On a recent visit to Paris, I was lucky enough to catch the beginning of ‘A Dream of Egypt’ at the Rodin Museum. As someone who primarily thinks as a sculptor, this pilgrimage is necessary for me to reconnect with the power and restraint demonstrated through form, matter and sensuality, which defines a centre of gravity with the broader world. So, it was serendipity that I should be there to coincide with the opening of a show that explores Rodin’s passion for Egypt and its influence on his work.
I have to confess that I hadn’t realised how much Egypt influenced Rodin, especially in his later life. The exhibition brings together many artefacts that Rodin collected, everything from textile samples to small carvings of animals or people to stone fragments of deities. The collection feels like the artist hungering for these objects to live with and be surrounded by at all times. The first work of Rodin’s that sparked my attention, and I felt I could see his mind exploring the qualities of line and form, was a series of graphite and watercolour drawings from the 1890s. Sensitive, questioning and evoking the limited sources Rodin had access to, at this time, his library consisted of only a few donated photographs, drawings and engravings.
The exhibition is condensed and benefits from the intensity of the relations between objects that are separated by time, culture and geography. Still, all speak to us of the universal and eternal. A figure squashed with arms outstretched while a tiny figure kneels adjacent, looking up in adoration. Heads abound, the portrait of Balzac, dismembered and bubbling, sitting with a collection of regal busts. Sculptural studies create the language of Rodin’s visions. The more interconnections come to us, the more time we spend in the presence of all these objects. What interested me was how the show made me feel like I had an insight into Rodin’s mind unlocking his inspiration and passion for the art of Egypt. His attention to these artefacts also paid homage to something that went beyond and opened gateways for his practice.
