Rodin: ‘Patience is Also a Form of Action’

Auguste Rodin Main droite de Pierre et Jacques de Wissant 1885–86 Musée Rodin, S.00332

'Sculpture is the art of the hole and the lump.'
Auguste Rodin

I recently attended an exhibition of the work of Auguste Rodin, considered by many to be the founder of modern sculpture. (‘The Making of Rodin’ is at Tate Modern, London until 21 November.) 

‘I began as an artisan to become an artist. That is the good, the only, method.’

On entering the gallery, we are greeted by ‘The Age of Bronze’, a nude male figure caught in a moment of crisis. The sculpture, created by Rodin in his mid-30s, is so life-like that when it was first exhibited in Brussels in 1877, some accused the artist of having made the cast directly from the model’s body. 

Rodin was aggrieved. Henceforth his work would spurn conventional classical themes and idealised beauty. Rather he would celebrate raw physicality and pure emotion: the character of the individual as revealed by his or her bodily features; the direct imprint of the artist’s hand in the act of creation.

'An artist worthy of the name should express all the truth of nature, not only the exterior truth, but also, and above all, the inner truth.’

The exhibition looks particularly at Rodin’s process. 

It was very much a team effort. First the artist sculpted by hand in clay. Then skilled assistants created plaster casts, and a device called a pantograph was used to scale them up. Finally carvers reproduced the works in marble, and founders cast them in bronze.

'The work of art is already within the block of marble. I just chop off whatever isn't needed.’

Auguste Rodin Study for The Thinker 1881 Musée Rodin, S.01168

We walk through a recreation of a pavilion designed by Rodin for a 1900 Paris retrospective. He specifically sought to shine a light on his practice, and so he presented plaster versions of his major sculptures alongside a multitude of preparatory models. The imposing ‘Monument to Balzac’ is surrounded by different sized busts, by a naked figure of the great novelist, and even a mock-up for his dressing gown. ‘The Thinker’ is accompanied by plaster limbs, heads, hands and feet. And there’s a simple clay study in which Rodin first explores his distinctive posture.

'What makes my ‘Thinker’ think is that he thinks not only with his brain, with his knitted brow, his distended nostrils and compressed lips, but with every muscle of his arms, back, and legs, with his clenched fist and gripping toes.’

Rodin was clearly obsessive about preparation. He commissioned black and white photographs to capture the dynamics of the body. He used drawing to study movement. And as we progress through the rooms we encounter trays of plaster hands and feet; drawers of arms, legs and heads. He called these small body parts his ‘giblets’ (‘abattis’).

Rodin in his studio in Meudon c.1902. Photo by Eugène Druet, Musée Rodin

Rodin would often produce multiple copies of a single model so that he could explore subtly different postures and attitudes. He dismantled and reassembled existing sculptures.

One can’t help but be struck by Rodin’s fastidiousness, his attention to detail; his intense planning and preparation; his restlessly open mind.

'I invent nothing, I rediscover.'

It prompts us to consider our own working practices.

In the modern age speed is of the essence. We are always looking to compress schedules and save time; to cut to the chase and race to the finish line. But often it is the thinking time that is sacrificed.

Auguste Rodin, limbs, circa 1880–1917 | plaster and terracotta | musée rodin | photo © agence photographique du musee rodin – jerome manoukian

'Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.'

Rodin suggests that we should not regard preparation and production as tedious stages of the process to be shaved and trimmed; accelerated and streamlined. Rather we should see them as a critical part of the creative journey. When we prepare, we explore, we learn, we think, we observe. We see opportunities and possibilities where previously there was none. Preparation produces better, more distinctive work. 

If only we were employed in workshops rather than offices; studios rather than agencies. Surely we would allocate time more appropriately. As the great man said:

‘Patience is also a form of action.’

'I never met a girl
Who makes me feel the way that you do.
You're alright!
Whenever I'm asked who makes my dreams real,
I say that you do.
You're outta sight!
So, fee-fi-fo-fum,
Look out baby, 'cause here I come.
And I'm bringing you a love that's true,
So get ready, so get ready.
I'm gonna try to make you love me too,
So get ready, so get ready.
'cause here I come.’

The Temptations, ‘Get Ready’ (S Robinson)

No. 339