Роден

World of Art

by Bernard Champigneulle, Никола Георгиев (Translator)

Огюст Роден (1840-1917) е едно от най-големите имена в историята на световната скулптора от Микеланджело насам. Съвременник на революцията, извършена от импресионистите в живописта, той е единственият скулпотр, който въстава срещу закостенелите норми на академизма, и води тази борба с енергия и творчески размах. Изкуството на Роден оказва огромно влияние върху цялото развитие на модерната скулптура. Със своите прогресивни и естетически ценности то надхвърля времето си и ще остане винаги живо. Бернар Шампиньол, виден френски историк на изкуството, разказва за живота на Роден със симпатия, но и с критично чувство, проследява творческия път и анализира многобройните забележителни произведения на майстора.

Genres: Art, Biography, Nonfiction, Reference, Art History

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

Reviews

[Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually finished this book a day before I arrived in Paris and saw his works in Person, I'm so glad I did. Having prior knowledge before seeing the bust of 'the man with the broken nose' was all I really needed. One of Rodin's first busts. Of a local lay-about nicknamed Bibi. His friend's said there was an eternal beauty and vigorous suffering in his strange head. You walk into the small room of the Musee Rodin and see the face staring at you with a tall, bright window flooding the crevices of his hair from behind with light. His face is mainly symmetrical except the slight curve of his broken nose. One night the temperature in his workshop fell below zero degrees and the bust cracked, making the jury of the salon reject his sculpture from their collection of 'classical works'. Apparently not their brand of classicism. Whereas many of his peers found the sculpture more moving. I agree with the latter. It was later cast into bronze and marble. I wish I could insert images into this review. I will inevitably write more about this book as its the perfect roundup of all of his oeuvre, but this review has been looming over me for a week or so because I have so much to write about his work now that I've seen it to the full extent, in all its glory and despair. Also because I had 5 books in my 'currently reading' bookshelf...

My current favourite Rodin piece:
'Metamorphosis', 'The Gates of Hell' or 'The kiss'. Sue me.

[Joe Plewes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning about the man himself having been to see some of his sculptures last week. I think the central third in particular, going through what was happening both professionally and personally with some of his finest work is the best. The chapter about Balzac actually made me laugh and he seemed to be particularly vain (photographers should take one particular side of him, had a hairdresser come round every morning)! I think the author unfortunately spends quite a lot of his time fawning over him and deciding what he and others are thinking, and the detail on the long suffering Rose and his other lovers comes across as condescending when the man himself seems to be pretty unpleasant.

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look forward to seeing Rodin sculptures at the Art Institute of Chicago February 2018. Chapter Five of this biography is especially helpful understanding Rodin.

[Anon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully verbose. Good one for increasing the vocabulary.

Quotes:
-> 'my eternal inability to stifle the spirit of criticism'
-> Ads 'foster a corrosive sense of inferiority among the underprivileged'
-> 'As for his studies, he seemed to be genuinely retarded'
-> Rodin's teacher was Lecoq (Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran)
-> 'Her grave features were lit up by a pair of clear blue eyes shining with candour and melancholy'
-> 'staggering virtuosity'
-> 'the poor suffered terribly from privation'
-> The Bronze Age (1877): 'It aroused a peculiar mixture of admiration and reserve'
-> 'Genuis, as Rilke once said, inspires fear'
-> 'epidermal quality'
-> 'this uncouth and hirsute man'
-> 'Rodin's grandiose figures transcend naturalism and bring us face to face with eternal man'
-> 'a strange fever of excitement'; 'He was like a man in the throes of delirium'
-> 'He was monopolised by his sculpture, knew no other form of distraction'
-> 'the exaggeration and distortion of certain areas conveyed the essential movement of the piece or strengthened its impact'
-> 'beetle-browed, bull-necked, and brutish of feature'
-> The Gates of Hell: 'It had become an outlet for his tortured imagination'
-> 'the throes and convulsions of physical ecstasy'
-> Rodin: "A woman undressing - what a glorious sight! It is like the sun breaking through the clouds"
-> 'a belly with a profile like an ace of spades'
-> Rodin: "A work of art, as all who have wrestled with one will know, demands calm and untrammelled reflection"
-> 'flotsam on the fickle tide of fashion'
-> Leon Daudet on Rodin's 'Balzac' [careful.]: "heavy-arteried, head erect, eyes seeking the sun but already invaded by darkness"
-> 'Instinct and personal genius were what conduced to the originality which placed his work above and outside its time'
-> Rodin: "If truth is deemed to die, my Balzac [brilliant.] will be smashed to pieces by generations to come"
-> 'his silences were respected as the refusal of genius to squander itself in idle conversation'
-> 'Paris buzzed with stories of his amatory prowess'
-> 'He was unused to comfort and felt no need of it'
-> 'he had come to believe that failure to proposition a woman was the mark of a cad'; 'his eyes too often shone with unabashed lust'
-> 'Rodin's male portraits generally possessed greater power of expression because he was unimpeded by his devotion to the beauty of the female form'
-> 'scraps of accumulated wisdom fell from his lips like the echo of distant gunfire' [lovely writing.]

