Rodin’s Partiality: Fragmentary Bodies and the Gendering of Sculpture

Auguste Rodin inaugurated modern sculpture by leaving his visible mark on the figures he created and, by his use of fragmentation and the partial figure, pointing viewers back to the sculptural process. David Getsy of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago will discuss the ways in which Rodin’s practice was informed by gender, and how he fashioned the persona of the modern sculptor. Rodin’s contradictory role as maker of frank images of the female body and supporter of women artists will be used as a lens to examine his impact on modern sculpture and the place of the fragmentary figure today.