Spokane art lovers will have a special treat as several works of the notable French artist Auguste Rodin will be on display at Gonzaga University.
In the late 19th century, Auguste Rodin was one of the most respected artists in the world.
Symbolic of many artists of that era, Rodin was one who exemplified his own personality.
“Rodin, in that tradition, going back to someone like Michelangelo, follows that idea, so in some ways he is very traditional, but in some ways he is very turn-of the 20th century in his approach to the artist as an individual and being able to express themselves as an individual and being able to connect through an audience,” said Paul Manoguerra, Director and Curator of the Jundt Art Museum at Gonzaga University, where 22 of Rodin’s sculptures will be on display, beginning this Friday, and running through January 5.
Manoguerra says the artist was of such a high stature that he was earning public commissions to do many of his most famous works, including The Burghers of Calais, and the Monument to Victor Hugo, in Paris.
The curator says Gonzaga is lucky to be getting such an exhibit, as it has had a special relationship with the Cantor Collections in Los Angeles, which owns the pieces, for several years.
“The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York just closed a Rodin exhibition, so for us to get these 22 pieces in Spokane is a big deal,”he said.
Manoguerra explains that the 22 bronze pieces are not the original sculptures, but as close as you could get to one. He cites the bust of Victor Hugo as one example.
“What Rodin did was take the sculpture and the original plasters that he executed, take them to various foundries, depending on what kind of patina he wanted on the bronze, and as many people who wanted to buy a bronze of that particular sculpture, he was willing to sell the sculpture. So this is a work cast by the Rodin Museum, using the original plaster versions for the monument that is the public sculpture,” he said.
Besides the Hugo bust, Manoguerra cites another major work that will be on display.
“A number of pieces in the exhibition take elements from the different figures in the Burghers from Calais, and various scales from small to sort of half-life size are bronzes that he had executed or were done later by the Rodin museum, that are part of this exhibition,” he said.
A free public reception for the Rodin exhibit will be held this Friday, September 7 from 4 to 7 pm at the Jundt Art Museum on the Gonzaga campus. The exhibit will be on campus through January 5.