[Anupa Sreedhar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rodin – by Bernard Champigneulle
This beautiful Thames & Hudson World of Art edition with plenty of illustrations, some of them in colour is written by a French historian Bernard Champigneulle. Auguste Rodin, the man with the magic hands was born in November 1840 on the outskirts of Paris and went on to become the most famous and influential sculptor of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Surprisingly, his admission to École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the prestigious school for the training of French artists, was rejected, not once but three times. That did not deter this self-taught sculptor. Never being bound by academic conventions, in later life he achieved fame and respect as an artist of stature yet he had his fair share of scandals- professional and personal. His partnership with Rose Beuret whom he met when he was 24 lasted till the end of her life in their seventies. He outlived her by 10 months and was buried next to her at their home Villa de Brillants. The author analyses Rodin’s contribution to the art scene in the late 19th century while giving an account of his life and personality. Quoting the author, “Rodin’s grandiose figures, transcend naturalism and bring us face to face with eternal man.” The author expresses that songs and sighs of love, cries of pleasure of pain, the call of man, the eternal call of woman, the restless summons of the human body- all found expression in this silent sculptor’s work. In this authoritative monograph, Bernard Champigneulle discusses Rodin's lasting influence. This 284-page softback, with good quality illustrations of his Meditation-1885, The Three Shades -1880, Cambodian Dancer, Two Women Embracing, Nude Study of Balzac, Head of Sorrow 1882, The Burghers of Calais, Saint John the Baptiste, The Man with the Broken Nose and many more, includes superb detailed close-ups.

[JW van der Merwe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read three books on Rodin and this one is the best. His bio comes out very clearly - it is structured and makes sense. His art and passion for sculptures comes clearly to the front. The author criticizes him respectfully and also shows his genius. This quiet introvert Rodin with all his complexity and love life everything is very well written in this book. One of the art books that I will keep. Highly recommended.

[Lyazzat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Суперская книга, очень хорошо изложена вся биография великого скульптора. Описывается все детали его изящества к искусству, подход к работам и т.д.

Вот так надо излагать книги, в интересном формате и мировозрении.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

An engaging, readable history/biography of Auguste Rodin and his art.

[Mark Sexton · Rating 4 out of 5]

quite moving, and although the author is clearly a huge fan of the work, something of an almost Dickensian tour of his life (mercifully shorter than Dickensian)

[Cassandra Kay Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely worship Rodin and his work. I cannot get enough of his sculpture. I don't know why the book included so much of his sketching, his three dimensional work so far overshadows anything else. The way he portrays men in battle is powerful and overwhelming. His forms of men and women in love are so full of passion and desire that it is completely breathtaking. I don't know if Rodin's life is interesting enough to make a good biography though. His work is so beautiful that I think that in itself suffices. Perhaps the writing was just not very good? I did enjoy the tidbit about him paying men and women to roam his studios nude however. I think his passion for the human form is unparalleled, except perhaps by Michelangelo.

[David O'Neill · Rating 5 out of 5]

The subject is the thing here. This book recaptures an enthralling and invigorating day spent in the Rodin museum in Paris. The book captures the exotic and erotic to be found in Rodin's work.