2015, Rodin’s Burghers
Sladmore Gallery, London
7th Oct 2015 - 15th Nov 2015 , Sladmore Gallery, London
The Sladmore Gallery is immensely proud to present two complete sets of the reduced version of Rodin’s ‘Burghers of Calais’.
In 1895, when the ‘Burghers of Calais’ monument was finally unveiled in the town of Calais, Rodin began work on the reduction of five of the six figures. Each reduction is around 18 inches in height and the last model, Eustache de St Pierre, was completed by 1903. Complete sets of these reductions are extremely rare, even in within the collections of the world’s major museums. This exhibition will feature two full sets, cast from 1900 onwards, including a rare example from the collection of Jean Limet, Rodin’s favoured patinator. Alongside the Burghers, other related sculptures will be on display.
The exhibition affords the viewer a comparison between casts produced by different foundries, with varying dates of production and individual patinas – ‘under the spotlight’.
About The Artist
Auguste Rodin is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most prolific sculptors of the twentieth century. His artworks were so innovative and unconventional that Parisian art critics initially denounced them. Despite these rejections, Rodin’s works were well received outside of France and eventually won the recognition of his nation.
Born in Paris in 1840, Rodin expressed an interest in art from an early age. At the age of fourteen he attended ‘la Petite École’, a school for drawing and mathematics. However, in 1862 devastated by the death of his beloved sister, Rodin turned towards religion and joined the Order of the Holy Sacrament. The following year, he realised that religion was not his calling, and returned to Paris.