"thinker": little-known facts about the creation of the famous sculpture of Auguste Rodin. The Thinker and three more famous works of the great Auguste Rodin
ABOUT THE SCULPTURE OF O. RODIN "THINKER"
This review article is of a scientific nature, and is written based on data taken from the Internet: Wikipedia, Biography of the sculptor Auguste Rodin, D. Alighieri, "The Divine Comedy", M. ed. Eksmo, 2011, excursions in the O. Rodin Museum in Paris.
"Thinker" (fr.Le Penseur) - one of the most famous works French sculptor Auguste Rodin. The original is on display at the O. Rodin Museum. which is located in the former mansion of Marshal Biron, 7th quarter of Paris, on the Rue Varennes, not far from the Cathedral of the Invalides.
Interesting is the fact that the sculptor depicted a man, as if thinking about solving a complex problem, a man asking himself an internal question. According to the same O. Rodin - "Who am I?, Where did I come from?, Where am I going? ? ". The author gave the sculpture a portrait resemblance to the author" Divine Comedy", a medieval poet - Dante Alighieri (1265 - 1321), identifying two concepts: a poet and a thinker.
Almost seven centuries have passed since the day when the ashes of Dante were imprisoned in marble sarcophagus, installed in Ravenna, in the church of San Pier Maggiore, but the image of the great poet and his work, his "Comedy", already nicknamed "divine" by the next generation, remain the highest spiritual landmarks of mankind.
Each new era culture, which brought with it a different worldview, different knowledge, different values, invariably turned to the work of Dante as an absolute model and an infallible measure of its spiritual consistency.
In 1880, Rodin received an order from the government to decorate the main doors of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris. Coming to this great job, he naturally turned to similar patterns in the art of the past and, above all, to the famous “Paradise Doors” of the Florence Baptistery, which struck him in Italy. Saturday, it hosted a magnificent and solemn ceremony of baptism, which was held in Italy, in Florence, according to those customs, only once a year. Including, received baptism on this day - a year after birth -, and the future famous poet Middle Ages by Dante Alighieri.
Subsequently, the entrance to the baptistery was decorated with three doors with bronze reliefs, superbly executed by Andrea Pisano (1336) and by the more famous Renaissance sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti (1424 and 1452).
And as if starting from the idea proposed by the founder of modern bas-relief art in European sculpture by Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455), Rodin puts forward his own grandiose design. He decides to complete the Gates of Hell, decorating them with bronze bas-reliefs based on Dante's Divine Comedy. Subsequently, the idea changed several times, and a number of images appeared that were not related to the work of Dante.
Rodin's creation, full of intense internal struggle and tragedy, agitated and passionate in content, solved in a dynamic, expressive form, differs sharply from the clear, balanced and calm decorative work of Ghiberti. Rodin, who paid great attention to the use classical heritage, has always required a creative approach even to the highest samples. He warned young artists against mechanical imitation of the classics: “Respecting tradition, be able to distinguish between what it contains in itself eternally fruitful: love of nature and sincerity. This is two strong passions masters of genius... Tradition itself invites you to constantly question reality and forbids you to blindly obey any master.”
The gigantic work on the Gates of Hell continued until the end of Rodin's life, and the Gates were cast in bronze after his death. The Gate was completed by the figure of the Thinker - which was smaller than the sculpture exhibited today - in the garden of the O. Rodin Museum. Many figures and sculptural groups, intended to be included in the composition of doors, received an independent existence ("The Thinker", 1880; "Three Shadows", 1880; "Adam", 1882; "Eve", 1882; "Ugolino", 1882; "Old Woman" "," Eternal Spring "," Kiss ". 1886, etc.). Truly colossal is the range of thoughts and feelings expressed in Rodin's images. Many of them, as it were, concentrate and generalize phenomena that have a universal meaning. It is difficult to imagine a more complete embodiment of an inquisitive and tormenting human thought than that which concludes Rodin's image of The Thinker. And, perhaps, nowhere else in such a passionate and at the same time chaste form was love glorified in sculpture, as in the famous "Kiss".
"Thinker"
Auguste Rodin
And another sculpture! I am making this post on the occasion of the birthday of the great Auguste Rodin.
So, the most famous thing of the master is the THINKER!!!
