
The thinker, 1902, by Rodin is one of his most well-known works. The Rodin museum is one of my favourite museums (musea?). Situated near the Invalides, in Rodin’s old house, in the middle of a huge garden by Paris standards, it has long been one of our favourite strolls. The B&W pictures I took in February 1981 with my trusted Asahi-Pentax.

Mirror, mirror, who’s the fairest? The museum had been closed for a few years for renovation. Re-opened in 2016 when the colour photos were taken. With my – now – trusted Iphone.

A very classic Rodin “expression”. His capture/rendering of movement was unique. 1981.

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917). He was 12 when Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte made his “coup” and became Napoléon III. He died in 1917, before the end of WWI, not knowing whether the war would be won. He witnessed dramatic changes in the world. He is now considered the “father” of modern sculpture. I would put Maillol in the same league though.

Portrait of Rose Beuret, by Rodin. (Rose was Rodin’s mistress. Thanks to Gilles Labruyère for the info). As so many artists, Rodin was at ease with a hammer and chisel, or a brush and easel.

Rodin’s house – and museum. 2016. It is quite a beautiful house. And garden.

Mother and child. Rodin’s gardens. 1981. That baby is pushing 40.

Mother and child, Rodin museum. I don’t think this is Rodin’s work. Too academic. Looks more like a late 19th century government commission. “Mother teaching her child to read” or something like that.

“Who’s the prettiest baby in the world?” Even in February, the garden is often used by young parents to take their children out in a pram. (Or stroller?).

Young girl by Rodin.

Eustache de Saint-Pierre, one of the six “Bourgeois” of Calais. During the 100 years war, the English put the city of Calais under siege in 1346. After nearly a year, the city begged to surrender. Edward III, the English King, asked for six men to be delivered to him to be executed. Burghers. One would now say “middle class”. Eustache de Saint-Pierre volunteered first, followed by other five. Their death was the condition to spare the lives of all inhabitants of the city.

The six men came out of the city, in “chemise” (robe) barefoot, with a rope around their neck to be hanged, carrying the keys of the city and the castle. Walking bravely to certain death.

Philippa de Hainaut, the Queen consort, interceded in favour of the six burghers.

Study of one of the six burghers. Edward III, at Philippa’s request, granted their life to the six men.

