100 years of Rodin's sculptures

Rodin's renowned sculpture depicts the poet Dante, pondering over his latest work. Created by Rodin between 1881 and 1883, the iconic sculpture also had a great influence on 20th century art. Beside it, a sculpture by Georg Baselitz can be seen — although the modern version is outfitted with platform shoes.

During the siege of Calais in 1347, British King Edward III is said to have demanded that the city's most respected citizens surrender themselves to free the city. The city in northern France commissioned Rodin to create the monument, "The Burghers of Calais," in 1884. The original bronze cast of the six figures stands in front of the Calais town hall.

"The Kiss," from the 1880s, is one of Rodin's best-known and most popular sculptures. It shows an intimate couple so intertwined that the viewer becomes, as it were, a voyeur. Originally titled "Francesca da Rimini," the sculpture portrays the tragic relationship between Paolo and Francesco at the Gates of Hell (as described in Dante's "Inferno"). Such naked passion broke with taboos of the time.

Rodin was a master of depicting incomplete subjects. In his time, presenting fragments of finished sculptures was revolutionary. With this preliminary version of his work "The Walking Man," Rodin opposed the smooth surfaces preferred by art academies in the second half of the 19th century.

Four sculptures, four different eras, four different artists: Ossip Zadkine, Georg Kolbe Wilhelm Lehmbruck and Rodin. Each subject stretches its arms as if hit by lightning or anticipating help from God. These pained figures were influenced by Rodin's 1905 sculpture (at right), "The Prodigal Son."

Rodin was the second sculptor to receive a commission from the writer's association "Societe des Gens de Lettres" to create a monument to honor the great French author, Honore de Balzac. Rodin concentrated on the "shape of the mind," and thus on thought. But the plaster model triggered a scandal in 1898. It wasn't until 1939 that a bronze statue was created and placed at an intersection in Paris.

Rodin's "Sleep" portrays the beauty of a sleeping woman whose facial features are soft and subtle. She radiates deep peace and tranquility but also solitude. Rodin excelled at expressing such extreme emotions in his works.

Rodin's striking giant bronze figure "The Walking Man" (at right) is surrounded here by works of art that refer to this masterpiece, or have been directly influenced by it. Created in the style of classical Greek or Roman statues, most especially "Venus de Milo," "The Walking Man" shows the decapitated figure of John the Baptist who is also mutilated, with Rodin leaving off his arms.

"Auguste Rodin: The Cathedrals of France" is Anselm Kiefer's striking painting, seen here at the Musée Rodin. Pictured are gigantic church towers, which Kiefer created with lead, among other things. Works by Kiefer and Rodin were juxtaposed for the first time at the Grand Palais show. In all their contrasting layers, they combine the search for a new approach to both materials and stories.