Musée Rodin
Depuis longtemps j'ai souhaité visiter le musée Rodin. Il faisait beau hier, donc bien sûr j'ai fait un promenade. Comme j’ai traversé le pont Alexandre III et regardé le dom d’or des Invalides, j’ai realisé que le musée n’était pas loin. Donc j'y suis allée!
For some time since I moved to Paris, I’ve wanted to visit the Rodin Museum. Yesterday was beautiful so, of course, I was out taking a walk. Crossing my favorite bridge, Alexandre III, starring at the glorious golden dome of the Invalides Palace, I remembered that the Rodin Museum was close by. So to the museum I went!
View upstream from pont Alexandre III...as seen by one of the nymphs that adorns the bridge
Dome of Invalides and top of tour Eiffel from the museum garden
On doit visiter le musée Rodin quand il fait beau parce que le jardin du musée est extraordinaire. Franchement, je préfère le jardin à l’hôtel particulier. Bien que la maison est aussi belle. Le musée est situé dans un ancien hôtel particulier, connu sous le nom de l’hôtel Biron. Au dèbut du 20ème siècle, on a permis aux locataires d’occuper l’hôtel Biron, parmi lesquels de nombreux artistes, l'écrivain Jean Cocteau, le peintre Henri Matisse, la danseuse Isadora Duncan et Auguste Rodin. Quand l’État est vendue le domaine en 1911, Rodin a dit qu’il donnerait tous ses œuvres d’art à l’État, si l’État a été d’accord que l'hôtel Biron et son jardin sont entièrement affectés, sous le nom de musée Rodin, à l'exposition des oeuvres données par Rodin à l'Etat français.
You really must visit the museum on a nice day because the garden is quite extraordinary. Honestly, I prefer the garden to the hotel particulier, even though the mansion is quite beautiful. Built in the 18th century and occupied by a series of owners, in the early 20th century, it was home to several artists, including writer Jean Cocteau, painter Henri Matisse, dancer Isadora Duncan and….Auguste Rodin. When the French government purchased the building in 1911, Rodin donated his entire collection of sculptures (along with paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Monet, and Renoir that he had acquired) to the government on the condition that they turn the building into a museum dedicated to his works.
Garden café
Gates of Hell
Invalides dome....in the middle of the topiary is the Thinker
View of garden through a museum window
Burghers of Calais
Study of Jean de Fiennes, one of the burghers of Calais
Il y avait une pièce dans le musée qui m’intriguée en particulier: l’étude de la robe de chambre de Balzac. Alors que je me promenais dans le musée, cette œuvre a attiré mon attention. Ce n’était pas comme les autres. Je l’ai trouvé étrange et pourtant extraordinaire. Selon le site web du musée : « À toutes les étapes de sa création, Rodin étudiait le drapé qui devait couvrir ses figures nues. Balzac était célèbre pour la robe de chambre dont il aimait se vêtir lorsqu'il travaillait chez lui, et c’est sous cet aspect que la Société des Gens de Lettres souhaitait le voir représenté. Rodin posa une véritable robe de chambre sur son étude de corps, puis il donna au tissu la forme voulue et le rigidifia afin de le mouler. Du moule fut tiré un étrange fantôme de plâtre, un habit vide qui révèle la position du corps qu’il recouvrait. Cette étude permit au sculpteur de créer le drapé très subtil du Monument à Balzac. »
Je m’excuse pour avoir cité le site web, mais il le dit plus mieux que moi.
There was one work in the museum that I found particularly intriguing : a plaster cast of Balzac's dressing gown. As I was strolling through the museum, not paying attention to anything in particular, this piece caught my eye. It was unlike all the others. I found it strange and yet extraordinary. It was as if its owner had stepped away and left it suspended in air. I wondered if in fact it was the gown covering Rodin’s famous (and as I was later to learn, infamous) hulking figure of Balzac I had seen in the garden. According to the museum's website:
“At each stage of his creative process, Rodin studied the drapery that would cover his naked figures. Balzac was famous for the dressing gown he liked to wear at home when writing, and the Société des Gens de Lettres wished to see him depicted in it. Anxious to be accurate, Rodin used a dressing gown supplied by Balzac’s tailor. He placed it on the study of his body, then arranged the fabric how he wanted and stiffened it, before having a cast made of it. What came out of the mold was a strange plaster ghost, an empty garment that revealed the shape of the body that it would cover. This object enabled the sculptor to model the very subtle drapery on the Monument to Balzac. “
I apologize for lifting quotes from the museum’s website, but my ability to write in French is limited...and je suis un peu fatiguée d'écrire en français!
Plaster cast of Balzac's dressing gown....note cast of a nude Balzac behind it....imagine the gown enveloping the man
Study of Balzac's head
Bronze Monument to Balzac in the garden
Apparemment quand le plâtre de Monument à Balzac a été exhibé pour la première fois au salon de 1898, les critiques le détestaient. Si cela vous intéresse, comme moi, vous pouvons lire plus ici.
Apparently when the plaster of Balzac was first exhibited at the 1898 Salon, the critics hated it, calling it "a toad in a sack, a statue still wrapped, a block of salt caught in a shower," among other things! If like me, you find this interesting, you can read more about the evolution of the dressing gown and the sculpture here.
Neighboring buildings....the museum and gardens are in the 7th arrondissement....monumental Invalides on one side....apartment buildings on the other.
