Auguste Rodin and Antoine Bourdelle, two titans of sculpture finally brought together in a striking face-to-face encounter. Rodin, an emblematic figure of modern sculpture, and Bourdelle, his student and collaborator for fifteen years, share a common passion for marble and the aesthetic of the unfinished. This reciprocal fascination manifests itself forcefully in works like Eve at the Rock, awakening the imprint of Rodin under the virtuoso gesture of Bourdelle. Together, the two masters invite us to discover the multiple facets of the material, as if each sculpture were a fragment of their soul, polished and cut to perfection. Through more than one hundred and sixty works, this exhibition sculpts the contours of a relationship oscillating between fraternity and antagonism, shedding new light on the admiration and mutual influence of the two artists. We see how Bourdelle, with his skillful hands, transcribed Rodin's visions in marble, while cultivating his own plastic language, a language that Rodin himself described as visionary. Here, the fragments of bodies – heads, hands, torsos – reveal a disturbing plastic expressiveness, Rodin's The Hand of God touching Bourdelle's The Desperate Hand in an intoxicating dance. From the detail to the monumental, the confrontation between the Porte de l'Enfer and the Monument à Balzac finds its counterpoint in the architectural works of Bourdelle such as the facade of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Here, the vital exuberance of Rodin meets the architectonic mastery of Bourdelle, creating a fascinating visual dialogue. If the legacy of Rodin is perpetuated in the sculptures of Bourdelle, we discover through the figure of the standing man, how Matisse, Richier or Giacometti, in turn followed in the footsteps of their predecessors while tracing their own path .

BOURDELLE MUSEUM
From October 2, 2024 to February 2, 2025
18 rue Antoine Bourdelle, 75015 - M° Montparnasse-Bienvenüe (4/6/12/13)
Tue-Sun 10am-6pm, closed Mon.
Price: €10 - TR: €8 - Free under 18s