Auguste RodinFrench, 1840–1917Gustav Mahler
May one see it?
Unknown
Vienna, Austria
The owner is known; whether it is on view today is not.
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the sculpture
In the museum's own words — in German
Rodin gilt als Vater der modernen Skulptur. Zeitlebens ringt der französische Bildhauer um die Kraft des Ausdrucks und haucht seinen Arbeiten vorher nie gekanntes Leben ein. Rodins Beziehung zu Wien ist eng. Ab 1898 sind seine Werke regelmäßig in der Secession zu sehen. 1903 begegnet er Gustav Klimt und Egon Schiele, und 1909 sitzt ihm Österreichs damals bedeutendster Komponist Gustav Mahler im Pariser Atelier Modell. Das Ergebnis ist diese Büste: Realistisch und wie beseelt wirkt sie, Licht und Schatten modellieren jede noch so kleine Unebenheit in Mahlers Gesicht. Besonders betont ist die Stirn. Als Sitz des Denkens ist sie Rodin besonders wichtig, um Intelligenz und Geist zu veranschaulichen.
Belvedere
Particulars
In the catalog
Sources
- Belvedere
- Image: Belvedere — CC BY-SA 4.0
Meanwhile, in the life of Auguste Rodin
The whole life1890s–1900s
Young sculptors in Rodin's studio
His income let him hire gifted young sculptors, among them Antoine Bourdelle, Charles Despiau, Jules Desbois, François Pompon and Aristide Maillol. Constantin Brancusi left after two months, convinced that nothing grows under a big tree.
1900s
Portraits of the famous and the rich
Rodin began to receive regular commissions for portraits; his clients included Bernard Shaw, Gustav Mahler, Georges Clemenceau, the Argentine president Sarmiento, the chemist Berthelot and the philanthropist Bertha Palmer. Clemenceau was displeased: he thought the portrait looked like a “Mongol general”.
1904–1912
An affair with the Marquise de Choiseul
The ageing Rodin's infatuations were brief, except for his affair with the French-American Marquise (later Duchess) de Choiseul, which lasted from 1904 to 1912. Later he called her an “evil genius” on whom he had spent seven years of his life.
1907 · Award
Honorary doctor of the University of Oxford
1908
Moves into the Hôtel Biron
Rilke invited Rodin to the eighteenth-century mansion where he rented rooms; Rodin liked it so much that he took the ground floor, moved his studio there and lived there for his last years.
16 May 1910 · Award
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour
