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Foundation’s Successful Rodin Exhibitions Resume with Shows at Penn and Concordia

Following a few years’ hiatus to plan continuing traveling exhibitions, at the beginning of September two new Rodin exhibitions organized by the Cantor Foundation opened.  The first, a selection of Rodin’s portraits, fills the OSilis Gallery at Concordia College in Bronxville, New York.  The second, at the Arthur Ross Gallery at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, features the variety of Rodin’s figurative work.

The Ross Gallery exhibition, curated by its director Lynn Marsden-Atlass and Cantor Foundation Director Judith Sobol, opened on September 6 and closes on December 22.  The Gallery, easy to find on Penn’s beautiful campus, is distinguished by Gothic Revival windows that would have pleased Rodin, who likened Gothic architecture to the essence of nature.

Entitled “Rodin:  The Human Experience,” the Ross Gallery show provides insight into Rodin’s fascination with how an inert material like bronze could convey human life in all its aspects.  The sculptures attest to the artist’s interest in sensuality, in psychological affect, in movement, and in the varieties of human emotions.  The exhibition features many of Rodin’s iconic works, including Meditation (with Arms), Mask of the Man with the Broken Nose, The Hand of God, and Torso of the Walking Man.  Included are pieces from the Cantor Foundation Collection as well as special loans from Iris Cantor’s personal collection.

It is especially significant that this group of Rodins be shown in Philadelphia, as that city is home to its own Rodin Museum, a remarkable collection in a newly-renovated building, both donated to the City by Jules Mastbaum, who collected Rodins just after the artist’s death.

Foundation Director Judith Sobol was invited to Philadelphia for the exhibition’s opening reception.  She presented a tour of the exhibition to visitors celebrating the occasion.  You can join the tour, here:

 

Additional special programs are planned; Contact the Ross Gallery (215-898-3617) for more information.

The loan of nineteen Rodins to the OSilis Gallery at Concordia College in Bronxville, New York (just outside NYC) created the opportunity for the College gallery to explore Rodin’s working methods.   The September 12-November 27 exhibition, entitled “Rodin & the Methods of a Master,” actively explores how Rodin made his sculpture as well as his interest and achievements in portraiture.  Works in this exhibition are from the Foundation as well as Iris Cantor’s personal collection.

The OSilis show includes many significant works, including the Bust of Jean Baptiste Rodin (his father), a number of images of the writers Hugo and Balzac, the Bust of Gustav Mahler and the Head of Pope Benedict XV.

Rodin’s portraits were greatly admired.  They told the viewer not only what the sitter looked like, they also told the viewer what Rodin was so good at discerning:  the inner life of the person, the part of the sitter he or she preferred to keep private.  Each portrait thus also revealed the invisible truths of a person.  And each also revealed the artist’s response to that invisible truth.  Thus Rodin’s portraits changed expectations about the nature of portraiture.

At the opening reception on September 12, Cantor Foundation Trustee Michele Geller greeted visitors on behalf of the Foundation and Iris Cantor.  Following her greetings, Gary Sussman, Director of the Art Students League Vytlacil Campus and a sculptor in bronze, spoke about the casting method and how and why it has been used.

The OSilis Gallery exhibition is accompanied by additional programs aimed at increasing public knowledge of how bronzes are made.  There will also be a trip to Philadelphia to visit the Arthur Ross Gallery and the Rodin Museum.  For more information, call 914-337-9300, extension 2262.