Auguste Rodin Biography and Works.

Born on November 12, 1840 to Jean-Baptiste Rodin and Marie Cheffer, François-Auguste-René Rodin was somewhat shy and his very nearsighted nature proved a hindrance in his early academic work.

Rodin took serious interest in drawing and had his first drawing lesson when he was ten years old. His father tried to help him academically by sending him to his uncle’s boarding school in Beauvais in 1851. Rodin remained there for three years but still faced difficulty in reading and writing.

He completely devoted himself to drawing early on and enrolled at the École Impériale de Dessin, a government school for craft and design or ‘Small School’ to distinguish itself from the more prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, or ‘School of Fine Arts’. Rodin kept himself busy, attending classes at La Petite École. He also visited museums to study antique sculpture and attended the Gobelins tapestry manufactory.

During these early years, he also found himself to be a very capable and promising sculptor. He was awarded two prizes for drawing and modelling at the age of seventeen. However, Rodin was unable to gain admittance to the conservative École des Beaux-Arts, which rejected him thrice.

He breathed his last on November 17, 1917.

Trivia

Rodin met his lifetime companion, Rose Beuret, while working on a decorative commission. Beuret became his model and mistress. She remained completely devoted to him throughout her life. She gave birth to their son in 1866, although Rodin did not legally acknowledge paternity.