Auguste Rodin

Schooled in a traditional manner, Rodin took a craftsman-like approach to his work and was keen for academic recognition. The work that the artist presented to the French establishment however, was a far cry form the French Academie’s decorative, strictly schematic conception of Art. Rodin began his career with scandalous rejection from the Academie des Beaux-Arts. He would end it as the acclaimed progenitor of Modern sculpture.

Rodin’s drawings were seldom used as studies or projects for sculpture but they are nevertheless, as he put it, “the key to my work”. The naturalistic, though not strictly figurative approach demonstrated by this drawing is common to his most original sculptural work. The sketched, turbulent lines of his drawing style are expressed in three dimensions as deeply pocketed, complex clay surfaces.

The drawing's brief and lively strokes suggest a figure almost in the midst of dancing. In fact, Rodin’s growing fascination with the art form of dance would lead, a decade later, to the creation of the celebrated sculpture of Nijinsky. This original drawing is an exceptional example of Rodin’s lively, compelling draughtsmanship. With fast paced pencil strokes seeming to capture a fleeting, special moment, Rodin communicates his fascination with the human body in movement. Devoid of modelling, and built up from lively contours, this exceptional drawing conveys authentic, expressive movement.