The Musée Rodin

NOTE: And...we're back!

We lost Internet access here a few days ago when the modem went "Pffft!!" (that's a technical French word meaning FUBAR) but hopefully it is back up permanently now, or at least through the end of our trip Friday night. What this means is that I'll be trying to catch up the posts and upload videos and photos even after we return home Saturday night. Thanks for staying with us during our technical difficulties.

Wednesday morning we got a relatively late start because we planned to be out late that night on a boat ride up the Seine to see the city lights and Eiffel Tower at night. Since it doesn't get dark here until about 9:30, we knew we'd be out and about until midnight or so. Because of that we didn't leave the apartment until 10am to take the subway to what is the world's foremost collection of works by sculptor Auguste Rodin, the Musée Rodin.

The building and grounds that make up the Musée Rodin have quite a background. The main building is a mansion that was built by Abraham Peyrenc in the seventeenth century when Paris' Left Bank was still uninhabited. Peyrenc had come to Paris to seek his fortune and upon striking it rich ordered the most superb house Paris had ever seen to be built in the Faubourg Saint-Germain area. The house was completed in 1731, but Peyrenc died just one year later. His widow gave the house to the Duchess of Maine. Upon the death of the duchess, the mansion became the property of the Duke and Duchess of Biron where it received its current name, the Hotel Biron.

The beautiful surroundings attracted artists including Auguste Rodin, who rented several rooms in which to store his art. The rooms became his studio where he worked and entertained friends among the gardens. Beginning in 1909, Rodin pleaded with the French government not to destroy the house but to make it a museum of his work. He donated all his property, correspondence, and pieces of art to the state, and finally, in 1916, the government agreed to convert the Hotel Biron into a museum for him. Rodin passed away on November 17, 1917.

Without a doubt the most famous sculpture that Rodin is known for is his "The Thinker", the contemplative individual that began as a representation of Dante in the relief work of art he created known as "The Gates of Hell". He later re-worked it to symbolize not Dante, but an anonymous male figure representing all poets or creators in that same relief work. Interestingly, Rodin himself never sculpted the full-sized work that stands alone, but rather supervised the larger recasting of his work by professional reducteurs Henri Lebosse and Alexis Rudier, who between them produced approximately 20 larger versions, all commissioned and overseen by Rodin.

After walking through the first portion of the garden, we came upon a small cafe. This was fortuitous as we were hungry, having had just a small breakfast due to our later start that morning. We sat outdoors at the edge of the gardens and were joined by pigeons and sparrows, who were glad for our company...and our bread. Here's a picture of a sparrow that landed on my table and allowed me to take his photo while he ate a piece of bread from my sandwich.

Our stomachs full and our spirits lifted by our feathered friends, we continued through the garden portion of the estate, specifically the sculpture section of the gardens. Below is a picture of the famous Rodin relief work of art, "The Gates of Hell" with Cindy and her mom in the photo to show the size of the piece.

And of course, me storming... uh, I mean struggling to open, the Gates of Hell.

We enjoyed many of Rodin's works in the gardens, including "The Burghers of Calais", "Monument to Victor Hugo" and "Balzac" among others, and then made our way into the inside museum where we saw another one of Rodin's most famous works (and again one which was originally a part of "The Gates of Hell") the sculpture known as "The Kiss".

Too soon, it was time for us to take our leave of the museum dedicated to Auguste Rodin, but we enjoyed the beauty of the gardens and the works of art.

Next post: The Louvre - Day 2