The burghers were saved. Calais, as much of France, remained under English rule from 1346 until 1558. Today, Calais is the focus point of hundreds, even thousands of migrants who want to cross the Channel to the UK. Her Majesty’s Government pays the French government millions of Euros a year, to keep the migrants on French soil.
“Les bourgeois de Calais” is considered one of Rodin’s masterpieces.
To be continued…
I enjoy your recounting history through art. As a descendent of the Plantegenet’s, the intertwined history of Scandinavia, France, and England are fascinating to me although still controversial depending on one’s view of the rule of kings.
Ever since the Romans invaded Gaul, Britain and “Germany”, Europe has been in constant “civi war”. Those English kings who took over half of France were Normands, descendants of Vikings and spoke probably better French that English. Walter Scott does a brilliant “demo” in Ivanhoe with the vocabulary for meat on the table or on the field. Beef vs. Ox for instance.
So yes, Calais is a good example of a contact point…
Hope all is well?
(And do you personally descend from the Plantagenet, or was that a figure of speech?)
Yes, my early ancestry is Norwegian and the Family married into the Plantagenet family. Elizabeth Woodville was the sister of my forefather and after marriage to Edward IV, our cousins read like a who’s who of English royalty. We served the Houses of York, Lancaster, and Tudor and that did not win us friends among the warring Houses. Those were rough times indeed. When the tide turned against us we made our way to America as part financiers of the Jamestown Colony in Virginia and later the colony in Maryland. Today, we are quiet and unassuming stewards of a long and well documented bloody history of Europe and America.
Fascinating! So your family was in the war of the Roses? Love it. It is good to relate one’s family with History. Compliments.
Thank you for your interest, my friend. So few people spare the time to make a connection to family and history. But, for me, the art you share and the provenance that goes with each creation tells us much about ourselves and what we are capable of, good and bad.
Indeed. Let’s try to save the good. Cheers.
Agreed, Cheers
Thank you for the introduction to Rodin’s work, particuarly “Les bourgeois de Calais.” I look forward to the next installment.
Pleasure Liz. If you haven’t been to the Musée Rodin put it on the list for your next Paris trip. (Yes, we will travel again) Happy Thanksgiving.
My one and only trip to Paris was with the high school French Club in 1972; there was tear gas involved. Thank you for the Thanksgiving wishes. My husband will be cooking the meal for the two of us.
’72 eh? We might have crossed path. If you mention teargas, we may have crossed path. I was a student in the latin quarter from 70 to 72. Then moved to Lyon. But during those 2 years there was a lot of heavily geared cops in the streets, to prevent a remake of May 68. As a long-haired student I always carried ID, since I was controlled and frisked about every 2 weeks… 🤣
When and where did you go?
If I remember correctly, it was in April. We stayed in a crappy hotel in the student quarter. (I think it was called the student quarter.)
LOL. I can imagine the crappy hotel. French hotels have been notoriously crappy for centuries. We may have crossed path indeed. The student quarter is very likely the Latin Quarter. Saint-Michel, Saint-Germain, la Sorbonne. The Seine. I was studying in the oldest school in Paris, Collège Sainte-Barbe. Lots of illustrious alumni. But not that good when I was there. It’s been shut down as a school, and is now a research library. near the Panthéon.
When you came, I was cramming like mad for six weks of competitive exams to enter a French business school. Hard, but good training in terms of workload.
What did you visit? And for how long?
We were there for a week. I refused to visit the Eiffel Tower because I didn’t want to act like a tourist. (Yes, I was THAT sixteen-year-old.) We visited Versailles (short beds, miles of hallways, something about the king’s dinner), Notre Dame (beautiful windows, but too big for a church), the Louvre (refused to look at the Mona Lisa beacause I didn’t want to act like a tourist) and Mont Saint Michel (now, that DID impress me). I think those are the highlights of the trip, aside from going to the wrong room in the crappy hotel on the first day and being mistaken for a prostitute.
LOL. A busy week. I concur on the Eiffel tower. I’d never gone there until foreign friends visited us. Versailles is god. (There were no toilets. Valets with pots circulated among nobility in the hallways.
Mont-Saint-Michel is beautiful. Need to go back. Sans tourists. And to this day I haven’t gone up the Arc de Triomphe… I go to the Louvre every 3-4 years. NEVER go to Mona Lisa…
Have a nice week Liz.
So I wasn’t just being a contrary teenager! I loved Mont Saint-Michel. There was one area at the top when I stepped onto the grass that I felt as if I could touch Heaven. I can still see it in my mind.
I can too. Mont-Saint-Michel is world unique. A beacon between land, sea and sky.
L’éducation maternelle est une sculpture d’Eugène Delaplanche, 1875. Là, on voit que Rodin est très en avance sur certains de ses contemporains.
Le jeune homme est Rose Beuret, sa compagne ! 1860-1865
Dommage que Camille Claudel soit passée par là …
Merci et une belle journée à toi, Brieuc.
Super. Merci des compléments Gilles. Du coup, le charmant buste que vais poster après (qui m’a toujours plu) est de Rose Beuret… Hmmm.
Oui. Camille. Dommage…
Bonne soirée.
A great post! I have not visited the museum but wonder whether you recall any sculptures of Gwen John there?
Nope. I don’t. I must confess I’m a bad museum goer, albeit fanatical! I don’t always look at the legends. Just looked her up briefly. She seems to have been a great artist too. Rodin as many artists did “break” his models “a tad”. Camille Claudel is another example… Thanks for the tip. Hope all is well.
