Bowman Sculpture is pleased to present 'Rodin: Influenced and Inspired', an immersive exhibition of sculpture featuring works by artists that Rodin would have been familiar with and whom directly influenced him, works by Rodin that were landmarks in the history of sculpture and works by several artists who were clearly directly inspired by Rodin.
Rodin is generally accepted to be the father of Modern Sculpture, yet his roots were founded by the great sculptors of the Renaissance such as, Michelangelo and Donatello as well as his contemporaries of the Neo Florentine school, Paul Dubois and Antonin Mercie.
We start our journey with Alfred Boucher’s Volubilis. The sculpture is a striking example of carving in raw marble, a technique embraced by Rodin for many of his works. Boucher, a close friend of Rodin, won his first Grand Prix at the Paris Salon of 1881, going on to win his second Grand Prix at the Exposition Universelle of 1900. Rodin: Influenced & Inspired includes a unique version of Volubilis carved in the late 1890s.
Boucher was also the original teacher of Camille Claudel and it was he that persuaded Rodin to take her on as his assistant. We will never know how much her ideas influenced him, but there is no doubt she demonstrated some of the skills, learnt from Boucher during their time together. Claudel started working in Rodin’s workshop in 1883 and became a strong source of inspiration for him. Rodin was obviously a great influence on Claudel as her teacher, a factor greatly strengthened by their passionate affair. There is, however, no doubt that Claudel, influenced Rodin and was entrusted by him to model parts of several of his sculptures. Claudel’s L’Implorante is an emotive piece that not only depicts her heartbreak with Auguste Rodin, but also the struggle of a female artist in the 19th century.
Over the course of his life, Rodin’s style and skills developed, but he still absorbed the work of his predecessors as well as his contemporaries and in turn went on to influence a generation of sculptors after his passing.
Often referred to as the ‘Rodin of Austria’, Gustinus Ambrosi gleaned much inspiration from Rodin and utilised the same technique of presenting sculptures emerging from raw blocks of marble. Ambrosi’s Promethidenlos, is being exhibited at Rodin: Influenced & Inspired. It is an impactful depiction of eternal longing that exemplifies Rodin’s influence and Ambrosi’s mastery of the craft. Like Rodin, Ambrosi saw beauty in subjects that others found overwhelming, like his Man with a Broken Neck of 1909, directly comparable to Rodin’s Man with a Broken Nose of 1863-64.
Auguste Rodin is considered to be one of the greatest artists of all times, as well as the greatest sculptor of the 19th- and 20th-century. The works by Rodin included in this exhibition will span the breadth of his artistic career, starting with his early works, such as The Vase of the Titans, completed during his apprenticeship with Carrier-Belleuse, and continuing with a selection of works derived from his first commission from the French government, The Gates of Hell. The exhibition will of course also include some of the most important and most beloved examples of his works, including The Kiss, Eternal Spring, The Thinker and The Burghers of Calais.
Rodin: Influenced & Inspired will be exhibited at the Bowman Sculpture gallery in St James’s between 1st and 30th of July. It will also be available to view online as part of London Art Week’s virtual exhibition during those same dates.
