Cathy's Art Diary

Fascinating online lecture from ARTscapades looking at how Rodin was influenced in dancers and in particular Nijinsky. Juliet Bellow, from the American University and the author of a book of the same title, talked us through three sources of dance influence for Rodin, the Art Nouveau solo dancer Lois Fuller, the Cambodian Royal Ballet who visited Paris in 1906 and Ballet Russe and Nijinsky. For this talk she concentrated on the latter and   looked in detail at a small sculpture Rodin made of the dancer in 1912. She talked about how Rodin was influenced by the ballet “Apres Midi du Faune” and in turn how the dancer looked to sculpture for inspiration for his choreography. She speculated on how the work was made based on recent studies of two versions and concluded that it was made to be held in the hand and turned and in doing so it took on various aspects of the ballet. She also broadened the lecture out to show how Rodin was a supporter of the republican cause and positio...

Stunning exhibition at Tate Modern looking at how Rodin’s work in plaster and how he kept these pieces and combined them in various works. The main room was set out to recreate his 1900 exhibition in Paris with sculpture from his whole career like an artist’s studio. It included various studies for The Thinker, a statue of Balzac, Walking Man and others. It was wonderful to see so many large works in a big space and it set you up for the detail of the rest of the show. A good approach in these Covid times to have such an open space. Off that room was a small room of drawings to demonstrate another working practice, as with his sculptures, he reworked and copied drawings often generating new works independent of the original drawing. There was good room on two of his female subjects Helene Von Nostitz and the Japanese actor and dancer Ohta Hisa known as Hanako. I loved the large selection of the studies of the latter which only depicted her face in various stages of reality and a...

Fabulous exhibition at the British Museum on the influence of ancient Greece on Rodin. The show was beautifully laid out and the new exhibition space at the museum was used in quite a different way with the whole space opened up and visible and yet with a very definite path round and narrative. What a surprise to the find the space had a wall of windows at one end which had not been used before. A perfect space and light for showing sculpture. The show made great use of the Parthenon sculptures and frieze which Rodin saw and sketched in London from 1881 and drew on those drawings throughout his career. The show blended Greek pieces and Rodin’s work in a seamless narrative and it was lovely to see sections of the frieze at eye level.   There was a good section in the middle looking at the Gates of Hell and how that was influenced by Greek work plus how Rodin reused motifs from it in other works. Also an extensive look at the Burghers of Calais including life siz...

Beautiful exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery focusing on Rodin’s fascination with dance in his later years. The show began by looking at his interest in the Cambodian dancers who came to Paris for a state visit in 1906. Rodin became fascinated by their unusual movements and spent three days in Marseilles with the troupe sketching them. If you watch the recent “Fake or Fortune” series on TV you’ll remember that featured one of these drawings. These are very freely drawn and painted works with a real sense of movement. It then looked at his interest in avant guard dancers of the time including Isadora Duncan, Ruth St Denis and Loie Fuller. The show included photos of them as well as his drawings. I loved a strange photo of Duncan dancing in a garden watched by Victorian men in hats. The main section of the show focused on a series of small sculptures Rodin made in 1911 called “Dance Movements”.   These were displayed as a wonderful parade of dancers down the middle...

Nice exhibition at the Musse Rodin in Paris comparing the works of Matisse and Rodin. The two artists met in 1900 but were of different generations however there often seems to be a dialogue in their work. I loved the room on dancing. Along the middle were small figures by Rodin of dancers, some in full flight. Alongside were Matisse sketches for La Dance. I also loved four large plaques by Matisse of women’s back which had a Gauguin like feel plus a foot on top toe by Matisse.

Nice little exhibition at the National Museum of Wales looking at the time Gwen John spent in Paris as Rodin’s lover. It featured sketches and paintings by Gwen John alongside sculptures by Rodin. There was a lovely contrast between her subtle delicate pictures and the more passionate sculpture. As ever I loved the pictures she did of aspects of her room and studio. They have a Vermeer like quality of tranquillity and repetition.