Rodin, famous for The Thinker and The Kiss, was captivated by the
sculptures of Classical antiquity and he constantly reworked and
assimilated the forms of ancient Greek and Roman art in his own work.
Rodin visited the British Museum for the first time in the summer of
1881 and there greatly admired the sculptures of the Parthenon. Before
he saw the originals, he was already acquainted with plaster casts of
them displayed in the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris. The Parthenon
sculptures continued to be a major influence on his own work and he
visited them frequently on his return visits to London. He also amassed
a huge collection of fragments of ancient sculpture that served as a
great source of inspiration.
An introduction to this volume, published to accompany an exhibition at
the British Museum, by Hartwig Fischer, the Museum's director, reflects
on the internationalism of the Parthenon sculptures and their global
reach, and essays by the curators of the exhibition tell the story of
their reception in the modern era, and chart the lifelong relationship
between these sculptures and Rodin. The works featured are arranged
thematically, with sections on Rodin's Parthenon, Truth to Nature, the
Monument, the Fragment and Motion and Emotion. The book includes
examples of Rodin's drawings as well as his sculpture.
