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IN SEARCH OF INDEPENDENCE Antoinette Le Normand-Romain

Charles, Hippolyte Aubry Rodin working on the bust of Father Eymard 1863 carbon print 23 x 17,5 cm Ph.161

In February 1871, after his laborious early years, demonstrated in the Rodin Museum by the busts of his father (1860) and Father Eymard (1863), the mask of The Man with a Broken Nose which was rejected by the Salon in 1865, Mignon which is probably the portrait of his mistress Rose Beuret, and the impressive Young Woman in a Flowered Hat (circa 1865), a brilliant example of modelling in terracotta, Rodin left Paris for Brussels to join Carrier-Belleuse who had invited him to participate in the decoration of the Stock Exchange. Many sculptors worked on this project in which Rodin seems to have played only a secondary role. His main task, as in Paris, was to execute elegant groups which his employer signed and sold under his own name. But Carrier was soon on bad terms with his young assistant and dismissed him, probably in June.

Eugène Druet The Man with the Broken Nose albumen print 16,7 x 11,9 cm Ph.4482

Rodin had to struggle to live off his own resources. He tried to form a partnership with a Belgian sculptor, Joseph Van Rasbourgh, but their collaboration turned out to be difficult. He therefore had to earn his bread and butter by producing decorative busts. "At that time, I made the kind of sculptures to earn my living", he later explained to Judith Cladel, "and I sold them for twenty or thirty francs each to minor dealers. It was mediocre work. I feel rather ashamed that they have been kept". During the years spent in the studio of Carrier-Belleuse before 1870, he acquired an excellent knowledge of the techniques of modelling terracotta. He had a special talent for giving an original character to each of the works cast from the same mould by reworking the clay before it was fired, and although it is usually easy to recognize the same model with her pretty little face, differences can be observed from one bust to another, especially in the head-dresses.

Young Woman in a Floral Hat circa 1865 terracotta 69 x 34 x 29 cm S.1056 Photo : E. & P. Hesmerg

The roses, bunches of grapes or bouquets of lilies decorating the hats are never exactly the same. Rodin would add a rose or a few vine leaves here, a scarf or a ribbon knotted into a bow there, or he would even change the type of head-dress, transforming Grapes into Lilies, while keeping the same face! The Alsatian Orphan, a reference to recent events, was one of his most successful models.
In 1875, as the major decorative projects in Brussels were nearing completion, the marble bust of The Man with a Broken Nose, executed from the 1864 mask but completed and re-worked, was exhibited at the Salon in Paris. It was the first time one of Rodin's works was accepted by the Salon, and this greatly encouraged him. Furthermore, his financial worries were alleviated by the success of his decorative busts. This peaceful atmosphere enabled Rodin to devote his artistic efforts to a male nude, The Age of Bronze, during the last two years of his stay in Brussels. He worked on it for eighteen months, with an interruption in February and March of 1876 to travel to Italy where he discovered the works of Michelangelo in Florence, in a burst of enthusiasm.

Gaudenzio Marconi The Age of Bronze 1877 albumen print 26,3 x 16 cm Ph. 269

Gaudenzio Marconi The Age of Bronze 1877 albumen print 26,2 x 13,7 cm Ph. 271

The plaster of The Age of Bronze, known through the valuable photographs taken by Marconi and Druet, was displayed at the Cercle Artistique in Brussels in January 1877 but it was poorly received. Even though it attracted the attention of L'Etoile Belge (29 January 1877) for its "strangeness" and for "a quality as precious as it is rare: life", the anonymous author of the article provoked a controversy by writing, "We do not need to examine here whether this plaster was modelled directly on the living model. We simply wish to point out that the physical and moral dejection of this figure is rendered so expressively that without any indication other than the work itself, it seems as if the artist wanted to represent a man on the point of committing suicide." The work had, in fact, disconcerted the public not only because of its sensitive modelling, quivering with life under the play of light produced by the slight sway of the hips, but also by the absence of subject. Instead of using a professional model who would have posed in a conventional attitude, Rodin turned to a twenty-two year old Belgian soldier, Auguste Neyt, and chose the attitude which best suited the personality of his model rather than a subject which was not very important for him. "What he wanted was a natural attitude, as realistic as life", related Neyt.

Gaudenzio Marconi Auguste Neyt, model for The Age of Bronze 1877 albumen print 24 x 14,8 cm Ph. 270

Gaudenzio Marconi Auguste Neyt, model for The Age of Bronze 1877 albumen print 25,3 x 15 cm Ph. 272

In Brussels, the figure was exhibited without a name. In Paris, it was entered in the Catalogue for the 1877 Salon as The Age of Bronze, a title which did not shed much light since Rodin had avoided descriptive details. Nevertheless, his contemporaries realized they were in danger of being outshone by this unknown sculptor. The extraordinary quality of his modelling, added to the obscurity of his subject, again triggered off slanderous comments which deeply hurt him, for in order to discredit him, the figure was described as being cast from life.
This was a very hard blow for Rodin. "As you can imagine, I am extremely upset being so near to my goal! My figure was considered to be so fine by everyone, and now they insist on saying it was modelled from life (...). I am demoralized, I am exhausted, I am short of money, I must look for a studio ...", he wrote to Rose Beuret in spring 1877. He had been relying on The Age of Bronze to earn a reputation as a sculptor of statues and had hoped it would be purchased by the State which, as he knew only too well, was the launching pad for the career of an artist. His request to the Director of the Beaux-Arts was, of course, turned down. He had to wait for the appointment of a new Director, Edmond Turquet, who was finally won over. In May 1880, he made arrangements for the purchase of the plaster and a commission for a bronze version.
This bronze, to which a vine leaf was added, was exhibited at the 1880 Salon in Paris, and is now in the Musée d'Orsay. That same year, Rodin also presented Saint John the Baptist in plaster, the following year a bronze version, together with his Adam in plaster. The subjects of these two works were familiar to the public. However, contrary to the usual practice of sculptors in those days, his figures (at least the one of Saint John the Baptist) were not chosen by chance. As in the case of The Age of Bronze, it was the personality of the model which guided Rodin. "One morning", he recalled, "there was a knock at the door of my studio door. It was an Italian (...). I was struck with admiration (...) I immediately thought of Saint John the Baptist, that is to say, a man of nature, a visionary, a believer, a precursor come to announce someone greater than himself" (H. Dujardin-Beaumetz, Entretiens avec Rodin, 1913).

Adolphe Braun Saint John the Baptist albumen print 30 x 24 cm Ph. 278

As in the case of The Age of Bronze, the statue of Saint John the Baptist, which was influenced by Donatello and other great bronze sculptors of the Renaissance, can also be compared to the works of the contemporary Neo-Florentines, Paul Dubois, Mercié, Falguière, Delaplanche ... They too tried to create an illusion of life through supple modelling which lent itself ideally to precise interpretations in bronze. This great talent for modelling, which characterized the work of Rodin during the 1880s, reached its peak with the exquisite back of the Danaid, carved by Jean Escoula and exhibited at the 1890 Salon. Later, he deliberately chose to simplify forms and planes, and perfected other techniques based on assembling existing fragments. It is this particular gift which enabled Rodin to build up, during the highly creative years devoted to The Gates of Hell, a vast repertory consisting of several hundreds of figures which he was to use in endless variations.