TATE EXHIBITION IN LONDON REEVALUATES RODIN AS MODERNIST

Based in Los Angeles, Marc David Broidy is a financial industry professional working to deliver sustained client results. An avid reader with a passion for classical music, Marc Broidy enjoys exploring the nuances of French culture. As reported in the Guardian, the Tate Modern in London is hosting a major exhibit of Auguste Rodin’s sculptural works in 2021. The exhibition is unique for the museum, because Rodin is most commonly associated with 19th century traditions that pre-date Modernism. 

From the ancient Greeks onward, the aim of much Western figurative sculpture had been to depict the human body in the most naturalistic and accurate way possible. Among the pieces on display is Rodin’s monumental, groundbreaking 1898 representation of Balzac, which places the author of Les Miserables under a shapeless gown that is lacking defined form. This commissioned piece created a furor in the Parisian art world when unveiled, as it was far from the realistic depiction that the establishment expected of its literary luminaries. That Rodin was able to get away with such a breach of tradition had to do with his well established ability to depict the human form accurately, while conveying emotion and symbolism. As it appears to the contemporary gaze, the study of Balzac is almost a precursor to Dada or surrealism in the way it conceals the author’s body, with no reference to an actual human inside. Through pieces such as these, Rodin earns a place within the “modern” art gallery.

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