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RODIN AS PAINTER AND ENGRAVER Claudie Judrin

Small sand pit in the forest of Soignes between 1871 and 1877 Oil on cloth-backed paper 28 x 36,5 cm P.7218

Rodin painted before he sculpted and throughout his youth seemed to hesitate between the two disciplines. His original liking for drawing encouraged him to try oils. He must have learnt human anatomy at the Petite Ecole in the rue de l’Ecole-de-Médecine. The nudes used in the studios were his first models c.1855. Then there were portraits including those of family and friends : Rodin’s father Jean-Baptiste, one of his friends Abel Poulain and Mme Rodin. He even did a SeIfportrait later on when he was between thirty and forty years old. In his painting he was not much drawn to animaIs as a subject, except for a Horse which he saw at the Saint-Marcel market when he was in digs at 96 rue Lebrun in 1864.

Is there any means of learning how to paint without copying! In Belgium where Rodin took refuge after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 he took great pleasure in copying Rubens paintings such as the Crucifixion after the Coup de Lance at Antwerp museum. The Forest of Soignes near Brussels was a favourite resort between 1871 and 1877. Working from nature he produced many small landscape compositions glued onto cardboard, very free in their inspiration, reminiscent in style of the Lyons landscapist Auguste Ravier, a precursor of Impressionism, discreet in their appeal but not devoid of boldness.

On his return from Belgium Rodin Found himself obliged to take on decorative work at the Sèvres porcelain factory. At the same period the etcher Alphonse Legros, who had taken refuge in London, taught him how to use drypoint on copper, the technique closest to drawing. Rodin joined Legros in England in 1881 and a plate engraved on either side by the two men shows how closely they worked together. Rodin’s Cupids Leading the World is matched by a scored-through, probably unique study of a Woman’s Head by Legros. A woman, cupids and centaurs aIl form part of the familiar repertory of the creator of The Gates of Hell. Whether he was working as a sculptor, a ceramicist, a graphic artist or an engraver,the themes were the same.
The success of his busts and his total mastery of drypoint prompted Rodin to engrave after his sculptures. He did not scruple to “assemble profiles” on a single copper plate, placing a three-quarter view of the writer Henri Becque alongside his two profiles. Rather than effacing his experiments he juxtaposed them, so profiting from his second thoughts. The Three-quarter View of Victor Hugo is the finest example of this.