>>> PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE CATALOGUE

Ten bronze sculptures by Auguste Rodin from the Musée Rodin, Paris in conversation with thirteen German Expressionist works on paper from the Buchheim Museum der Phantasie, Bernried. This is the first official exhibition of Rodin the Alma Project.

Auguste RODIN & Otto DIX, Erich HECKEL, Max KAUS, Ernst Ludwig KIRCHNER, Otto MUELLER, Emile NOLDE, Max PECHSTEIN, and Karl SCHMITT-ROTTLUFF.

Welcome to our 11th gallery exhibition, the first official presentation by Rodin the Alma Project, a public – private partnership between the Musée Rodin, Paris, and Side by Side Gallery Akim Monet, Berlin.

The name Rodin the Alma Project derives from an exhibition held in 1900 by Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), in which the master presented a retrospective of his sculpture and introduced his previously unseen works on paper. This exhibition, a turning point in Rodin’s career, took place at the Pavilion de l’Alma, a mostly glass structure which Rodin designed and built for the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900. The works on display at the Pavilion de l'Alma greatly contributed to Rodin’s international reputation as the father of modern sculpture.

The mission of Rodin the Alma Project is to illustrate the art historical connection between Rodin and the main proponents of Modernism, and to foster a relationship with creators of contemporary art. Through exhibitions and symposia at our Berlin gallery and at galleries and museums around the world, we will draw lines between Rodin and those artists who have benefited from his legacy, and those who will indeed further it.

Since 2011, Side by Side Gallery Akim Monet has promoted themed conversations among artists from different periods. In this current exhibition, we give the floor to Rodin and the German Expressionists. Germany, the birthplace of Expressionism, and Berlin in particular, from whence came several of its most renowned proponents, is a most appropriate place to host this colloquy.

The works by Rodin exhibited in Germany and Austria in the early 1900's created a sensation and greatly contributed to the major change in direction of northern European art and literature. As Rodin's fame grew, he attracted many followers, including – to name but two - Gustav Klimt, whom Rodin met in Vienna in 1902, and Rainer Maria Rilke. Rodin’s influence was far-reaching and even touched Edvard Munch, who painted his "Thinker," Henri Matisse, whose “Serf” was inspired by Rodin’s “Walking Man,” Constantin Brancusi, and in the literary realm Octave Mirbeau and Oscar Wilde, among many others.

We hope you enjoy Auguste Rodin: An Expressionist Eye, a journey back to the turn of the 20th Century, from whence Side by Side Gallery Akim Monet, Berlin has chosen to begin the cycle of exhibitions under the heading of Rodin the Alma Project.