PONCE, PUERTO RICO.-Museo de Arte de Ponce (MAP) will once again set the pace in the international art scene by presenting, in collaboration with Museo Soumaya from Mexico, The Age of Rodin: Sculpture in France, from Romanticism to Modernism. The halls Lincoln, Pou and French Hall at MAP already house 74 art works made in bronze, marble, plaster, terracota and porcelain which show the view of the famous French sculptor, Auguste Rodin (Paris 1796 - Meudon 1840).

The Chief Executive Officer and Director of MAP, Agustín Arteaga, Ph.D, explained that The Age of Rodin is an exhibition with no precedents in Puerto Rico, which “reveals, furthermore, the creative surroundings of the artist through a selection of works by thirteen of his contemporaries”.

Among the artists who accompany Rodin’s works are his pupil and assistant, Camille Claudel (1864 - 1943); Emile – Antoine Bourdelle (1861 – 1929); Jean Baptiste – Carpeaux (1827 – 1875); and Albert - Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (1824 - 1887). Also included in the show are works by Louis - Ernest Barrias (1841 – 1905); Charles Cordier (1827 – 1905); Jean Alexandre – Falguière (1831 – 1900); Jean Lèon Gerôme (1824 – 1904); Henri Peinte (1845 – 1912); James Pradier (1790 – 1852); Hiram Powers (1805 – 1873); Príncipe Paolo Troubetzkoy (1866 – 1938); and Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919).

“We are very proud to narrow the link with Museo Soumaya of Mexico, holding the biggest collection of Rodin outside France, in order to complete this important show, which brings for the first time to Puerto Rico, many emblematic works of the French Romanticism and Modernism. We equally highlight the support of the Philadelphia Art Museum, which loaned several of the works by Rodin from its collection”, added Arteaga, who pointed out the merit of the curatorial job in The Age of Rodin, done by the Director of Museo Soumaya, Alfonso Miranda; the Chief Curator and Associate Curator of MAP, Cheryl Hartup and Richard Aste, respectively. It is also worth noting that Arteaga was the designer of the exhibition montage.

MAP will be the first location in which The Age of Rodin will be presented during its tour through Latin America. It will travel afterwards to Museo de Arte de Moderno de Bogotá (MAMBO). The Age of Rodin will end its itinerancy in one of the halls of the new exhibition building of the Museo Soumaya, to be inaugurated in 2009.

The relation of MAP with the work by Rodin began in 1962, when Don Luis A. Ferré, founder of the museum, acquired the work Apolo crushing the serpent python (19th century). In 1965, and with the aim of reinforcing the sculpture collection of the institution, Don Luis added the work Portrait of Claude Lorrain (19th century).

The Age of Rodin is an exhibition organized by Museo Soumaya, Mexico City, and Museo de Arte de Ponce, Fundación Luis A Ferré Inc., Ponce, Puerto Rico. It will remain open to the public through October 28.