By Tori, Noah, and Amanda
Auguste Rodin was a famous French sculptor. He is considered the father of modern sculpture and was noted for using unorthodox methods to his sculpting, such as using every day people as models and leaving his works with rough surfaces, unlike most other sculptors at the time. On Friday we went to see his works at the Rodin Museum. It was a small museum on the outside, but the inside was full of Rodin’s work. The Rodin Museum was given to Philadelphia as a gift from movie theater magnate John Mastbaum in 1929. Mastbaum, a big fan of Rodin’s work, started collecting over the course of 3 years and soon had the largest collection of Rodin pieces besides those in Paris. As we walked into the museum, we first saw a large sculpture of a man, called The Thinker, one of Rodin’s most famous works. As we made our way inside, our lovely tour guide Carol showed us many interesting pieces and explained the meaning behind them. My favorite piece was the Gates of Hell. We ate lunch outside of the Gates of Hell. Despite being Hell, it was pretty chilly outside. Here are some of Rodin’s notable pieces:
Next, we went to The Barnes Foundation. The Barnes Foundation is the art collection of Albert C. Barnes, a Philly chemist who collected countless works of art over his life. He not only collected paintings, but also sculptures, furniture, and metal work. Each exhibit was carefully designed so that it replicated Barnes’ original vision of how each work of art would look best together, right down to the 1/16th inch. The art was mostly impressionist, post-impressionist, and modern pieces, ranging from Picasso to Matisse to Van Gogh. Unfortunately, pictures are not allowed inside the galleries, but below are some pictures of some of the more notable pieces.
The Barnes was amazing. All of the art from countless famous artists was incredible to see, and it was kind of hard to take it all in. With over 2,500 objects, it was tricky to try to appreciate every work of art, but if you knew who your favorites were going into the galleries, it was easier to admire the works you liked a lot. I would love to go back again to try to carefully look at and admire each piece. Some of our favorites were the Van Goghs, like the one pictured above, and the Picassos. Tori also liked the different African Masks Displayed. Amanda liked the works of Paul Cézanne the most.