I enjoy museums too and the more eclectic the better 😉
I think her work is quite haunting. Overlooked for decades but now gaining recognition for something other than being Rodin’s model.
Eclectic is good. 😉
And yes, she has gained more recognition. Which does not compensate the fact that her Ambassador and poet Paul and all the family had her locked up…
I did not know that!! How terrible. I know she died in Dieppe without her purse and thus the city gave her a pauper’s grave 😦
A sad story. How talent and folly can merge… She was a great artist.
Ha, what a wonderful phrase!
PS. If you ever drop by Paris, the museum is amazing. One of my favourites.
Duly noted and it’s on my “to see” list haha.
We are allowed to travel up to 20km from home next week, so, gently easing out of lockdown. Stay safe!
I heard about the 20 kliks. doesn’t even take you to Saint-Brieuc. 🙏🏻😷
Alas, no. Seems the hospital there is well stocked with covid patients from Paris again but, on a positive note, the number of new cases has declined a lot!
Yeah I’ve seen the curves. (Made a living with curves and numbers).
Not sure why Paris sends patients to Brittany, while I hear private hospitals are offering beds. At least they did in the first confinement.
“Anyways”, stay safe…
Yes, odd and there were special covid patient trains being run from Paris to Brest too.
La Fonction Publique in France is really blindfolded. I can’t imagine the extra cost involved, not to mention a possible health risk to the patients… Tssss.
To be fair, Breton hospitals are some of the few that have had relatively few Departmental patients, so, the capacity was there. Let us see what happens when winter really bites.
Wait and see as dear old Winston would say?
A thought just ocurred to me: With all the race about vaccine, (which shall be slow to implement) Doesn’t seem like there is much work on treatment… 🤔
More with hope than expectation 😉
True.
I’ve visited this museum within the last five years. Possibly 2016? I was fascinated with Rodin’s sculpture and the story of the burghers, which I had never heard. Thanks for reminding me of that awesome visit. I vaguely recall that his house was at one time a school for girls. Does that ring bell? Might explain the statue of the woman reading to the girl.
I’m so glad you visited. it is a great place. Don’t know whether it was a girls school. I’ll look it up next time. That might explain the statue.
The story of the Burghers stands out in French History. As you know we are or were, great history buffs.
Hope all is well with you Carol?
Tout va bien?
Je vais bien merci. Did some googling and confirmed that there was a religious school for girls there from 1820 until around the turn of the century.
One learns every day. Merci
Love this one. Is the Thinker in the first photo an original do you think or a fake put outside so no one would harm it? There are some Rodins in San Francisco in the museum on the hill (the name escapes me) which naively I always thought were real originals. But, I believe many are just fakes because they are outside. Not to mention I feel like I have seen several of them around the world. lol. I wonder where the real original is? (Legion of Honor…that’s the museum on the hill. Magnificent view.)
It is an original. As may be the one in San Francisco. It was legal to produce a limited number of bronze sculptures. Half a dozen or a dozen, don’t remember. Then the mold (very expensive) was broken. Thus there are several versions across the world. Even outside. Those statues weigh tons. Hard to steal, though these days…
Legion of honour in San Francisco? hmmm. Another point to go to next time… 😉
Oh man. You would love the art museum for sure. Ive posted photos from nearby but I don’t recall posting any photos from that museum. I haven’t been for a while. I took in a Georgia Okeefe exhibit once and something else after that. They have a few lovely Monets. And yes the Rodin there is outside.
O’Keefe? OMG. Green with envy. 😉
It was wonderful!
I can imagine. Well. One day…
I wonder if I have any photos?! It was a long time ago.
It would be a treat, but don’t worry. I sometimes think I already have too many pictures to find my way through.
I can certainly relate. I think with the timeframe I wouldn’t have had any. Cell phone photos weren’t popular yet and I likely wouldn’t have brought my film camera.
https://legionofhonor.famsf.org
Did a quick tour. Looks like a good museum. (Miss museums!) 😩😉
I miss them too. Very much. And miss taking Colin to them.
I can imagine. I know you used to take him everywhere. Well, it should come back next year.
We have still been doing a lot but not like before. 😦 Thank goodness for nature!
It is a good option. Though a bit chilly right now, isn’t it?
Yes it’s cooling off. But this weekend was nice during the warm part of the day.
👍🏻
Very interesting and great pictures. I like especially the B&W’s in this series.
Dankje wel. If I recall, the B&W was my Ilford period. 😉
Edward started young and did very well, but ended not so well. If he hadn’t started the Hundred Years’ War … but then, that was the economic rationale or road to great power. Historians say he was a just man, but the evidence points to his wife’s influence as moderator. I guess, if it hadn’t been Edward it would have been someone else. Land, status, power, simple really.
Greed. Power. Wanting to take what’s your neighbour’s… A common tale but true. Now, part of the 100 year war was also a succession issue. The kings of England were descendants of one King of France or the other, via women. There was a change of house in France, and the king of England said: “I am a better heir to the throne…”
Cheers Paul.
Yes, sadly for him they didn’t agree 🙂 I think there’s just a slice of Cromwell in me.
The Lord Protector? 🤣 Why am I not surprised?
Well even Marat 🙂
You really are a Revolutionary. A “sans-culotte”.
I did once aspire, a humble Marxist …. 😉
I thought as much. Have a nice week-end.
Thank you, hope you have a great one too 😉
