The Hirshhorn Diaries -- 3

"Crouching Woman" by Auguste Rodin, 1881

I am always stunned when reminded the year Rodin died: 1917 (77 years old). His method of expression, as well as the importance of proportionality in his work (even given its slight exaggerations), always has me thinking he were the grandchild of Michaelangelo, and not an artist born more than 300 years later. The fact that there are actual photographs of him blows my mind. I definitely see something 19th century about his subject matter, yet the sinewy action and naked eroticism in much of his work is distinctly modern. For example, in this piece the woman's body is in such a primal position, yet there is that head-turn of a tortured abashment. Her legs spread implying a sexuality that could only exist so explicitly (and, largely, less artistically) in the 21st century.