Sunday, April 22, 2012

Hands by Rodin

The Rodin Museum is a rarity in Paris.
 Instead of wandering in a maze of dimly lit rooms to look at statues cloaked in veneration and dust like at most museums, the main exhibit is outdoors. Most of the museum's statues are kept in a garden that offers more than just a beautiful relaxing walk and a breath of fresh air from the crowded museums, but also gives another layer of interpretation to Rodin's work. These sculptures depict humanity's fundamental emotions and struggles and therefore shouldn't be under protection inside. They need to be exposed to the elements just like we are.
 
However, it's hard to convey the imposing physical presence of seeing "The Thinker" in its full over-sized glory through a photograph. Sculpture is one of the few art forms that really cannot make an impression when searched on Google Images. Nevertheless, to give myself a little project whilst at The Rodin Museum and give you something to appreciate Rodin's talent with, I decided to focus on photographing the hands of his sculptures, impressive in their verisimilitude.




 Or this man who had no appendages.

The tourists use their hands for other things...


 

Just for its change of scenery,  The Rodin Museum was one of my favorites in Paris. Like Gil Pender (yes, I am going to reference "Midnight in Paris" in every post about this city), I may not have read a 2-volume biography on Rodin either, but I can appreciate the beauty and gravity of his work.

1 comment:

  1. Hahaha!! I love that random pic of that lady and her "hands", hehe. Classic. What a cool garden! I think people forget about statues as art around here. They can be so intense but very interesting.

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