Biography of Auguste Rodin

Chronology

• 1840

  François-Auguste Rodin born 12 November at 3 rue de l'Arbalète, Paris. Son of Jean-Baptiste Rodin, a clerk in the police force, and Marie Cheffer

• 1854

  Enters the Petite École, Paris (Special School for Design and Mathematics). Pupil of Lecoq Le Boisbaudran

• 1855

  Begins modelling in clay

• 1857

  Leaves the Petite Ecole

• 1858

  Fails the entrance examinations of the Grande École (School of Fine Arts) three times. Works as a statuary mason in Paris

• 1862

  Rodin's sister, Marie-Louise, dies. Rodin enters the religious order of the Pères du Très Saint-Sacrement

• 1863

  Leaves the religious order

• 1864

  Attends a course given by Antoine Louis Barye (1796–1875), sculptor who specialises in bronze figures of animals. Makes his first attempt to exhibit at the Paris Salon, the official exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. The ‘Head of a Man with a Broken Nose’ is refused

• 1864-70

  Works in the studios of Albert Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, maker of decorative sculpture and later Director of the Artistic Department of the National Porcelain Factory at Sèvres (from 1875)

• 1866

  Rose Beuret, Rodin's mistress, gives birth to their only child, Auguste-Eugène Beuret

• 1870

  Rodin enrols in the 158th Regiment of the National Guard at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War

• 1871

  Invalided out of the army due to short sightedness. Moves to Brussels to work with Carrier-Belleuse on the Brussels Stock Exchange

• 1872

  Rose Beuret joins Rodin in Brussels

• 1873

  Rodin signs a contact 12 February to work in partnership with Antoine-Joseph van Rasbourg for 20 years. The partnership was dissolved in 1877

• 1874

  Rodin and van Rasbourg move to Antwerp to work on a monument to J. F. Loos, a former burgomaster (chief town magistrate)

• 1875

  Rodin tours Italy, visiting Turin, Genoa, Florence, Rome and Naples. Begins work on The Age of Bronze

• 1876

  Studies Michelangelo in Florence

• 1877

  A plaster version of The Age of Bronze (then called The Vanquished) first shown in Brussels and then at the Paris Salon. Rodin is accused and later cleared of taking casts from the living model, Auguste Neyt. Returns to Paris with Rose Beuret. Sends an unsuccessful entry for the competition for a monument to Lord Byron, to be erected in Hyde Park. London. Produces St John the Baptist

• 1877-8

  Works on decorative projects in Marseilles and Nice

• 1879-82

  Works intermittently for Carrier-Belleuse at Sèvres

• 1880

  The French State buys a bronze cast of The Age of Bronze. Rodin is commissioned by Edmund Tourquet, Under-Secretary for Fine Arts, to design a pair of doors for the proposed Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris (based on similar lines to the South Kensington Museum, now the V&A). Given a studio at the Dépot de Marbres. The doors, which were never completed, were intended to be cast in bronze and became known as The Gates of Hell. Rodin worked on the doors for the rest of his life, and many of the themes he developed originated in this work

• 1881

  First visit to England. Stays with the French artist Alphonse Legros, Professor of Fine Art at the Slade School, who teaches Rodin drypoint etching. Renews his acquaintance with the French sculptor Jules-Aimé Dalou. Meets W.E. Henley and Robert Louis Stevenson

• 1882-3

  Meets Camille Claudel, his pupil, studio assistant and mistress until about 1898

• 1884

  The Calais Municipality commissions a monument to Eustache de Saint Pierre, one of the six citizens of Calais who in 1347 offered their lives to the English. Rodin's final monument, The Burghers of Calais, shows all six

• 1886

  Commissioned to make a monument to the French writer Victor Hugo to be sited in the Panthéon

• 1887

  Is made Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, the premier order of France

• 1889

  Monument to the French painter Jules Bastien-Lepage is unveiled. Rodin and Claude Monet hold a joint exhibition at the Galerie Georges Petit, where Rodin exhibits the figure group for The Burghers of Calais with several other important works. Government commissions a large marble version of The Kiss

