RODIN'S BALZAC

'Want more Christmas gift ideas? Why not get one of those Rodin books that are in the bookstores now?

It's possible that Rodin was the greatest sculptor of all time, a man capable of great force and delicacy at the same time. We see those qualities in his "Study for the Burghers of Calais" (above, 1894).

 

When I say "delicacy" I don't mean something sentimental or mawkish. Look at his "Bust of Mme. F" (above). The subject is nuanced and unique but simultaneously universal. In this woman we see a flawed human being who nevertheless exemplifies the greatness and nobility of man.

Rodin's ability to combine opposites might be what tempted him to accept the commission to portray Balzac (above), his favorite French writer. I'll bet he wished he hadn't. He compulsively tried again and again to capture the essence of the man (above) and discovered that he couldn't do it.

I'm guessing that the reason was that Rodin had never actually met Balzac (above), who died before the artist got the commission. The sculptor was forced to use paintings, caricatures and media made by others to find out what the great man was like. To make matters worse, Rodin's enemies publicly ridiculed him for missing the deadlines. Yikes!

Of the several Balzacs I've seen this one (above) is the best, but its strength is all in the lower torso and legs, and not in the face.

Looking back on it, I can see why Rodin's sources (two examples, above) failed him. Balzac, for all his seriousness in print, was in person a jovial man far more suited to drawn caricatures (above) than to sculpture. He was a living contradiction, someone who was serious and funny at the same time...an impossible subject, even for Rodin.

What makes this tragic story doubly interesting is that lots of art critics consider his Balzac sculptures to be his best work. Were they? Judge for yourself.