"The Thinker" (fr. Le Penseur) is one of the most famous sculptures Auguste Rodin, created between 1880 and 1882. The original sculpture is in the Rodin Museum in Paris, a bronze copy of the sculpture is on the grave of the sculptor in Meudon, a suburb of Paris. Also, the sculptures of the "Thinker" are installed at the gates of the Philadelphia Rodin Museum, at the gates of Columbia University. Exists more than 20 bronze and plaster copies statues in different cities scattered around the world. The reduced sculpture of the "Thinker" is a fragment of the sculptural portal "The Gates of Hell"
In 2008, the Musée Rodin in Paris celebrated the 130th anniversary of its main exhibit - the sculpture "The Thinker", one of the most famous in the history of mankind. Initially, the master called her "Poet" in honor of the author of the "Divine Comedy" Dante. The entire composition "The Gates of Hell" was intended for the Paris Museum decorative arts. Rodin's model was the mighty boxer Jean Beau, who performed at that time in Parisian brothels.. The very first "Thinker" was only 72 centimeters in size. Soon another, the most famous, was cast, 1.89 meters high. It was his Rodin gave the city of Paris. The sculpture was solemnly opened April 21, 1906 in the Pantheon, and then ended up in the Rodin Museum in the capital. Along with the "main" original of The Thinker, more than seventy author's copies of various sizes are known. One of them can be seen on the grave of the sculptor in the Parisian suburb of Meudon.
Rodin's bronze during his lifetime was made in various foundries. The sculptor himself had nothing against replicating his works, receiving a substantial fee for each copy.. At that time, the circulation of works was practically unlimited. The Thinker boom flared up with renewed vigor after Rodin's death in 1917. And to meet the demand, the casters put production on the conveyor.
Rodin
During the occupation, the Nazis actively bought up the creations of the master - enterprising businessmen mainly sold fakes to the Nazis. The Fuhrer's favorite sculptor Arno Breker commissioned "The Gates of Hell" for Germany. But the work did not reach the Reich, and was subsequently bought by the Zurich Museum. One way or another, the art market has long been flooded with products "under Rodin." As a result, experts say today it is very difficult to distinguish the original from the fake. Meanwhile, business on the author of The Thinker continues.
The Rodin Museum itself officially participates in it, which keeps its originals. At one time, he sold a copy of The Gates of Hell along with The Thinker to the Seoul Museum. T Only in 1981 did the French pass a law limiting the number of copies to twelve. However, this law did not stop the manufacturers of fakes. The most famous of them is Guy En, also known as the "Duke of Burgundy", the owner of the Parisian gallery of the same name.
In his warehouse at the end of the last century, the police found hundreds of fake "Thinkers", "Balzacs", "Kisses" and other works by Rodin weighing twenty tons. "In his business, he was a real genius," admired the art dealers. "He produced cool products, which were sometimes better than the originals." But this assessment did not save the "genius" from a four-year prison sentence. The avalanche of first-class fakes, of course, alarms collectors who are afraid of getting into a mess. Nevertheless, "real" Rodin originals cost millions. Last year "Thinker" 72 centimeters high went under the hammer at a Paris auction for three million euros. 
I also found humorous poems about the Thinker)))
At a copy of Rodin's The Thinker, I stand,
Trying to understand why he is so thoughtful,
And why are the eyebrows so densely brought together over the bridge of the nose?
What does not give him rest?
What thoughts led to what he became
A silent statue, as a symbol of man,
Not reassured by God-given knowledge?
Why did he sit down, thinking forever?
When will he reveal his secret of understanding?I’ll sit down next to you - a brush in the chin and an elbow in the knee ...
Suddenly I will be able to catch the streams of thoughts,
That more than one century descend to him ...
Here, here: I didn’t have time to wash the dishes in the morning.
I'll be back - I'll wash it. I should go to the pharmacy
Do not forget to buy pipettes, my daughter sneezes ...
Yesterday the computer crashed twice, wrong, virus ...
No, here, yeah ... You walk through the halls, enjoying,
And she went to the store! Will the preparation of dinner be delayed again?No, no, not that ... Yesterday, a notification was sent from the tax ...
Oh my God! Check again. Nothing at the checkout
There is nothing to present for reference without nit-picking ...
Phew, just a shame, what thoughts come to mind.
And it's sitting next to eternity!
Well, no, now I will concentrate and hear ....
It tingles in the head and behold,
Well, finally, I hear, I hear:
What are you sitting? You are a woman, and this is a sentence.
It's not a woman's business to listen to the streams coming from eternity.
Only a husband, a man should,
Not distracted by trifling worries,
Sit and think. And does not matter,
What he thought there - the process is more important.
Here I sit for more than a hundred years,
And I haven't told the world yet
But who dares to tell me: you are not a thinker?