• 1890

  Model for Victor Hugo monument is refused

• 1891

  The Society of Writers commissions Rodin to design a monument to the French writer Honoré de Balzac, and accepts his proposal

• 1892

  Rodin is made Officer of the Légion d'honneur

• 1893

  Succeeds Jules-Aimé Dalou as President of the Sculpture Section of the Société des Beaux-Arts

• 1895

  The Burghers of Calais monument is finally erected in Calais

• 1896

  Exhibits at the Musée Rath, Geneva

• 1898

  Rodin moves to the Villa des Brillants at Meudon. Completes the monument to Honoré de Balzac. Exhibits a plaster version at the 1898 Salon of the National Artists Society. Furore erupts and the Society refuses to accept Rodin's monument. The commission is then given to the sculptor Alexandre Falguière. A version of Rodin's monument was cast in bronze only after his death

• 1899

  Exhibits in Belgium and Holland. Commission for a monument to the French painter Puvis de Chavannes

• 1900

  First retrospective exhibition at the Place d'Alma in a specially built pavilion, as part of the Exposition Universelle. It is a huge success

• 1901

  Exhibits at the Venice Biennale and the Third Berlin Secession

• 1902

  Travels to Prague. A bronze cast of St John the Baptist is bought by public subscription and presented to the V&A. Rodin is guest of honour at a dinner at the Café Royal, London, to mark this event

• 1903

  Made Commander of the Légion d'honneur. Succeeds James McNeill Whistler as the President of the international Association of Painters, Sculptors and Engravers

• 1904

  Begins relationship with Gwen John, artist and sister of Augustus John. Meets Claire Coudert, Duchesse de Choiseul, an American who introduces Rodin's work to American society

• 1905

  Rainer Maria Rilke, the German writer and poet, becomes Rodin's secretary

• 1906

  Tours Spain with Rilke and the Spanish Basque painter Ignacio Zuloaga, visiting Madrid, Toledo, Cordoba and Seville

• 1907

  Is awarded an honorary doctorate from Oxford University. Is present as the bust of the poet W.E. Henley is placed in St Paul's Cathedral, London

• 1908

  Edward VII visits Rodin at his studio at Meudon. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, acquires a large collection of Rodin's work. Rodin moves to the Hôtel Biron, rue de Varenne, Paris

• 1909

  Marble monument to Victor Hugo installed in the gardens of the Palais Royal, Paris

• 1909

  Appointed Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur

• 1911

  Visits London to choose the site for The Burghers of Calais

• 1912

  Visits Italy. Ends his relationship with the Duchesse de Choiseul

• 1913

  The Burghers of Calais is presented to the nation as a gift by The Art Fund. Rodin supervises its siting next to the Houses of Parliament. Camille Claudel placed in an asylum

• 1914

  Exhibits a collection of his work, alongside paintings by major Impressionist artists, at Grosvenor House, London. Travels to the South of France for health reasons. World War I breaks out. Rodin's sculptures are moved to the V&A. Rodin and Rose Beuret move to England. On 8 November 1914 Rodin donates a collection of his work comprising 16 bronzes, one marble and one terracotta to the V&A

• 1914-15

  Goes to Italy with Rose and the dancer Loie Fuller. Works in Rome on a bust of Pope Benedict XV which was not completed

• 1915-17

  Completes the organisation of the gift of his work and copyright to the French Government

• 1916

  The Hôtel Biron, where Rodin had lived and worked for some years becomes the Musée Rodin. He suffers a stroke in July

• 1917

  Marries Rose Beuret 29 January. She dies of pneumonia 14 February. He dies 17 November. Funeral at Meudon 24 November; Eric Maclagan, Curator of Sculpture, attends for the V&A. Memorial Service at St Margaret's, Westminster, London, is organised by the British sculptor John Tweed

• 1926

  Jules Mastbaum orders two bronze casts to be made of The Gates of Hell, one for his museum in Philadelphia and a second for the Musée Rodin

• 1945

  Camille Claudel dies