Labeled the greatest sculptor since Michelangelo, Auguste Rodin moved away from the styles of the past and became the father of modern sculpture. While sculptures of the day involved mythology and allegory, with an emphasis on decoration and themes. Rodin worked in realism, celebrating the natural character and definition of the human body. His works were criticized and controversial for straying from the whimsical, and the negative reception perturbed him, though he continued in his style. His tenacity paid off, catapulting him to become the foremost French sculptor and highly sought after throughout the world.
So detailed and accurate were the sculptures of Rodin that his life-sized work of a man entitled The Age of Bronze was criticized as a cheat, with critics claiming Rodin had used a living model because the sculpture was too real to be authentic. In response to this, Rodin’s later works were scaled either larger or smaller than life-sized to authenticate his enormous talent.
Musée Rodin holds more than 7,000 sculptures and another 6,000 works on paper. All of the pieces were willed by Rodin himself upon his death in 1917.