Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-11-18
AUGUSTA ROD|N, FAMOUS
SCULPTOR, DIES IN PARIS
In One Week Would Have Been
Unanimously Elected Member Of
Academy OF Fine Arts.
LONG FIGHT FOR RECOGNITION
Struggled for Fifty Years Against
Poverty, Abuse mad Ridiculc-ls
Finally Hailed as "MichaeI Angelo
OF the Modern World"
Associated Prcss.l

49, h'iiNA - &c
N. I,odin died IN his villa at Meudon.
IN tho outskirts Of Paris. after an ILL
ness of Il few days.
Had he lived. NJ. Isodin would have
been elected n member of the Academy
of Fine Arts by almost unanimous vote
Il week from to-day.
AuEustc Rodin struggled for fifty
years against poverty and abuse and
ridicule for his unconventional ideas
before he achieved undisputed celebrity
as one Of tho most famous sculptors
OF tho world. Continuing his work
until past his s~cventy-hfth year. he
had. however. Notwithstanding those
carly handicaps, still time to enrich
tho world with innumerable examples
of his imprcgsionistic. inspiration2l
works. which are priced both In Europe
and America.
When finally recognized. NJ. Rodin
was hailed by his admirers as the
Michael Angelo Of the modern world"
lie was a worker in mass. producing
bis subjects in detail only SO far as
would bring out his dominating con
ceptton. His work thus had n far less
Finished form than the conventional
school Of his day. Being thus ahead OF
his time. IT was only by degrees that
he forced recognition. His own feeling
was: II had rather be understood by a
few than known to the world" and
storms OF criticism were never strong
enough to turn him from his course.
Born In Paris in 1870, OF wrctchcdly
poor parents. he was FIRST heard of in
1854. when. after Il short time spent
in studying under Barge, he sent his
mask. The Man With the Broken
Nose" to the Salon. Although this
interesting head contained The germ
OF all that was great in his later work.
1t was refused. and his poverty obliged
him to spend the next six years In the
drudsery Of ar artssSs assistant, doing
all the tedious. Mechanical. proht!ess
labor Of an artisan. Laser he COL
Elaborated with a Belgian sculptor in
carving ng 5 for the Brussels Bourge.
and then led his hand OF ~pottcr's
clay at Sevres factory.
EXTRAORDINARY TESTIMONY
TO HIS CREATIVE POWERS
His second attempt TO gain rccoEni-
ton at the Paris Salon WAS humiliat-
ing. He submitted. in 1877. '--he Age
of Bronze" only TO have X rejected
and TO have himself accused OF casting
IT from life instead Of creating an
work. Too dismaycd to rccoE-
MIC what was in reality an extra
ordinary testimony to his powers. NJ.
Eodin indignantly protested. while the
critics heapcd further abuse
upon him.
1t was not until 1880. after the e1-
hibition OF his "St. John the Baptist"
that the tide began to turn in his
favor. Struck with the genius dis
in this work. the sculptor.
HV..chcr. commissioned NJ. Eodin to
90 cute a group OF children for him,
and. anxious to find out how he OBJ
tanned his results. watched him at
work. To his as~tonishnlcnt, Rodin
the group in e few hours, and
soon AS it was completed, Boucher
rushed on TO spread the news among
his friends. declaring that the man who
could do what he had seen RoLin do
certainly also have created THE
Ago OF Rronzc.' II was Robins vim
and in recog milton of it. the
was purchased by the state. and
Is now IN the museum OF the Luaem-
bourE.
From then on he created a numbcr Of
notable works. among them his Victor
The Burgesses of Calais'' and
his statue OF "Balzsc." The latter WAS
an extraordinary and unconventional
conception of the great novelist, which
[todin executed upon commission from
The Society Of Men Of Letters. When
It was unveiled in 1898 1t WAS received
almost universal jest and gibe.
Thc Partisan public became so worked
over the merits OF the monument
hat the controversy for the time
interest even in the sensational
Oreyfus trial. Balzac was represented
n a foluminous dressing gown, the
'eatures and figure roughly sketched.
-ritics exclaimed that it was "an cnor-
nous porpoise standing upright. draped
n a thick bath wrapper They called /
I srotesque. huge and nippant; while. !
IN the other side, there were those
Who saw In it the incarnation of the I
'reat writer's soul" The society which !
lad ordered 1t, however, held the ma
orlty view That the work was incom- (
'rehensioic' II not ridiculous, and they !
the commission to the sculptor, T.
who executed n more conven-
ional work in the following year. Il
treat DECORATIVE WORK
TWENTY FEET HIGH
In the meantime. and for years after
he Balzac controversy, Rodin devoted I
10 u great decorative COMPOST 4
twenty feet high. The Portal
{ He'll" for the Museum of Decorative. j
'rts. This work was inspired mainly /
y nante's Inferno. the poet himself !
cling seated at tho top. Will at his 8
Get IS the writhing crowd OF the !
ahmed. torn by the frenzy of passion !
nd anguish of despair. The fsurc of
The Thinker" which Is one of I;odin's 4
works in America, has been
In cast for several years at
ne Metropolis MUSEUM OF Fine Arts 4
, New York ard at various other n
IT is one OF tho figures d.
igned for this titani: representation
f THE Portal of He'll"
The scluptor's personality, as we'll as
is work. was genera'iy misunderstood
is critics made linn out a man II
c%onceit. tut friendly inter-
fonnG him Il modest psod1er.
'niirmednin his conceptions o. arr, but
ot vi'dictivc toward those who abused
i'm. lieItwas short anG heavily built.
It'll a massive II cad deep sci on his
eek. .rd wore u palriarchical beard
ross HIS broad chest. His :;ilvc. hair