Rodin Gallery (Gallery)

Auguste Rodin: Sculpting Realism

This gallery brings together a large collection of sculptures by Auguste Rodin gifted to the Museum by the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation.

Often recognized as the father of modern sculpture, Rodin began his artistic training at the age of fourteen before applying to the Paris Academy in 1857. He failed to gain entrance three times and instead began a long period of training and collaboration with Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse in 1864.

Carrier-Belleuse, whose work is on view to the left, was more traditional and conservative than Rodin but gained attention for the sensuality and realism of his sculptures. Rodin’s Mask of the Man with the Broken Nose, displayed next to Carrier-Belleuse’s bust, shows how much further Rodin took realism in his works. In 1864 this sculpture was refused by the prestigious Paris Salon for its lack of idealization.

In 1880 Rodin received a commission for a monumental sculpted door called The Gates of Hell from the French government. His designs for it produced some of his most famous sculptures, including The Kiss and The Thinker, versions of which are on view in this gallery.