to the massive head, the source of his literary work. The upright pose of the sculpture indicates a commanding presence allowing Balzac’s actual compact shape to symbolize his mental potency. The menacing figure leans backwards to stress a separate state of being, transcending that of the viewer.[8] Thus, the inner identity of Balzac is vigorously revealed as a result of Rodin’s conscious break with the traditional rendering of the heroic male yet still possesses heroic qualities.

 Originally commissioned to be the doors for the Museum of Decorative Arts in 1881, The Gates of Hell was doomed never to perform its original function. Although Rodin was initially inspired by the narrative of Dante’s Inferno, emulated the structural form of Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise and Michelangelo’s Last Judgment, this hybrid work of sculpture and architecture quickly lost any clear configuration. Far from the celebrated Neoclassical theorist Wincklemann’s aesthetic belief of ‘noble simplicity and calm grandeur,’ Rodin continually experimented with his ornamental entrance as he filled the doors with chaotic figural groupings. The interplay of light and shadow amongst the animated gestures provides a visual exploration of the potential of the human body.[9] At the top of the gates’ lintel, are The Shades who reside over the dismal abyss; the triple representation of the same figure at different angles almost persuades the viewer to see individuated forms. The repetition of the dejected pose stresses the feeling of surrender with their heads bent together in mute despair.[10] Meanwhile, perched above the hellish episodes is The Thinker (figure 5) whose muscular pose indicates strenuous effort. The ponderous lone figure portrays a man turned in upon himself with his hands clasped in frustration and brow low in concentration;[11] the traditional classical male nude as hero has been subverted. Although the laden doors appear incapable of withstanding the weight of the numerous sculptures, the figures remain physically attached to the framework and eternally imprisoned in Rodin’s inferno. Despite never functioning as a public monument, The Gates of Hell posthumously serve as a private monument commemorating its creator.

By challenging traditional nineteenth-century practice, Rodin prepared sculpture for twentieth-century modernity. His works were expressive of the physicality and spirituality of human existence. Rather than use allegory to provide meaning, the fragmentation of Walking Man allows the subject to speak for itself while The Burghers of Calis conveys grandeur through authentic emotion. In Monument to Balzac, the stylization of genius took precedence over idealized beauty. Finally, Rodin’s overall commitment to human suffering imbues The Gates of Hell with intense emotional energy. The rejection of the traditional and antiquated formula for sculpture allowed Rodin to develop an individualized style which explored the darker side of the human condition, the shadow in every soul. Ultimately, it is through Rodin’s use of shadow in sculpture that the modern conscious is revealed.

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[1]Walking into Modernity: Impressionism and the Making of Modern Art, Princeton University website, revised 2005, http://www.blogs.Princeton.edu/impressionist_works.html, 4 October 2007.

[2] Ibid.

[3]  Bernard Champigneulle, Rodin (London: Thames and Hudson, 1967), 80.

[4]  Ibid.,88.

[5]  Ibid.

[6]  Ibid.

[7]  Ruth Butler, Rodin: The Shape of Genius (New Haven : Yale University Press, 1993), 291.

[8] Robert Rosenblum, Art of the nineteenth century: painting and sculpture (London: Thames & Hudson, 1984), 482.

[9] Ibid., 429.   

[10] Bernard Champigneulle, Rodin, 137.

[11] Butler, Rodin: The Shape of Genius, 157.