PARIS, FRANCE.- Musée Rodin presents Rodin. The Eros figures - Erotic drawings and watercolors 1890 – 1917, on view through February 18, 2007. Exhibition commission: Dominique Viéville, Christina Buley-Uribe, Hélène Pinet. Although Rodin is recognized as one of the fathers of modern sculpture, his graphic work remains generally unknown. Through 140 drawings and watercolors, executed between 1890 and 1917, as well as 5 sculptures, this exhibition presents all the aspects of the body, from a simple to the most erotic nude.

In the 1880’s, Rodin’s drawings were mainly associated with The Gates of Hell, with a series of « black » sketches representing somber and tormented subjects inspired by Dante. Starting in the 1890’s, Rodin strays from literary and mythological themes to devote himself to the representation of the nude from living models. He first completes a series of drawings referred to as transitional, marked by two dominant colors, i.e. yellow and pink. Later, he becomes committed to representing large female nudes, using the entire palette of drawing techniques to express physical sensuality: line drawing, stumping, watercolors and gouache.

Rodin is looking for spontaneity and endeavors to capture movement in the moment. In order to accomplish this, he uses a particular method, allowing the pencil express itself freely on the paper without taking his eyes off the model in order to reveal the truth of the body.

These drawings, similarly to the entire bulk of his graphic work, were in no way a preparation for his sculptures; these are works of art in their own right that have a life of their own, enriching the scope of the artist’s experiments with form.

“Be angry, dreamy, praying, crying or dancing. It is up to me to capture and maintain the line that appears truthful.” (A. Rodin)
The many models flowing through the artist’s studio lend themselves simultaneously to conventional and unusual poses, for example, showing themselves undressing or combing their hair. The intimate and trusting atmosphere that reigns in Rodin’s studio enables the artist to sketch his models in the most extravagant positions, without restraint or a sense of modesty. The models offer themselves to his eyes, his devouring curiosity for women. The body in all its excitement becomes the sole preoccupation for Rodin. He asks his models to strike acrobatic poses and goes as far as hiring professional dancers.

This exhibition probes the nature of the view Rodin has of the body: where does the nude end and where does nudity begin, and what are the esthetic ramifications of eroticism. Eroticism is in fact often associated with plastic concerns, highly characteristic of Rodin’s later work. Although, above and beyond their erotic charge, these drawings are mainly part of a quest for pure form, eroticism nevertheless emerges as an essential element, as the main driving force behind the artist’s creation.

This exhibition will be accompanied by the publication of a book from Editions du Musée Rodin, comprising five essays that reflect on Rodin’s relationship with the body from different angles: Rodin and his models by Hélène Pinet, in charge of research and documentation at Musée Rodin; Drawing without seeing by Dominique Viéville, general patrimony curator, director of Musée Rodin; Eroticism and drawings by Christina Buley-Uribe, research librarian at Musée Rodin; Blood flowers: Rodin’s drawings for Mirbeau by Claudine Mitchell, art history professor at the Univeristy of Leeds (England); “This obscure object of desire” by Aline Magnien, patrimony curator for the Regional Department of Cultural Affais (DRAC) of Picardie.