Rodin Works: the thought, Farewell |
Whereas the 'The Thinker' is characterized by a strained posture, 'The Thought' rather shows a mental process that has been detached from the coercive forces of the material world. The head is isolated from the rest of the body, as if to represent the topos of free-floating thought. The Breton bonnet, symbolizes a kind of thinking cap, shields the head from outside disturbance. An early terracotta version is exhibited in Leipzig. The marble version was executed in 1893/95. Rodin entrusted his practician Victor Peter with the carving - like he mostly assigned his assisstants with the translation of his works into marble. Later, Peter told the story that Rodin, supervising his progress, at a certain moment stopped any further editing by saying: "Don't do anything more, leave it like that!" And so the delicately sculptured head of the bust remained, from the chin downwards, joined to an untreated, raw and massive block. The same proceeding was chosen for the 'Bust of the Duchesse de Choiseul': Rodin stopped the working on this bust before the hair was finished so that a helmet-like formation emerges from the rough-hewn block. Critical voices claimed Rodin's decision
to let Camille's head directly evolve from the pedestal might have served
to conceal her somewhat floating chin line. By that year, the passionate relationship between
Rodin and Camille had passed its highest point already.
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