And what have you been up to?
Go to your dishes, to the store!
You only bring down the flow of pure thoughts to me!And I sat for two hours,
To hear it? Evil takes!
She stopped at the door, turned around,
You are not a thinker! - shouted...
And go...
- (Rodin) (1840-1917), French sculptor. The courage of plastic searches, vitality of images, energetic pictorial modeling, fluidity of form (related to the work of Rodin with impressionism) combined with the drama of the idea, the desire for philosophical ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (French François Auguste René Rodin) (November 12, 1840 November 17, 1917) is a famous French sculptor, one of the founders of Impressionism in sculpture. Auguste Rodin was born in Paris. He studied at the Paris School ... ... Wikipedia
Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (French François Auguste René Rodin) (November 12, 1840 November 17, 1917) is a famous French sculptor, one of the founders of Impressionism in sculpture. Auguste Rodin was born in Paris. He studied at the Paris School ... ... Wikipedia
- (Rodin) (1840-1917), French sculptor. He studied in Paris at the School of Decorative Arts. He used the advice of J. B. Carlo and A. L. Bari. Experienced the influence of Donatello, Michelangelo, Gothic sculpture. Visited Belgium (1871 77), Italy ... ... Art Encyclopedia
Rodin (Rodin) Rene Francois Auguste (11/12/1840, Paris, ‒ 11/17/1917, Meudon, near Paris), French sculptor. The son of a petty official. He studied in Paris at the School of Drawing and Mathematics (1854‒57) and with A. L. Bari at the Museum of Natural History (1864). IN …
- (1840 1917) French sculptor. The courage of realistic searches, the vitality of images, energetic pictorial modeling, the fluidity of form (related to the work of Rodin with impressionism) combined with the drama of the idea, the desire for philosophical ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Rodin, Auguste (1870-1917), famous French sculptor. Rodin's work, by his own admission, fluctuated between harmony antique sculpture with the calm perfection of her forms and the stern grandeur of Michelangelo, performed ... ... 1000 biographies
"Roden" redirects here; see also other meanings. François Auguste René Rodin François Auguste René Rodin ... Wikipedia
- (Rodin) Rene Francois Auguste (11/12/1840, Paris, 11/17/1917, Meudon, near Paris), French sculptor. The son of a petty official. He studied in Paris at the School of Drawing and Mathematics (57 in 1854) and with A. L. Bari at the Museum of Natural History (1864). IN … Big soviet encyclopedia
Books
- Conversations about art, Rodin O. Bronze and marble creations of the great French sculptor Aposte Rodin are in the world's largest museums, and even people far from art imagine what The Thinker looks like, ...
- Conversations about art, Rodin O. Bronze and marble creations of the great French sculptor Auguste Rodin are in the world's largest museums, and even people far from art imagine how they look ...
Thinker: A thinker is a person endowed with the ability of deep, philosophical thinking, a philosopher. "Thinker" sculpture by Auguste Rodin ... Wikipedia
I take a block of marble and cut off everything superfluous from it. Auguste Rodin, following Michelangelo The limit of the achievement of art is outlined only by the means of another art. Most wonderful is the sculpture of Michelangelo on the frescoes of the Last Judgment. Grigory Landau ... ... Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms
Auguste Rodin the Thinker, 1880 1882 (fr. Le Penseur) Bronze. Height: 181 cm Rodin Museum, Paris The Thinker (fr ... Wikipedia
"sculptor" redirects here; see also other meanings. bronze sculpture « Bronze Horseman"(St. Petersburg), 1768 1770 ... Wikipedia
This term has other meanings, see Philosopher (meanings). "Thinker" redirects here; For Rodin's sculpture, see The Thinker (sculpture) ... Wikipedia
"Thinker" redirects here. For Rodin's sculpture, see The Thinker (sculpture). Plato and Aristotle Immanuel Kant Philosopher (other Greek ... Wikipedia
Wikipedia has articles on other people with this last name, see List. Ferenc Liszt Ferenc Liszt ... Wikipedia
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (Hungarian Liszt Ferenc, German Franz Liszt; October 22, 1811, Doboryan (Riding), Austrian Empire July 31, 1886, Bayreuth, Germany) composer, pianist, teacher, conductor, publicist, one of major representatives… … Wikipedia
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (Hungarian Liszt Ferenc, German Franz Liszt; October 22, 1811, Doboryan (Riding), Austrian Empire July 31, 1886, Bayreuth, Germany) composer, pianist, teacher, conductor, publicist, one of the largest representatives ... ... Wikipedia
Books
- Spiritual testament, Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809-1852) enchanted and continues to enchant millions of readers with the grandeur of his talent. creative path Gogol is a way of comprehending Russian life, ...
