Tourist attractions in Paris : Rodin Museum
The Rodin Museum in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, is a museum that was opened in 1919, dedicated to the works of Auguste Rodin. He was a French sculptor who lived from 1840 to 1917. Rodin failed the entrance exam to the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris three times, and instead began working as an artisan.
The Rodin Museum has two sites, the main site at the Hôtel Biron in central Paris was used by the artist as his workshop since 1908 , and the other site outside Paris, the Villa des Brillants at Meudon, which used to be the sculptor's house. The permanent collection at the Musée Rodin includes over 6,000 sculptures in bronze, marble, plaster, wax, and other materials. The plasters are housed in Meudon, while the finished sculptures in marble and bronze are found at the main Hotel Biron site in Paris.
The Musée Rodin contains most of Rodin's significant creations, including The Thinker, The Kiss and The Gates of Hell :
The Gates of Hell (French: La Porte de l'Enfer) is a monumental sculptural group that depicts a scene from "The Inferno", the first section of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. It stands at 6 metres high, 4 metres wide and 1 metre deep and contains 180 figures. The thinker and The Kiss were originally the part of The Gate , which were enlarged and became works of art of their own.
The Thinker (Le Penseur), also called The Poet, is located above the door panels. One interpretation suggests that it might represent Dante, looking down to the characters in the Inferno. Another interpretation is that the Thinker is Rodin himself meditating about his composition. Others believe that the figure may be Adam, contemplating the destruction brought upon mankind because of his sin.
The Kiss (Le Baiser) was originally in The Gate along with other figures of Paolo and Francesca da Rimini. Rodin wanted to represent their initial joy as well as their final damnation. He removed the figure because it seemed to contrast along with the other suffering figures.
Many of the sculptures are displayed in the museum's extensive garden. Spread over three hectares, the sculpture garden features several monumental works in bronze from Rodin, in addition to a few marble busts and statues from the Roman antiquity. The museum has also a room dedicated to works of Camille Claudel , French sculptor and graphic artist (1864 – 1943). Some paintings by Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh which were in Rodin's personal collections are also presented. The Musée Rodin collections are very diverse, as Rodin used to collect besides being an artist.
Text Source : wikipedia.org
