The National Museum of China has announced that it will be hosting an exhibit beginning Friday until March 22, 2015 that will showcase some of the works of the 19th-century French sculptor Auguste Rodin, the acknowledged progenitor of modern sculpture.
A total of 139 original works created by Rodin, including the famous "The Thinker," "The Age of Bronze," the "Monument of Balzac"" and "The Gates of Hell," will be on display during the exhibit's run in Beijing.
"The Thinker" is one of the most well-known sculptures in the world. The original was a 27.5-inch high bronze piece created between 1879 and 1889, designed for the lintel of "The Gates of Hell," a monumental sculptural group comprised of 186 figures depicting scenes from Dante's "Inferno" in high relief that would have served as a portal for the planned Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris that was never built.
Aside from "The Thinker," other full-size castings for separate sculptural pieces were made based on other scenes depicted in "The Gates of Hell," including "Three Shades," "The Kiss," "Fugit Amor," "The Prodigal Son" and "The Falling Man."
"The Age of Bronze," Rodin's first full-scale work, is a life-size, well-proportioned nude male figure, posed with his right hand atop his head, and his left arm held out at his side, forearm parallel to the body. It was reportedly inspired by Michelangelo's "Dying Slave."
"The Monument of Balzac" depicts the French novelist Honore de Balzac cloaked in the drapery, looking forcefully into the distance with deeply gouged features. Art historian Kenneth Clark in BBC's "Civilization" referred to it as "the greatest piece of sculpture of the 19th century, perhaps, indeed, the greatest since Michelangelo."
Rodin was a prolific artist who over a span of five decades has managed to create thousands of busts, figures and other sculptural pieces. Aside from being a sculptor, he was also a great painter. The Rodin Museum, which is co-hosting the exhibit, reportedly holds about seven thousand of his drawings and prints.
The exhibition featuring Rodin's works follows other exhibits of French art masterpieces held to celebrate the 50th founding anniversary of Sino-French diplomatic ties that closed in June, according to a report from Xinhua.