The world of sex by Auguste Rodin

THE WORLD OF SEX by AUGUSTE RODIN

photography by TERRY RICHARDSON and OLIVIER ZAHM
text by JEFF RIAN

 

The small Rodin museum is a must-see tourist stop in Paris. But within its walls, behind a façade of mythological symbolism, is a world of sex. Many of Rodin’s works express a beautiful, unrepressed, and violent sexuality, eternally frozen in cast bronze and voluptuous marble. Rodin didn’t so much make monumental sculptures as he did a massive array of deeply expressive fragments and portraits. He transformed real life in a manner inspired by Michelangelo, while freeing sculpture from the fantastic aspects of mythology and allegory. He had a genius for modeling in clay. But his sculptures were harshly criticized for the blatant psychology and sexuality of their figures, ones that reeked of life, not fantasy. Rodin preferred models he met on the street to professionals, and…