Auguste Rodin

Photograph of Auguste Rodin c. 1898 by Dornac (Photo by Dornac)
Photograph of Auguste Rodin c. 1898 by Dornac
Photograph of Auguste Rodin c. 1898 by Dornac, Auguste Rodin, General (Photo by Dornac)
The Thinker (1904) by Auguste Rodin, in the Musée Rodin, Paris, Auguste Rodin, General (Photo courtesy of the Musée Rodin)
The Walking Man (1877–78) by Auguste Rodin, in the Art Institute of Chicago, Auguste Rodin, General (Photo by Mr. Granger)
The Kiss (1882) by Auguste Rodin, in the Musée Rodin, Paris, Auguste Rodin, General (Photo courtesy of the Musée Rodin)
The Burghers of Calais (1889; cast 1926) by Auguste Rodin, in the gardens of the Musée Rodin, Paris, Auguste Rodin, General (Photo by LPLT)
Monument to Balzac (1898) by Auguste Rodin, in the gardens of the Musée Rodin, Paris, Auguste Rodin, General (Photo by Jeff Kubina)
The Shade (1886) by Auguste Rodin, at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, Auguste Rodin, General (Photo by Bubba73)
The Bronze Age (1875–76), Auguste Rodin's first full-sized bronze, in the Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Auguste Rodin, General (Photo by Daniel Ullrich)
Portrait of Auguste Rodin (1884) by John Singer Sargent, in the Louvre, Paris, Auguste Rodin, General (Photo courtesy of the Louvre)
Photogravure of Auguste Rodin c. 1911 by Edward Steichen, in the Brooklyn Museum, New York, Auguste Rodin, General (Photo by Edward Steichen)
Photograph of Auguste Rodin, Auguste Rodin, General (Photo by Unknown)
Photograph of Auguste Rodin, Auguste Rodin, General (Photo courtesy of the New York Public Library Archives)
, Auguste Rodin, General (Photo by Charles Hippolyte Aubry)

The greatest sculptor since Michelangelo

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) was the greatest Impressionist-era sculptor.

He crafted remarkably expressive bronzes, refusing to idealize the human figure as had his Neoclassical predecessors, producing such iconic works as The Kiss and The Thinker.

Once the critics stopped assailing Rodin's art (he was denied admittance to the Paris art academy three times), they realized he had been the greatest sculptor since Michelangelo and began lauding his works.

Great Rodin quotes

  • I choose a block of marble and chop off whatever I don't need.
  • The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation.
  • I invent nothing, I rediscover.
  • The modes of expression of men of genius differ as much as their souls, and it is impossible to say that in some among them, drawing and color are better or worse than in others.
  • To any artist, worthy of the name, all in nature is beautiful, because his eyes, fearlessly accepting all exterior truth, read there, as in an open book, all the inner truth.
  • Inside you there's an artist you don't know about. He's not interested in how things look different in moonlight.
  • He who is discouraged after a failure is not a real artist.
  • There are unknown forces in nature; when we give ourselves wholly to her, without reserve, she lends them to us; she shows us these forms, which our watching eyes do not see, which our intelligence does not understand or suspect.
  • Work lovingly done is the secret of all order and all happiness.
  • Recently I have taken to isolating limbs, the torso. Why am I blamed for it? Why is the head allowed and not portions of the body? Every part of the human figure is expressive.
  • Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.

Selected works by Auguste Rodin in England


Lord Howard de Walden (c.1905–6) by Auguste Rodin in the Tate Britain, London

Where to find works by Auguste Rodin in England