I visited the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia on a field trip for my French literature class on the 18th. We left at noon, and took the Septa into Suburban Station (Septa wasn’t late that day-thank goodness!). It was a bright, breezy day in the city, and we walked a short distance to the museum, located on Ben Franklin Parkway. We were met by Dr. Puppin, who guided us on a tour of the sculptures outside and inside of the building.
The Rodin Museum in Philadelphia is the second largest collection of Auguste Rodin’s work. Rodin was a French sculptor whose work is known for its unusual complexity. His most widely-known piece is The Thinker, or in French, Le Penseur, of which multiple casts exist and are housed worldwide. We saw a smaller cast of it in Philadelphia.
In the small gift shop, the employee at the register told me a story about the sculpture I was admiring, The Age of Bronze. The public’s initial reaction to the sculpture was of disbelief. The realism of its proportions seemed almost too good to be true, and Rodin was accused of using a cast of a live model rather than sculpting it himself. However, the accusation was formative to his work, and he developed a style that was distinctly not realistic so that it was obvious his works weren’t casts of models. His style, which preserved impressions from early stages of the scupltural process and focused on parts of figures, was revolutionary in his time. Rodin’s work is expressive, unique, and impressive.
If you’re in Philly, I recommend visiting the Rodin Museum. It’s quite small and would only take up about 45 minutes of your time, and its convenient location allows you to museum-hop from one to another on the Parkway. After enjoying the art, you could take a walk towards center city for a cup of coffee or stop by Le Pain Quotidien at 1937 Callowhill Street for their yummy avocado toast!