Auguste Rodin: The Artistic Apex and Turbulent Personal Life (Chapter 2/3)

Rodin produced other major sculptures in the following years, including monuments to the great French literary figures Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac.

The Victor Hugo Monument never came to fruition as Rodin had imagined; The Balzac Monument was rejected by the commission responsible for its realization.

An Important Visit

In 1903, he receives an important visit in his studio; one of the finest, deepest and most intimate writers of the 20th century in Europe, Rainer Maria Rilke who aimed to study Rodin's work for German readers.

Long were the conversations between both artists.

A few months later, Rilke published his essay:

"Rodin is a being of the first magnitude, a symbol that dominates the era, an extraordinary example, a wonder that radiates from afar. However, he is nothing more than an ineffably lonely man, an old and lonely man in his old age."

A year later, both lived in Meudon and the sculptor, who had always had difficulties with writing, began to have the German writer Rilke as his secretary, to whom he entrusted his correspondence.

Rodin confessed to him:

"I have no friends, I must live alone. But I know that in my art, God is near me. I approach Him without fear. I have always recognized and understood Him. The destiny of my work also does not worry me; nothing bad can come from it for me. Whoever has understood it will be freed from the misery that drags men down."

The author of "The Kiss", "The Hand of God" stopped suddenly.

On July 15, 1916, a sudden illness left the sculptor semi-conscious.

Feeling the imminent end, the Academy wanted to honor him, converting him into one of its members.

The election was to take place on November 23.

However, six days earlier, in the midst of the world war, a pulmonary congestion ended Rodin's life.

He died on November 17, 1917, in Meudon, France, a few months after the death of his companion Rose Beuret.

Rodin's Legacy

Being acclaimed for over a century, Rodin is widely considered the pioneer of modern sculpture.

With reproductions of his work found all over the world, his legacy continues to be studied and deeply admired by other artists, specialists, scholars and art connoisseurs.

The love story between Auguste Rodin and Camille Claudel lasted over 10 years and left an indelible mark on their works of art.

She was interned in an asylum by her own family and remained until her death at 78 years old.

Rodin achieved success and became the great sculptor we all know, although doubts persist that some of his masterpieces may have been conceived and made in collaboration with Camille, the relationship between them certainly went beyond and became an implacable analysis of the compositions and works they created.

The Rodin Museum

The Rodin Museum was inaugurated in August 1919 in a Parisian mansion that housed the artist's studio during the last years of his life.

After several years of reconstruction, the museum was reopened in 2015 on November 12, the artist's birthday.

With a significant portion of its income coming from the sale of bronze molds made from original molds.

The space also features works by the sculptor Camille Claudel; she was Rodin's lover and muse who worked as his assistant for some time.

To understand the rest of this journey, continue to our next article: Auguste Rodin: Immortal Works, Analysis and Legacy (Chapter 3/3).