THE PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTIONS Hélène Pinet

Charles Aubry Rodin in a Top Hat c. 1864 albumen print 8,7 x 5,2 cm Ph. 3

Because of the quirk of fate that caused Rodin to be born one year after photography was invented he was not immune to the practical and aesthetic attractions of this new technique of reproduction. The 7,000 or so photographs he collected between 1800 and 1917 illustrate his private, public and - especially - professional life. As well as the many official portrait photographs or snaps of Rodin there are portraits of the wide range of notabilities who were crossed his path at one time or another such as lsadora Duncan, Mallarmé or even George Bernard Shaw.

The strong point of the collection is nonetheless the pictures of the sculptures. As he create Rodin built up a tremendous photographic library which enables us to follow his career step by step, to understand his working method and discover the world he lived in, since over and above his work in the round it is the life of the studio which comes out at us from these pictures. They also reflect his desire to control the way observers viewed his work, to enhance the importance of this sculpture or that, to show it at a specific stage of its development and present the viewing angle that to his eyes seemed best.

Yet for a long time the camera remained incidental and photographers were occasional collaborators chosen at random from among people he met or through contacts. The position changed during the 1890s. Once again Rodin was following in the footsteps of Carrier-Belleuse who from 1863 on had exhibited photographs of his works at the same time as the works themselves. Rodin adopted the same procedure for the first time in 1896 at Geneva. From that date on a certain number of photographers followed one another in his studio. Eugène Druet, Jacques-Ernest Bulloz and Adolphe Braun worked each in his own manner but always following Rodin’s directions to build up albums of pictures from which anyone and everyone could select illustrations for articles or high-quality prints for exhibitions.

In parallel with this commercial organization Rodin encouraged several artist photographers such as Eduard Steichen, Jean-François Limet, Stephen Haweis and Henry Coles to give a new vision of his work.
It is a tradition which has remained unbroken ever since. The curators of the museum have continued to call on the services of various photographers the most important being Choumoff, Lapina, Bernès and Marouteau, Lacheroy and Adelys. At present we are continuing to enrich and diversify the collections by acquiring early photographs and employing contemporary photographers.

To this collection, exceptional for the variety of techniques employed and points of view chosen, must be added on the one hand the photographic documentation which Léonce Bénédite bequeathed to the museum, including many reproductions of works of architecture and sculptures, and on the other a group of glass plates showing works by Maillol, Bourdelle, Despiau etc in the workshops of the Rudier foundry.