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Spotlight on “Danaid”

 

Some of Rodin’s greatest gifts that set him apart from his contemporaries were his storytelling ability, and his break from his conservative colleagues’ traditional poses. These established Rodin’s reputation in France and then the world. One of my favorite examples is Danaïd. I was first attracted to the sculpture by the woman’s beautifully expressive and sensual back. Then I researched and uncovered the story behind the piece. I was surprised and shocked by the terribly tragic Greek myth. The daughters of King Danaus murdered their husbands on their wedding night and were damned to collect water in broken urns that could never be filled, for eternity. Rodin exposed the woman’s torture and agony throughout the sculpture, proving that he could make a back as meaningful and passionate as a face. As you walk around the work, the shifting light on the surface gives movement to the grieving woman, and her intense emotion can be experienced from every angle.

In the paragraph above, Iris Cantor describes what details she loves in Rodin’s Danaïd, featured in writer David Masello’s October 2013 article in Fine Art Connoisseur magazine.  In this lively account Masello invited people “active in the arts” to explain what details they recall in favorite works of art.

Rodin modeled Danaïd about 1883-1889.  Pictured here is the Foundation’s 1969 cast, number 5 in an edition of 12, which is 12.75” tall x  28.75” wide x 22.5” deep.  It was cast by Georges Rudier.