Auguste Rodin And Camille Cadel Analysis

Auguste Rodin and Camille Claudel
In a time of strict academic holds in the artistic world, Auguste Rodin and Camille Claudel moved the art of sculpting into the future. Known by many as “the father of modern sculpture (Bio.),” Rodin has produced such a great number of notable works that he is one of the “few artists recognizable to the general public (Brucker).” As art was shifting from the portrayal of mythical scenes and historical events to a focus on everyday life in the Impressionist period, Rodin brought attention to the lives common people through sculpture. It can be derived from his failed attempts in applying to the classic schools of his time that Rodin did not set out to revolutionize art in his field, but his unconventional style ended up completely changing what sculpture means to the world (Musee Rodin).
One of Rodin’s key goals and greatest successes in creating his sculptures was to evoke the “fleeting mobility” of the human form (Brucker). He boldly states that “it is the artist who is truthful and it is photography which lies, for in
New World Encyclopedia describes his struggle well, stating how “a pose might be considered too informal, the exactness of his forms too real, or the lack of a heroic theme found disrespectful.” His first full-scale work, The Age of Bronze, was so flawless that Rodin was accused of surmoulage, the act of taking the cast of a living model. Although it was accepted into the Salon in 1877, critics were thrown off by its lack of theme (New World Encyclopedia). The name suggested the Bronze Age and was described by Rodin as “man arising from nature,” but later Rodin said that all he had in mind was “just a simple piece of sculpture without reference to subject (New World Encyclopedia).” Neoclassical critics described the astounding work as “a statue of a sleepwalker” and “an astonishingly accurate copy of a low type (New World