Auguste Rodin
French·1840–1917
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Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) is widely considered the father of modern sculpture. Born in Paris to a working-class family, he failed the entrance exam for the École des Beaux-Arts three times. That rejection shaped his career. He taught himself by studying in museums and working as a craftsman's assistant for nearly two decades before gaining recognition at 40.
A trip to Italy in 1875 changed everything. Michelangelo's figures hit him hard, and he returned to Paris with a rawer, more physical approach to form. His The Age of Bronze (1877) was so lifelike that critics accused him of casting from a living body. The scandal, ironically, made his name. Commissions followed: The Gates of Hell, a massive bronze portal he worked on for 37 years without finishing, spawned standalone pieces including The Thinker and The Kiss.
Rodin broke with the polished idealism of Neoclassical tradition. He left surfaces rough, figures incomplete, poses unbalanced. His Burghers of Calais (1895) placed six figures at ground level instead of on a pedestal, a move so radical the city council almost rejected it. His work bridged Romanticism and early modernism. Students included Brancusi and Bourdelle. Today his sculptures fill the Musée d'Orsay and the dedicated Musée Rodin in Paris, along with major collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
