Rodin: A Hinge Figure Towards Modernity

Rodin: A Hinge Figure Towards Modernity

Centre d'Art Rodin (Shanghai)'s inaugural exhibition, “Rodin: A Hinge Figure Towards Modernity,” will open on September 28, 2024. It meticulously outlines Auguste Rodin's artistic career, showcasing his art style that inherited from 19th-century Neoclassicism and foreshadowed 20th-century modern sculpture. The exhibition explores Rodin's profound and lasting impact on the development of contemporary and modern art and manifests the continuation of his artistic life.

The exhibition includes six main chapters and two special chapters, bringing together 106 works of sculpture, painting, ceramics, and film. All exhibits are authentic pieces, featuring national treasure-level collections from the Musée Rodin in France, such as “The Thinker,” “The Age of Bronze,” “Eve,” “Balzac,” and “The Burghers of Calais.” The clay versions of these sculptural masterpieces will be showcased in Shanghai for the first time. It is unprecedented to display so many representative works of Rodin in one domestic exhibition.

Rodin was not only a great sculptor but also had a deep interest in Chinese art. This exhibition will also specially feature 16 pieces of Chinese artworks collected by Rodin himself, including his cherished Guanyin statues, and rare Rodin personal collections of Sui and Tang dynasty tomb figures, bronzes, and Ming and Qing dynasty porcelains. These pieces demonstrate his tolerance and respect for different cultures and embody the spirit of art without borders.

About 30 pieces in the exhibition come from 17 artists who had close ties with Rodin, such as Rodin's teacher Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, and his friends, students, assistants, lovers, and followers, such as Aimé-Jules Dalou, Jules Desbois, Aristide Maillol, Antoine Bourdelle, Louis Mathet, Jeanne Bardey, and Alfredo Pina. This collective theme “The Artistic Group of Rodin's Time” offers a glimpse into the flourishing scene of sculptural art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.