Choosing my favourite art piece was really tough, I thought it through for what seemed like hours and I simply couldn't make up my mind. Should I choose a classical piece? or maybe something a bit more modern? perhaps a surreal painting by Dalí? or Van Gogh's post-impressionism in The Starry Night? Quite frankly, it was exhausting. I really wanted to make sure that I had an intense feeling for the piece I chose, that I was passionate about it, and that it represented me in some way. That's when I realised I was overthinking it way too much. That's also when inspiration struck: I settled on choosing Le Baiser, by Auguste Rodin.
The Kiss in marble at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen. Taken from Wikipedia.
Rodin was a French sculptor widely considered the father of modern sculpture. His works are known mainly because they model the human body with realism and celebrate individual character and physicality, rather than being decorative, formulaic, or highly thematic, as were the works of the Predominant Figures sculpture tradition. He is also well known for being the teacher (as well as the lover) of Camille Claudel, another French sculptress. His most famous pieces are L'Âge d'airain (The Age of Bronze), Le Penseur (The Thinker), and Le Baiser (The Kiss).
Le Baiser is one of my favourite sculptures because of the story that inspired Rodin to create it. It represents a man and a woman in a passionate embrace about to kiss (though the sculpture is called "The Kiss", the lips of the characters are not actually touching), and the scene they recreate belongs to a story within Dante's Inferno. Said story was inspired in reality, as it immortalizes the tale of a 13th century noblewoman called Francesca da Rimini, who was forced to marry nobleman Giovanni Malatesta by an arranged marriage, only to fall in love with her husband's younger brother, Paolo. It is told that they fell in love while reading together the story of Lancelot and Guinevere, and were about to kiss when they were discovered and killed by Giovanni.
The sculpture portrays the moment when they fell for each other, the innocence of a first kiss, and the fulfillment of a forbidden love. The embrace is tender, yet passionate. Details like the way their feet touch the ground, and the contrast between the roughness of the marble and the smoothness of the sculpted image are what attract me so much to the piece. To me, it's like capturing a spark of life in marble, the characters only lack breath to be real.
I can't remember when I saw Le Baiser for the first time, but what I do remember is rediscovering it while on a trip in Buenos Aires, where I was able to see it in an exposition of Rodin's and Claudel's work. It was then when I learned the story behind it, and it has remained ever since ingrained in my mind.
The Kiss in marble at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen. Taken from Wikipedia.Rodin was a French sculptor widely considered the father of modern sculpture. His works are known mainly because they model the human body with realism and celebrate individual character and physicality, rather than being decorative, formulaic, or highly thematic, as were the works of the Predominant Figures sculpture tradition. He is also well known for being the teacher (as well as the lover) of Camille Claudel, another French sculptress. His most famous pieces are L'Âge d'airain (The Age of Bronze), Le Penseur (The Thinker), and Le Baiser (The Kiss).
Le Baiser is one of my favourite sculptures because of the story that inspired Rodin to create it. It represents a man and a woman in a passionate embrace about to kiss (though the sculpture is called "The Kiss", the lips of the characters are not actually touching), and the scene they recreate belongs to a story within Dante's Inferno. Said story was inspired in reality, as it immortalizes the tale of a 13th century noblewoman called Francesca da Rimini, who was forced to marry nobleman Giovanni Malatesta by an arranged marriage, only to fall in love with her husband's younger brother, Paolo. It is told that they fell in love while reading together the story of Lancelot and Guinevere, and were about to kiss when they were discovered and killed by Giovanni.
The sculpture portrays the moment when they fell for each other, the innocence of a first kiss, and the fulfillment of a forbidden love. The embrace is tender, yet passionate. Details like the way their feet touch the ground, and the contrast between the roughness of the marble and the smoothness of the sculpted image are what attract me so much to the piece. To me, it's like capturing a spark of life in marble, the characters only lack breath to be real.
I can't remember when I saw Le Baiser for the first time, but what I do remember is rediscovering it while on a trip in Buenos Aires, where I was able to see it in an exposition of Rodin's and Claudel's work. It was then when I learned the story behind it, and it has remained ever since ingrained in my mind.
4 comments:
I love that piece. I think this one and le Penseur, were first depicted in "the gates of hell", another work by the artis depicting scenes from "The divine comedy" by Dante. Do you remember when they stole one of the original versions in Chile? the one who did it, an art sutdent, said it was an art intervention. What do you think?
That's right, they were part of "The Gates of Hell", an Le Baiser was actually first named "Francesca Rimini" in order to reinforce the fact that it was inspired by Inferno. Apparently, people of the time found it too provocative to be in such display, so Le Baiser was taken down and replaced by another pair of lovers. It was then when art critics suggested the name Le Baiser to Rodin.
I actually wasn't living in Chile when it happened, so I wasn't aware that it was stolen, I only found out last week when some of my friends told me. I think it was a poor way to make an intervention, because the integrity of the piece was put in danger, and it brought more attention to the student itself than to Rodin's piece or art in general.
Yes, I agree with Camila that it was not a very successful art intervention, if that´s what it really was. However, I´m impressed that a mere art student could steal a marble sculpture the size of Le Baiser without breaking it.
I think this piece is especially powerful because it portrays the moment right before the kiss, expressing the tension of anticipation and desire rather than any flat fulfillment. Nice choice.
corrections:
His works are known mainly because they model the human body with realism and celebrate individual character and physicality rather than being decorative, formulaic, or highly thematic, as *were* the works of the Predominant Figures sculpture tradition. (note the deleted commas)
Nice choice, really. And I love the story! But I think that Giovanni could had been more... generous. I mean, if the girl doesn't love him, bad luck! He could have dignity and let her go... You know, that's what I would do.
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