Truth Form Life

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At the peak of his career Auguste Rodin was regarded as the greatest sculptor since Michelangelo. Rejecting Nineteenth-Century academic traditions that dictated what was proper in art, Rodin made sculpture that conveyed the vitality of the human spirit. His vigorous modeling emphasized his personal response to the subject, and he conveyed movement and emotion by inventing new poses – often sexual in nature – and gestures. He created his own form of artistic expression that was grounded in the world he saw around him rather than in the past. Today we acknowledge that Rodin’s vision led sculpture into the modern era.

Truth Form Life presents 22 works, many inspired by Rodin’s The Gates of Hell, his first public commission in 1880. Other works on view include commissioned portraits including of celebrated French heroes like Balzac, Hugo, and Jean d’Aire, one of the Burghers of Calais.

Exhibition, programming, and catalogue made possible by the support of the Herb Jackson and Laura Grosch Gallery Endowment, Malu Alvarez ’02, and Davidson College Friends of the Arts.

Click here to watch Jennifer Thompson’s lecture, “Drama from head to toe: Rodin and the Making of the Burghers of Calais.”

Click here to view a PDF checklist of the exhibition, including commentary about the artworks.

Click here for a panoramic view of the exhibition.

View the exhibition brochure below.

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