PHILADELPHIA —  Auguste Rodin:  The Human Experience, Selections from the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Collections opens on Saturday, August 17 at the Arthur Ross Gallery at the University of Pennsylvania. This exhibition of 20 exceptional bronzes has been organized and is made possible with the assistance of the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation.

The Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation has organized more than 12 exhibitions on Rodin that have been seen by more than ten million people in Australia, Canada, Japan, and the United States. More than 500 works from the Cantor Collections have been given to 90 museums, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. An additional Rodin bronze, Jean d’Aire, is lent from the University of Pennsylvania Art Collection.

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) is recognized as one of the greatest sculptors since Michelangelo. His pioneering work deconstructed the body as fragments, or partial figures that reveal human vitality, pathos, and beauty. His impressionistic modeling, sensuality, and modernist approach to public sculpture brought him both scandal and success. His many public commissions, such as The Burghers of Calais (1884-1886), broke all 19th-century French academic traditions.

Auguste Rodin: The Human Experience continues the 30th Anniversary Celebration at the Arthur Ross Gallery. The Gallery was the inspiration of Mr. Arthur Ross and Penn President Emeritus Martin Meyerson, who established the Arthur Ross Gallery in 1983 on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania for the benefit of the Philadelphia and University communities. The Gallery presents four exhibitions a year of art and artifacts from around the world.  It is free and open to the public six days a week.

RELATED PROGRAMS

All programs are free to Friends of the Arthur Ross Gallery and Penn students, faculty, and staff with Penn card.

Friday, September 6 at 5:00 p.m.

Gallery Talk by Judith Sobol

Executive Director, Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Wednesday, October 2, 2013 at 5:00 p.m.

Concert by Dolce Suono Ensemble

Mimi Stillman, flute

Allen Krantz, guitar

A performance of music by Mozart, Piazzolla, Fauré, and Daniel Dorff. Dorff is a Philadelphia-based composer who will introduce his "Serenade to Eve: After Rodin."

Wednesday, October 16 at 5:00 p.m.

Film Screening of Camille Claudel

The life of French sculptor Camille Claudel and her long relationship with legendary sculptor Auguste Rodin are portrayed in this passionate biographical drama, featuring acclaimed performances by Isabelle Adjani and Gérard Depardieu, directed by Bruno Nuytten (1988).

Friday, November 8, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Symposium on Auguste Rodin

Call 215-898-3617 for more information.

The exhibition runs through Sunday, Dec. 22.

Additional support for Auguste Rodin is provided by Mrs. Arthur Ross, Mr. George Gillespie, the Arthur Ross Exhibition Fund, the Patron’s Circle of the Arthur Ross Gallery, the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the University of Pennsylvania Art Collection.

The Gallery is located at 220 South 34th Street, Philadelphia, and is free and open to the public. 

HOURS: Weekdays 10:00am – 5:00pm; Weekends 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm Closed Mondays. Visit us on Facebook and Twitter.

To reserve a group tour please contact us at arg@pobox.upenn.edu or 215-898-3617. 

Additional information is available at www.upenn.edu/ARG or 215-898-2083.