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Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation / News
Rodin

The Rodin You May Not Know: Five Stories Behind the Sculptures

An art-school rejection, a sculpture scandal, and two right hands: five stories that reveal the unexpected side of Auguste Rodin. November 12 marks the 186th anniversary of Auguste Rodin's birth. His sculptures are among the most recognizable in the world, but their histories are anything but predictable. Behind the familiar images lie rejected applications, an accusation of cheating, and figures drawn from Dante's vision of Hell. 1. Rodin was rejected by art school three times Between 1857 and 1859, Rodin tried three times to enter Paris's prestigious École des Beaux-Arts. He failed the entrance examination each time. He had studied drawing at the city's Petite École, but without a place at the École des Beaux-Arts, he supported himself by making decorative and architectural sculpture. It was demanding work that kept him close to his craft while he developed his own ideas. The artist who would later challenge academic tradition began his career outside its...

November 8, 2026
News

A Promise to Her Sister: Iris Cantor and Four Decades of Breast Cancer Care

  A Promise to Her Sister: Iris Cantor and Four Decades of Breast Cancer Care How a personal loss became one of the most enduring commitments to women's health in American philanthropy This October is the first Breast Cancer Awareness Month without Iris Cantor. For many people, her name calls up museums: the Rodin galleries she and her husband, B. Gerald Cantor, helped build across the country, or the Cantor Roof Garden at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. But some of her most lasting work happened far from any gallery, in mammography suites, exam rooms, and community clinics on both coasts. That work began with a loss. A Brooklyn-born pioneer Iris Cantor was born and raised in Brooklyn and started her career on Wall Street at a time when very few women worked there. Through that work she met Bernie Cantor, founder of Cantor Fitzgerald and the world's leading private collector of Auguste Rodin's sculpture....

October 22, 2026
News

UCLA and Cantor Foundation Celebrate 30 Years of the Iris Cantor Women’s Health Center

On June 3 2025, the Cantor Foundation Attended the 30th Anniversary for the Iris Cantor-UCLA Women’s Health Center, which took place during the 19th annual Lunch with Scientists Event hosted by UCLA. The event featured speeches by Dr. Janet Pregler, director of the IC Women’s Health Center; Dr. Julio Frenk, newly inaugurated chancellor of UCLA; and Dr. Felicia Knaul, renowned health economist. Each spoke at length about the enormous impact the Women’s Health Center has had and the pivotal role the contributions of Iris Cantor and the Cantor Foundation have played in advancing its mission. Dr. Pregler described how women’s health research, once a neglected field, has made enormous strides thanks to gifts from Iris and Bernie Cantor and the Cantor Foundation. She also described how the Iris Cantor Breast Imaging Center, which replaced an aging facility located in the basement of the UCLA medical school, restored dignity and hope and saved...

June 3, 2025
News

Cantor Foundation Tours LACMA Construction

Ryan Fisher, The President and Executive Director of the Cantor Foundation, toured the under-construction Cantor Sculpture Garden and David Geffen Galleries at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in June 2025 The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Sculpture Garden will continue to welcome visitors to LACMA. The newly renovated sculpture garden will be double in size and be able to host more works than the original. The sculpture garden will feature monumental works by Auguste Rodin gifted by Iris and Bernie Cantor. The relationship between the Cantors and LACMA began in 1974 with the donation of 52 Rodin sculptures including the famous “Monument to Balzac.” Last year, you may recall that the Cantor Foundation paid a visit to the construction site in March 2024, and was shown the groundbreaking building techniques being utilized in the galleries like the cable suspension earthquake mitigation system. This time we were shown how argon filled...

June 2, 2025
News

The Cantor Foundation is now on Instagram!

Follow us to stay connected and get an inside look at our latest projects, traveling exhibitions, and highlights from the Cantor Foundation’s rich history. Join the conversation—we look forward to sharing with you and hearing your thoughts. Follow us @cantorfoundation and be part of the journey!   View this profile on Instagram   The Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation (@cantorfoundation) • Instagram photos and videos ...

May 1, 2025
News

2025 Rooftop Commision

Jennie C. Jones has won The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s rooftop commision and created a new installation for the Museum’s Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden. On view through October 19, 2025, The Roof Garden Commission: Jennie C. Jones, Ensemble will explore the sonic potential of stringed instruments as well as their formal possibilities. “We are thrilled that Jennie C. Jones will bring her unique artistic vision to The Met’s iconic roof garden,” said Max Hollein, the Museum’s Director and Chief Executive Officer. “Elevated high above the sounds and rhythms of New York City, her innovative installation will seamlessly combine form, color, line, and acoustics, challenging visitors to engage with sculpture in new and unexpected ways.” The installation stands as the final Roof Garden Commission before the space temporarily closes in preparation for the construction of The Met’s new home for its collection of modern and contemporary art. The series will...

April 20, 2025
News

Recent Rodin Exhibitions

[caption id="attachment_11332" align="alignleft" width="300"] Three Fauneses by Auguste Rodin[/caption] The traveling exhibition, Rodin: Contemplation and Dreams, featuring works from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation went on tour at The Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art, Columbia Museum of Art, Brookgreen Gardens and the Paine Art Center and Gardens. The exhibition aimed to showcase Rodin’s mastery in capturing human emotion, movement, and psychological depth. It highlighted his evolution from classical roots to modern expressiveness, “opening the land of contemplation and dreams.” [caption id="attachment_11331" align="alignright" width="240"] Claude Lorrain by Auguste Rodin[/caption]...

January 20, 2025
News

Rodin Works on Display at Fubon Art Museum

[caption id="attachment_11297" align="alignright" width="484"] Rodin’s bust sculptures at the Fubon Art Museum[/caption] The Fubon Art Museum in Taipei, Taiwan, opened to the public on May 9, 2024, after ten years of meticulous planning and construction. Its first headline exhibition, True Nature: Rodin and the Age of Impressionism, will open in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The exhibition will feature 100 items carefully selected from the LACMA collection, including over 70 sculptures by Auguste Rodin, as well as more than 10 pieces from contemporary Impressionist masters such as Cézanne, Monet, and Renoir. This is also LACMA’s only Asia stop on the exhibition tour of its collection, which previously toured in the United States. Most of the Rodin works featured in the True Nature exhibit were gifted from the renowned Iris and B. Gerald Cantor collection. The exhibit attempts to position Rodin’s works in contrast to the works of his contemporary...

May 4, 2024
News

Iris and B. Cantor Rooftop Commision: 2024

The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Rooftop at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is currently featuring Abetara, an installation by Kosovar artist Petrit Halilaj. The exhibition features three-dimensional metal sculptures depicting drawings he found on classroom desks at his former school in Kosovo. While appearing whimsical, the sculptures provide a look at the imagination of children whose lives were upended by war. The installation will run through October 27, 2024....

April 29, 2024
News

Iris Cantor Building Opens at the University of Arizona

The University of Arizona celebrated the grand opening of the Iris Cantor Building at the new Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, marking a significant advancement in holistic health education and research. Located at the heart of the university campus, this new facility stands as a beacon of innovative health practices, integrating a wide range of medical disciplines to promote overall wellness. The center is dedicated to advancing a comprehensive approach to health, emphasizing preventive care and treating the root causes of illnesses rather than just the symptoms. Designed with state-of-the-art classrooms and cutting-edge research labs, the center provides an optimal environment for both learning and discovery. The building also includes a wellness center where students, faculty, and the public can engage in various health and wellness activities. The building housing the new center reflects the same ingenuity in architecture that characterizes the approach of integrative medicine to healthcare. Its glass facade, which...

April 24, 2024
News
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