I do love Rodin’s work, I had never seen his house before, it is magnificent.
It is a great “promenade”. We used to take the girls in their pram. Literally. And the inside was in bad repair. But restored now. For your next trip to Paris. 😉
😉
I think, therefore I am? 😉
Indeed.
How would have looked, those sculptures and paintings, if he had lived in masked times similar to ours…?
The six man were real heros in my eyes!
And thank you for the tour around Rodin’s works.
They were. It was not unusual then to slaughter the entire city after surrender…
Glad you liked the tour.
Dear Brian, thank you for the virtual trip to the Rodin Museum. I adore your spin, “Mother and Child”, charming! As always, wishing you and yours well. ~ Mia
Thank YOU Mia. Glad you enjoyed the tour. All the best to you and yours.
You’re welcome, Brian. Thank you.
I love it there. The Garden is so wonderful. I admit I liked the museum better the first time, before so much was put behind glass, but it’s a wonderful place and I would go there again and again. As I said, the garden is so special and on a nice day, to just sit there for a little while is such a treat. 🙂 This was a lovely post and I enjoyed it so much. Thank you.
So you have gone! great. Though I do agree that there is too much glass now. (Too many reflections) But then I guess it is also meant for the protection of the works…
Glad you enjoyed the visit. Cheers.
Dont have any views about the trusted iPhone, but your black n white images created some world within them. The portraits are so vibrant.
Also how the essay ends, tells me something about the life cycle; history will make sure they pay well till they cant pay no more. May be 🙂 Thanks for this stroll.
Swagat hai. 🙏🏻
Ji dhanyavad ❤️️ Guglu ji 🙂
Delightful virtual visit, mon ami. I’ve never been to the Musée Rodin on my visits to Paris. I’ve wanted to go there, as well as the Musée Gustave Moreau, but there wasn’t time. Your post makes me remember the film “Camille Claudel”. With Isabelle Adjani and Gerard Depardieu. Inoubliable…
Je te souhaite un très agréable weekend, cher Brian. Bises.
Moreau is fantastic too. Plus it was Poussiéreux à souhait. As if they hadn’t dusted since Moreau’s death. A grand museum I plan to go back to.
Bon week-end à toi aussi. Bises. 💕
On ne saura jamais à quoi pensait le Penseur de Rodin 🙂
Bon week-end Brieuc
Merci. Et bonne semaine Mélie. Biz
enjoyed this art post and love the two shots of Mother and child visiting Rodin’s gardens in 1981 – lovely
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed the tour. More to come… Take care
Hi Brian, your tour was awesome, as usual 😉 Why did you hijack Camille?
Her story really touched me. While he was great with his shissel, he really wasn’t great to the ladies …
“Hijack”? I guess I “evaded” the topic. It is a very sad story, where Rodin was part of the problem, but then Camille was psychotic, and her own family had her committed. I think Rodin later tried to get her out, but couldn’t, her family had the last word… I guess I didn’t want to “get into” it. But I have made a mental note, and now know more or less where Camille’s work is at the museum. I will look her up next time I go… 😀
Most museums I go back to every 3-4 years if I can… Thanks for visiting and commenting.
There is nothing wrong with keeping things a bit light. It’s not a cheerful story. Let’s hope you get to travel as much as you like soon!
🤞 Thank you.
What a beautiful post: so interesting and detailed, with great photos
PS I found it fascinating you have a Plantegenet’ friend ❤
Ciao, glad you liked the post.
And yes, a Plantagenêt E-friend is unusual…
Buona notte. 🙏🏻💕
😉🎉🧡🧡🧡
great photographs and story Brian, that house is really beautiful! 🙂
It is a very nice and huge house. To think it belong to one man (plus staff I guess)
Thank you for the tour of the Rodin Museum. Of course it is awesome but all the better with such an amazing guide and his magic. A magical tour if you will. Rene 💫
I am blushing dear friend… 😉🌹
Please stay safe. That bl..dy virus is out of control… 🙏🏻😷💕
It is! Waiting for the vaccine. 🧡
Aren’t we all? We’re all going away with the whole family for a long week-end South of Mexico city. A bit of sun and heat. I’ll ask our MD daughter and son-in-law what they’ve read in the literature about those vaccines…
Take care Holly. (Sorry: Princess Holly)
I’m waiting for the FDA to approve the vaccine which is supposedly going to happen by end of Dec. healthcare workers will be in line to get it right away. I’m hoping for the best but this can’t go on. Trump let this get completely out of control. Stay safe Brian ! 💫
You too Coeur de feu.
Thank you Brian
Oh, (I know you know) but this virus is mean: in France we just lost two good people to it: an ex-president and an ex-journalist.
I’m so sorry to hear that. It doesn’t discriminate. just under 3000 people a day are dying here in the US.
It is a shame. For them and all their families. The moron will be held responsible at the Tribunal of History. (Sorry it sounds a bit Marxist)
Blood is in his hands. He has abandoned his duties and done so much harm. History will not be kind.
Yep. And his business is doing bad. He should file for bankrupcy again. 🤣
He will if not incarcerated, he’s out making money at rallies …still.
I understand he’s losing followers by the thousands.
Tomorrow is the big day. After that there is nothing more he can do. 🤣
He’s not losing his followers, they are inciting violence violence with his encouragement. Last night armed Trumpers gathered at the Georgia secretary of States house after she confirmed Biden’s win in Ga. after 3 recounts. They are all insane.
I shut off the news completely for a long family week-end in Cuernavaca.
They are all insane. Yet… Yet… I believe there is hope. I was convinced he would be re-elected. He didn’t. So, out he goes. The new team is full good pros. And it is a team. A concept he probably can’t even spell.
It’s over. 🤞
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