- Spiritual testament, Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich. Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (1809–1852) enchanted and continues to enchant millions of readers with the grandeur of his talent. Gogol's creative path is the path of comprehending Russian life, ...
At the Paris Salon of 1880 Auguste Rodin exhibited cast in bronze "John the Baptist". The sculpture was purchased by the state for a very modest fee. It barely covered the cost of the casting. But still, the forty-year-old artist has never had such a sum. He felt rich. He has the first studio, which was soon visited by Leon Gambetta - the Prime Minister of France himself. The sculptor, who only yesterday had no right to sign his works, lost his breath...
Thought was given to man at the cost of titanic efforts. To think is to suffer, it is to ask oneself: Who am I? Where did you come from? Where am I going? And what is my goal? Auguste Rodin
At the Paris Salon of 1880 Auguste Rodin exhibited cast in bronze "John the Baptist". The sculpture was purchased by the state for a very modest fee. It barely covered the cost of the casting. But still, the forty-year-old artist has never had such a sum. He felt rich. He has the first studio, which was soon visited by Leon Gambetta - the Prime Minister of France himself. The sculptor, who only yesterday had no right to sign his works, stopped breathing...
Do you want to serve the Third Republic, Monsieur Rodin?
I... I will be happy to fulfill your order.
Not mine, master, but France. We meant a door, a worthy door domestic art. Entrance to new museum, which is supposed to be built on the Quai d'Orsay.
We have lived through tragic times, - Gambetta continued, - they will remain in history as times of uncertainty and hesitation in everything: religion is being questioned, politics is the lot of cynics, science has not been able to show us the means of salvation from all troubles. Do we give all our strength for the good of man? Strengthen the brotherhood of man? Protecting human rights? What are we closer to, hell or heaven, Rodin?
So it is necessary to make doors reminiscent of the day of the Last Judgment. Huge gates depicting the retribution of hell, torment and torment, human despair and grief. Rodin idolized the "Divine Comedy", but to illustrate the poem after Botticelli, Delacroix and Doré - one must have the right to do so. He bought a cheap volume of Dante and did not part with it until he had read it from cover to cover, filling all the margins. My first thought was about the "three shadows" who were supposed to hold a scroll with the infamous words "Abandon hope, ye who enter here." But then he refused the scroll: it is enough to look at these figures for the meaning of the saying to become obvious without words. And secondly, his "Gates of Hell", like Alighieri's immortal creation itself, will be a monument of great hope.
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Hand of God. Auguste Rodin |
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An unbridled passion for drawing seized Rodin at the age of five. His father was a peasant who rose to the rank of a messenger in the Parisian police. In a poor family, there was nothing to buy paper for drawing, and he dragged wrapping paper from under vegetables, fruits, cheese from his mother and drew, drew, drew everything in a row: mother, father, aunt Teresa, kind sister Marie. The black lines on white came out so distinctly! Even his weak eyes saw everything well. “At first I passionately wanted to be a painter. Paints attracted me. I often ran to the upper floors of the Louvre to admire the Titians and Rembrandts, but, alas, I did not have enough money to buy paints and canvases. And for copies from antiques, it was enough paper and pencils. lower halls. And soon I was so captured by the passion for sculpture that I forgot everything else. " Over and over again, Auguste tries to enter the School fine arts, and each time with the wording: "Not accepted". In the third year, next to the name of Auguste Rodin, an entry appeared: "It is impossible to enroll. Completely devoid of abilities." In response, Rodin began to work even harder. He mastered the technique of modeling, learned to overcome any technical difficulties. I already felt the strength for a new arrival. But suddenly his beloved sister Marie dies, shortly before her death she was tonsured as a nun. Shocked, he decides to leave for a monastery. In the monastery of the Order of the Holy Mysteries, Auguste becomes brother Augustine.
Preparations were underway for Holy Days. Parables were read in the monastery, and they talked a lot about them at a fraternal meal. The head of the order was Father Pierre Aimard. He carefully watched brother Augustine and one day brought him a new edition of Dante's Divine Comedy with engravings by Doré. Rodin made his drawings for The Divine Comedy and was almost happy. You can't live without it, can you? asked the abbot.
