François-Auguste-René Rodin (1840 –1917) was a radical French sculptor of the academic classical tradition that was taught at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris.
Born in a working class family in Paris, Rodin was refused admission to the Beaux Arts academy, but trained in the tradition at a local trade school for decorative sculpture. He later moved to Belgium, where he developed his inherent flair to produce intricate, tumultuous, multi-dimensional surfaces.
His attention to detail and realistic finishes brought an unexpected charge: Rodin was accused of surmoulage (taking plaster moulds from the live model) in his work, The Age of Bronze.
After a spirited battle and vindication, in 1880 Rodin was awarded the commission to create an entry tableau for the proposed Museum of Decorative Arts. Rodin labored for 37 years on this monumental project, The Gates of Hell, depicting scenes from Dante's Inferno in high relief. However, the Museum was never built.
Many of the figures from this tableau were later offered as individual sculptures, and include some of his most famous works: The Thinker (Le Penseur, originally titled The Poet, representing the poet Dante), The Kiss (Le Baiser), Damned Women, The Three Shades (Les Trois Ombres), and the Ugolino group were a few.
Rodin effectively perfected and used the technique of marcottage (layering), wherein the same sculptural forms where repetitively incorporated through varying identities and groupings. He was captivated by dance and natural motion, and used flexible and agile amateur models to help build a lyrical movement into his works.
Rodin had a colorful personal life, including a long-term relationship with Rose Beuret, begun during his poverty-stricken early years in Belgium, and a tempestuous affair with the gifted young sculptress Camille Claudel, who was his muse and assistant for The Burghers of Calais (Les Bourgeois de Calais), and his main model for several of his works.
The Greatest of the French Masters, Rodin had a vast force of apprentices, craftsmen, and stone cutters working for him, the most renowned being the Czech sculptor Joseph Kratina.
Upon his death in November 1917, Rodin was buried in Meudon, Île-de-France, and a cast of The Thinker was placed next to his tomb.
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