During his last year Rodin married his lifetime companion Rose Beuret on January 29, 1917. Rose died three weeks later and Rodin followed shortly, passing away on November 17, 1917. Friends and dignitaries came to Rodin's funeral to see him laid to rest beside Rose at Meudon with The Thinker at the base of his tomb. 

Also available in real bronze !!

As an artist who adored nature the female body was a constant source of inspiration. He never started from predetermined subject, but chose, depending on the young women who posed for him, the postures likely give the body the most expression. This is why he did not burden himself with heads or feet or hands. And although during the first part of his career, he was obliged to earn his living by producing sensual figures. After 1895 he gradually eliminated all that he considered to be trivial or useless. 

Auguste Rodin tried to capture the essence of the body in movement. Unlike Degas, who obviously comes to mind when looking at this series, classical ballet did not much intrerest Rodin who found it stilted and conventional. He was more interested in different forms of dance which he considered to be more authentic or more modern. 

Dance Movement A is the first out of a homogeneous serie and which Rodin therefore used Alda Moreno, a dancer at the Opera Comique. 

Torso of Adele (1880).                

Height: 30cm, W.7cm, Depth 13cm.

The 'Torso of Adèle' was probably created as early as autumn 1880, named after Rodin's favourite model Adèle Abruzzezzi. The plaster shows the upper body as an arc bent backwards. Later this form was repeated in 'Eternal Springtime' and 'Fallen Angel'. Because of its orgastic connotations, the sculpture is often interpreted as one of Rodin's most appealing hommages to female sexuality; it is also one of his rare works whose title remained connected to the person of a model.

 

 

 

Height: 45cm, W.22cm, Depth 19cm.

Gracious woman in a natural pose. As an artist who adored women, because he adored nature, Rodin turned to women as his main subject of observation. For the Gates of Hell, commissioned in 1880, he made numerous studies of models who walked feely in his studio. He found his forms directly in clay, and before nature, his source of information. 

"I do not create, Rodin said, I see and it is because I see that I am capable of making".