- Yes, father. And maybe you will allow me to make your portrait. With these words, he fell to his knees. Father Pierre liked the bust: "Perhaps you need a different environment. We are too limited here to contribute to the development of your talents." - But I made a vow to God ... - Whether your faith is deep, it is up to the Almighty to decide, and not to us sinners. The monastery is not a prison. Its doors are always open for those who come and for those who leave. You are a novice, not a monk, and perhaps in the world you will serve Christ even better. Do not give up. It will be a big loss if you stay here.
"My funds did not allow me to look for a better one - I rented a stable for 120 francs a year. It seemed to me large and bright, but the wind blew there from everywhere. The sitters sometimes froze to fainting." He took on the most menial work: hewn marble, prepared stone blocks, and made ornaments. In 1870 the war with Germany began. Auguste did not have the money to pay his ransom and was enrolled in the National Guard. He received the rank of corporal because he could read and write. In the army, Rodin froze his legs and was terribly afraid that his hands would suffer the same fate. His already weak eyesight worsened. He did not distinguish targets at a distance of several meters and, in the end, was fired from military service, especially since his regiment did not participate in the battles anyway: the National Guard was kept in case of unrest in starving Paris.
When the figure of a thinking man appeared above the "gates of hell", Rodin called it Dante. To his contemporaries, who were losing faith in hatred, the search for earthly goods, pleasures and endless enmity, the poet treated very in simple terms. “A person must be affirmed in the thought that with God he is alive, but outside of Him he is dead.” On the threshold of the twentieth century, they must finally be heard and understood! This is not so difficult, after all: man differs from animals in that he is by nature a religious being. He knows how to distinguish between good and evil. And he knows how to choose. If a hungry person is not given normal food, he will sooner or later eat garbage, if spiritual thirst is not quenched, people will begin to worship money, the state, various crazy ideas, poets, artists, artists, singers, athletes, anyone, and, in the end will part not only with faith, but also with the human form in general. Because the moral laws and the laws of nature are given by one Creator.
There was no work. Auguste leaves for Brussels, where he is engaged in what is called consumer goods: angels, cherubs, figurines ... But this is for sale, and he has money that can be sent home. There are street fights in Paris itself. The famine is worse than during the German siege. There are no cats or dogs left. Then the executions of the Communards began. At the end of this terrible 71 years, my mother died. Rodin almost fell ill with grief when he learned that she was buried in common grave. Father was seriously ill, and the sensible Aunt Teresa decided that it was better to spend their money on someone who was alive.
By this time, all of Belgium is already flooded with his unsigned works. But it can't go on like this anymore. He drops everything and goes to Amsterdam. And then, for the last money, there was Italy. Auguste wandered around Florence. Here is Dante's house, here is the temple where he prayed, here is the street along which Beatrice walked. Here is "David" ... Three days later he was lying on the floor of the Sistine Chapel and smiling. If Michelangelo wrote while lying on his back, then his creation should be considered that way. He was ready to crawl all over the floor, if not for the sharp heels of other visitors.
In 1877 he returned to Paris and began to create a sculpture of John the Baptist. He hurries, sculpts with his right and left hands until the sitter falls. He is sure that this will be his first real work. Because he himself is already "hurrying through the endless desert to bring faith to people."
Rodin was spat on many times, ridiculed, humiliated. Sometimes he came to the absolute certainty that he would not be understood. “Yes, this is too subtle: to talk about the “Divine Comedy” in a country that shed rivers of blood, trying to establish a cult of some abstract “reason” instead of Christianity, and still has not moved away from this dope.”
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Hell Gate. Auguste Rodin |
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In 1988, when 8 years had passed since the beginning of work on the Gates, a government official came to Rodin's workshop. He wanted to understand where the 25,700 francs already paid for the work had gone instead of the four thousand promised at the beginning. Only hundreds of scattered details appeared to his surprised gaze. - The Ministry wants the order to be completed in next year. We want to show "Gate" at the World's Fair! She will be one of the most brilliant in our history. We are building the Eiffel Tower in her honor, the centennial anniversary of the revolution and the storming of the Bastille is being celebrated. "Gates" will become a patriotic monument! - Thank you, it's a great honor for me, but the work will take a few more years ... and then, is the Museum of Decorative Arts already built? No building, no door! Instead of several promised, the work took 37 years, and only death prevented the sculptor from continuing it. "Well, yes! I've always been at odds with deadlines because when I'm working, I never think about time. Will I ever finish this door? This is unlikely". However, in the end it was only improvements and endless changes in search of perfection. But the main thing has already been done. Cast separately from the "Gate" and shown at the Salon of 1909, "The Thinker" was already beginning its triumphant march around the world.
