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Sculptor, 1840 to 1917

Auguste Rodin

Rodin gave his entire work to the French state in 1916, asking only that it be shown in the house where he had his studio. The Thinker has sat in its garden ever since.

Rodin's The Thinker in bronze, seen from the side against the sky.
Syced, CC0
Born
1840, Paris, France
Died
1917, Meudon, France
Movement
Modern sculpture
In Paris
4 works in 1 museum

Where to see Auguste Rodin in Paris

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

Musée Rodin4 works

  1. Rodin's The Thinker in bronze, seen from the side against the sky.

    The Thinker

    modelled 1880, enlarged 1904

    First a small figure of Dante at the top of The Gates of Hell, then a monument in its own right. The great bronze sits in the garden, with the dome of the Invalides behind it.

  2. Rodin's The Kiss in marble, close up: two lovers in an embrace.

    The Kiss

    about 1882

    Paolo and Francesca, the adulterous lovers of Dante's Inferno, in white marble. It too was made for the Gates and then set free of them.

  3. The Thinker seated above the doors of Rodin's Gates of Hell, among crowded bronze figures.

    The Gates of Hell

    1880 to 1917

    A bronze door six metres high swarming with nearly two hundred figures from Dante. Rodin never saw it cast. It stands in the garden.

  4. The Burghers of Calais

    1884 to 1889

    Six citizens walking out to give themselves up to the English king, each alone with his fear. In the garden.

The life of Auguste Rodin

Rodin was born in Paris in 1840 and was turned down three times by the École des Beaux-Arts. He worked for twenty years as a craftsman for other sculptors. He was nearly forty when the state commissioned from him a bronze door for a museum that was never built. He worked on The Gates of Hell for the rest of his life, and The Thinker and The Kiss both began as figures for it.

He modelled the body as it moves and left the marks of his hands in the clay, which shocked a public used to smooth marble. By 1900 he was the most famous artist alive. He died at Meudon in 1917, and his museum opened in the Hôtel Biron two years later.

What to know

  • Sculpted The Thinker, The Kiss and The Gates of Hell
  • Refused three times by the École des Beaux-Arts
  • Gave all his work to France in 1916
Born
12 November 1840, Paris, France
Died
17 November 1917, Meudon, France

Auguste Rodin: common questions

Where can you see Auguste Rodin in Paris?
At the Musée Rodin: The Thinker, The Kiss, The Gates of Hell and The Burghers of Calais. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Auguste Rodin's most famous work in Paris?
The Thinker, of modelled 1880, enlarged 1904, at the Musée Rodin. First a small figure of Dante at the top of The Gates of Hell, then a monument in its own right. The great bronze sits in the garden, with the dome of the Invalides behind it.
When and where was Auguste Rodin born?
On 12 November 1840, at Paris, France. Auguste Rodin died on 17 November 1917, at Meudon, France, aged about 77.
What is Auguste Rodin known for?
Sculpted The Thinker, The Kiss and The Gates of Hell. Refused three times by the École des Beaux-Arts. Gave all his work to France in 1916. Auguste Rodin was a French sculptor, of modern sculpture.

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