In the Rodin studio in France, the then 43-year-old Rodin met the 19-year-old Camille, as the pearl in her father's hand, she finally came to the dream master studio, in order to thank her, she gave Rodin a stone sculpture carved by herself, which was a green and slightly exposed foot, Rodin immediately realized the talent of this female student, and of course also noticed her beautiful blue eyes and moving face, he fell in love with her.
Camille
As a well-known sculptor in France at that time, Rodin had a fiancée Rose who silently supported him behind his back, Rose was previously Rodin's model, and when Rodin was not yet famous, she shouldered the responsibility of taking care of their sons while working as a tailor to support her family, she was hard-working, uncomplaining, silently dedicated, a typical virtuous wife and mother, and her actions often reminded Rodin of her dear sister.
Rodin was born in a poor family, his father was a police clerk, his mother was a housewife, because of his poor study, he was often reprimanded by his family, only his sister supported him to do what he liked, that is, painting, she earned money to support her brother, and sent her brother to the Paris School of Fine Arts and Crafts, so that Rodin had a systematic study of art.
Rodin was initially obsessed with painting, but because oil paint was too expensive, he had to transfer to a sculpture class, and then wanted to go to the Paris Academy of Fine Arts for further study. However, he did not pass the exam three times, and finally he was instructed that "there is no talent in this life, and it is a waste to continue to apply for the examination".
And his sister entered the monastery because of the loss of love, two years after the illness died, Rodin's spirit under this double blow, completely collapsed, he resolutely chose his sister's path, ready to become a monk for this life, until the abbot advised him to "use art to serve God", Rodin returned to the road of art.
So Rodin loved his sister as much as he did his fiancée Rose, they were partners living together, and Rodin regarded her as a family member and could not be abandoned, even if there was only affection between them.
So when Rodin met Camille, her eyes were cold, not girlish, but full of charm; she was amazingly talented, able to carve works from the skeletons of dead people, and the marble was too soft for her.
Since she was a child, she aspired to become a sculptor, the pride of her father, the idol of her brother, she advocated love, but also advocated art. Thus, this talented and wild beauty led to the complete fall of Rodin.
At the time, Rodin was working on The Gates of Hell, based on Dante's Divine Comedy, a monumental work of art closely linked to architecture, with a total of 186 figures. Rodin was caught up in the mullions of a work that consumed the rest of his life and was not completed until his death.
The Gates of Hell
Camille's arrival was like a gift from Heaven, not only a diligent student, a powerful assistant, but also a model and his inspiration, she participated in Rodin's creation and made many valuable suggestions.
Among them, a work called "Kiss" in "The Gates of Hell" is a testimony to their love, it comes from a pair of cursed stealing men and women in Dante's poetry, Rodin used Camille as a model, with a very classical realistic technique, portrayed a pair of lovers, their smooth and soft bodies and the rough stone of the base formed a sharp contrast, and their undulating, delicate, elegant body and posture, producing a very vivid light and shadow effect, Their unparalleled romanticism and blooming passion make every viewer feel moved by the source of life.
kiss
The model of the work "Meditation" is also Camille, and Rodin is ingenious, setting off a girl's head in reverie on a square pedestal. Her idyllic, persistent expression revealed a faint sadness, and the inner spirit of the girl seemed to be tightly wrapped in the stone accumulated for thousands of years, giving people an elusive allure.
contemplation
Rodin once said: "There is no lack of beauty in the world, but a lack of eyes to find beauty." He also said: "The source of art lies in the inner truth, your form, your color, to convey emotions." Rodin believed that art is emotion. Indeed, for this reason, Rodin's work is vivid and full of inner spirituality, such as the independently enlarged masterpiece "The Thinker" in "The Gates of Hell", although it was violently attacked when it was exhibited in the salon, and the academics called it "monster" and "ape man".
thinker
A giant of great intelligence, sitting there in pain, meditated, with his right elbow on his left knee, his hands on his chin and lips, examining all the tragedies that had happened below and falling into absolute meditation. The clenched ribs and tense muscles seemed to be about to explode with sparks of wisdom, and The Thinker was Rodin's greatest masterpiece, and it was even seen as a symbol of the power to transform the world.
"The Righteous People of Calais" is a large monument sculpture, Rodin created this group of six righteous people who gloriously sacrificed their lives in order to preserve the lives and property of the people of Calais, they were not sculpted as selfless and fearless warriors or label slogan figures, but gave each person a unique personality and mental state, there are firm, there are desperate, there are those who listen to nature.
The righteous people of Calais
Another statue of the French writer Balzac was initially rejected by the French Literary Society, which accused it of being a penguin, a pile of coal, a freak, a symbol of decadence and insanity. Balzac is depicted by Rodin in his pajamas at night, while the facial spirit is revealed.
Balzac
It is said that in the original manuscript, Rodin carved a pair of hands for Balzac, and when he heard the praise of the assistant next to him, he said, "These hands are so well carved!" Rodin immediately smashed them with a hammer, because the overly prominent parts would make people ignore the main parts. He wanted people to think of his life, thoughts and social environment from the vague dynamics and appearance of the statue, and to realize a living person.
Rodin said, "The main thing is to feel, to love and hate, to hope, to moan, to live." To be an artist, we must first start with people." He said to Camille, "I only love you. During his 15-year relationship with Camille, Rodin reached the pinnacle of his creations, and most of his most impressive works were born in those days, so later historians called this period Rodin's Camille period.
When Camille said, "Rodin, let's get married." Rodin said, "It's not like you, and it's not like us. We are noble and free. Camille, who knew that she could only act as Rodin's lover forever, left a rodin's head and left in despair.
She locked herself up in her studio on Bourbon Street, living in isolation all day long, sculpting and smashing all of her work, missing out on major annual exhibitions.
She was disheveled, the people around her were talking about her, she was paranoia, she seemed to have overdrawn all the happiness of her life, and the resentment towards Rodin filled her heart, causing her to jump into the abyss that would never be turned back.
In July 1913, at the behest of her family, Camille was sent to a mental hospital, where she spent a long night alone. During the thirty years of confinement, he was accompanied by only an iron bed and a potty pot, and was finally buried in the Lunatic Asylum Cemetery, with only a series of numbers on the tombstone - 1943-N0392.
Camille's love is like a moth to a fire, she is an offering of genius on the altar of art, to burn herself to illuminate the genius, and to get an ashes-like eternity. Camille herself is a genius, but she ends up depressed in the ruthlessness and indifference of the whole people.
After more than fifty years of waiting, Rodin's fiancée Rose finally married rose, who was 72 years old and died just two weeks later. At the age of 77, Rodin fell ill after Rose's death, and eventually, he was buried with Rose.
Rodin
But he insisted that the Rodin Museum must set aside a part of Camille's works, hoping that her talent would be seen by future generations, which was also a little comfort to Camille.
Camille's work
Love burns life, burns art to the peak, and also makes people fall into dust. Perhaps the world laughs at Camille's low-to-dust love, without the strategy of retreating from the whole body and living proudly, but in true love, who has reason? Of course, in this love tragedy that left mankind with brilliant sighs and sighs, she at least bloomed...