Sculptural modernities: the Role of Techniques and Materials

In his Curiosités esthétiques from the Salon of 1846, Charles Baudelaire wrote: “Harmony is foundational to color theory. Melody is unity in color, or general color. Melody wants a conclusion; it is a whole in which all the effects contribute to a general effect [...] The best way to know if a painting is melodious is to look at it from far enough away to understand nothing of it, neither the subject, nor the lines”. Drawing upon this musical comparison, the poet’s aesthetic vision both enacts or legitimizes a profound upheaval within the order of classical visual traditions, casting open the gates to future artistic modernities. In short, contrary to the antique historia and the classical storia, art is no longer conceived as a mere vessel for narrative but emerges instead as a pure play of expression and effect.

What about sculpture? Art history, whose narrative is so often anchored to the history of painting, has long struggled to discern this phenomenon. It was only later that certain mechanisms—frequently technical in nature—were identified as indicators of sculptural modernity: the novel use of lost-wax bronze casting, the dismissal of material hierarchies, the revival of direct carving, the valorization of sketches, and more. This movement seems to gain even greater strength as industrialization, burgeoning throughout the 19th century, expands the possibilities for sculpted works to be reproduced. However, this comes at the expense of what some regard as the aura of the artwork: its unique essence, shaped by an irreducible singularity or an expressive intensity. These are precisely the qualities that modern, and later avant-garde, artists increasingly were seeking.

From the diachronic perspective of sculpture’s evolution in the modern and contemporary eras (19th to 21st centuries), this research symposium will seek to take stock of the meaningful connections between the distinctive use of materials and techniques and the construction of sculptural modernity.

Research Committee

• Amélie Simier, Director, Musée Rodin
• Sébastien Clerbois, Professor in Contemporary Art History, Université libre de Bruxelles
• Chloé Ariot, Curator in charge of the sculpture collection, Musée Rodin
• Véronique Mattiussi, Head of the Research Department, Musée Rodin
• Franck Joubin, Researcher and Conference Coordinator, Musée Rodin

Programme

Visuel : Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), La jeune mère, 1885, plâtre, terre crue, métal, H. 55 ; L. 35,5 ; P. 35 cm, Paris, musée Rodin, S.02193 © Agence photographique du musée Rodin - Jérome Manoukian