Rodin: Sex and the Making of Modern Sculpture

by David J. Getsy

During his lifetime, Auguste Rodin's name became synonymous with modern sculpture-- and sex. Rodin came to emphasize the importance of desire and the sexual as the markers of his individual perspective, using them to fuel his increasingly daring treatments of the nude. In the minds of many viewers, the dramatic and activated surfaces of his sculptures came to be seen as evidence of not just a sculptor's touch but of a lover's touch as well. This fascinating book makes a case for reconsidering the terms of Rodin's influence, arguing that the sculptor placed renewed emphasis on the materiality and objecthood of sculpture as a means of asserting his own desire's inseparability from his works.

Genres: Art

245 pages, Hardcover

First published February 22, 2011

About the author

David J. Getsy is Goldabelle McComb Finn Distinguished Professor of Art History at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His books include Abstract Bodies: Sixties Sculpture in the Expanded Field of Gender, Scott Burton: Collected Writings on Art and Performance, and Rodin: Sex and the Making of Modern Sculpture.

Reviews

[Walter]

I thought I would really enjoy this, but the prose was very terse and arduous to get through. The pictures were beautiful and some of the ideas neat, but others seemed like they were left unfinished.