I'm soooo jealous. I'm in Canada and unable to travel (not just because of the pandemic) so please, the next time you see them, say "Hi! From Jenn in Canada!" ☺ That would be so perfect!
Excellent - I have walked through this gallery often and looked at some of these Rodin sculptures, but not all of them, and learned some new things from this.
I visited the V&A for the first time in September and I was totally blown away by the tiny amount I saw. I can't wait to visit again next year. I will enjoy looking at these sculptures and now I know more about them. Thanks v&a
Excellent video. The Rodin exhibit is one of my favourites at the V&A and learned a lot more about these sculptures now. Please could you do more videos like this with this curator in particular? Would the curator be able to talk about other collections such as Japanese ceramics and Shoji Hamada?
Toured the Rodin collection, room at V&A number of times. Wish I had heard this lecture prior to my visit. But - I will be back. War separated him from his wonderful bronzes. Covid now keeps so many away from London's wonders. Soon...
He really put an emphasis on dynamic poses, and by, not worrying about finish, he would retain the kind of spontaneity that impressionist painters enjoy. Most people would spend a year or more, really tweeking on the details, while Rodan just keeps chugging along. Tell me that didn't make a lot of people "super jelly", and resentful.
A very well made video! Thank you! Notes to share (excuse the possible mistakes) Rodin’s works in V&A (donated by Rodin during WWI) period: 1870s learning from the classics (michelanchelo and Donatello) ; 1880s influenced by psychological and inner emotions ; 1890s radical with fragmentary sculptures(challenging the traditional notion of beauty and appropriateness ). 1. The age of bronze ( began 1875, then 1876 travel to Italy one year after his started sculpture): use of soldiers the pose without a certain answer. without a lance to hold the pose. Casting from life? no life size anymore. dejecting, internalized feeling by closing eyes 2. Saint John the Baptist: (1881)use the model of a peasants (not the traditionally beautiful ones) a natural pose, a figure in motion (the position of feet) to open the 4th dimension of sculpture by depicting the movement over time. an energetic preaching. leaving it a bit rough faceting the surface letting it reflecting different colors. layering it to revel the green and black at the same time. (green is a fascinating color to modern sculpture to Rodin) 3. The Prodigal Son (about 1885-1887): Endless inventive. works of different scales and positions . he recycle of sculptures, horizontal work from gate of hell became vertical. rescaling, reusing. The prodigal son become stretching instead of the traditional bowing to show his regret to his father in bible. the stretching shows the inner struggle, distress. the inner emotion. 4. The crouching woman 1891. Iris the messenger of god not traditional beautiful. but also to show the inner content of a sculpture by opening it. to show the process of making it 5. The Inner Voice (1886-1887) increasingly experimental time. The sculpture is lack in human form. do you need to see a human form? could you use it as a start to see light, the shade and form and emotion. the casting/ seam lines accentuated the shape. as series of shape, roughness against smooth. twisted internalized figure. 6. Head of Iris (1908): essence of his fragmentary time. Dark deep black color. Play of light and shade. back of head not even but bulging out. 7. Torso of a Woman (1914)the Plinth is a collection of patterns in his collection on a plaster stand to have a very modern bronze sculpture on top. lack of clear definition in form on purpose. from the back of the female figure with her legs stretching forward Rodin saw a vase containing the life of future. he is not representing a figure he is actually conveying a concept. the unfinished, the spontaneity, impressionism.
The last sculpture for me depicts a woman holding a unfinished chikd sculpture maybe? Cause the speaker says that while rodin looking at the back of the womenhe sees the future which means its no just kids be the future but also parents who will shape them. Or maybe I'm just imagining and bluffing? Hahaha that's what i see about ut though and I love the sculptures