Musee Rodin - Soaking up Sculpture on a Rainy Day in Paris

What to do when you are given travel lemons?  Well…. As we all have heard…. Make travel lemonade! 

When I arrived at the Musee Rodin, located in the Faubourg Saint-Germain (7th arrondissement) in the center of Paris, near Les Invalides, it was raining with intermittent blasts of stormy downpour.  Not exactly prime weather for touring!  But it was still a wonderful experience.

Compounding my discomfort and disappointment, I found that the museum housed in the Hotel Biron, a stately mansion in which from 1905, Rodin had his studio and the storage rooms for his sculpture, was closed for renovation.

The Hotel Biron was completed in 1732 by architect Jean Aubert for a wig-maker who had made a fortune in currency speculation.   The house then was sold to the Duchesse du Maine in 1737 and finally passed on to the Marechal de Biron in 1753. 

The house passed from private hands in 1793 when Duc de Biron's heir, Armand Louis de Gontaut, Duc de Lauzun, was guillotined during the French Revolution.   The house was then used for a number of state functions and for a time even used as a Catholic school for young women. 

In 1905, the grand mansion was sub-divided into lodgings and Rodin rented several of the rooms. He also enjoyed entertaining in the fabulous but overgrown gardens. 

Site plan from Blondel's Architecture françoise (1752)

Fortunately, I was, at least, able to take in the graceful façade and wander the rain soaked gardens to find wonderful sculptures adorning the winter-stark paths. 

After strolling through the gardens, one can enter the temporary exhibition area.  To be perfectly honest, I had really looked forward to exploring the lovely “house-museum”, but the temporary exhibition which highlighted Rodin’s artistic process, turned out to be fascinating.

The exhibition is called Rodin: The Laboratory of Creation and will be open until September 27th, 2015. 

The museum website tells you, “These pieces illustrate the advance of the sculptor’s extraordinary career. Visitors will be drawn into the heart of the creative process; by observing, they will gain insight into Rodin’s formal thinking ─ the paths he followed, the hesitations he experienced and the flashes of brilliance that lit his way.” 

It delivers on its promise many times over.  Learning about the creative process of Rodin allows you to view his work in a whole new light!

The exhibit displays numerous preparatory works, studies and sketches in clay, maquettes and plaster models that were used to make the series of casts which were reworked until the final version of a work was created. 

Rodin gave body parts such as heads, hands, arms and feet individual attention and then incorporated them into the final figure.

The collection is supplemented with photographs taken in Rodin’s studios.

In 1909, Rodin, at the height of his fame, began to promote the idea that the Hôtel Biron should become a museum of his work. He made a bequest of his property, his archives and the contents of his studio at the time of his death, and the French government accepted in 1916. The museum opened in 1919.  The Musee Rodin is beautiful, it’s collection and interpretation is fascinating and it is well worth a visit even during this time of renovation!