Professional Documents
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Rilke's Rodin
Author(s): William Gass
Source: The Georgia Review, Vol. 58, No. 1 (SPRING 2004), pp. 9-31
Published by: Georgia Review
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41402379
Accessed: 27-02-2016 13:52 UTC
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William
Rilke's
Gass
Rodin
[9]
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WILLIAM GASS
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WILLIAM GASS
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WILLIAM GASS
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WILLIAM GASS
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Rodins lifeof quarrelsomeness,deceit,and sensual indulgenceand his conbetweenthe studios dustyphysicalsumingartisticdedication;the difference
ityand its apparentproduct abundantbeautyand grace arisingout of clay,
marbles serene cool glistenlike lightin a waterglass, loftyideals caught in
castsofplaster- thesemilitantcontrastsgoverneveryline ofthepoets essays,
where Rilke enlistsawe to ward offconsternation,just as theycontrolevery
surfaceofthe artistssculptures,includingtheversionofthe Balzac memorial
thatdepictsthe novelistwithan erection.AfterGeorge BernardShaw sat for
his bust by Rodin, he wrotethat"The most picturesquedetail of his method
was his takinga big draughtof waterinto his mouth and spittingit onto the
clayto keep it constantlypliable.Absorbedin his work,he did not alwaysaim
well and soaked myclothes."12
On RilkesnextvisitRodin held class. Aftera lunchwhichresembledthe
but menu,theysat on a bench thathad a fineview of Paris
firstin everything
whileRodin spoke ofhis workand itsprinciples.Rilkehas to runafterRodins
rapidFrenchas thoughfora departingbus. The sculptors workis manual like
thatof a carpenteror mason and produces an object unlikethe memos of an
officemanager;consequently,to the young,the callinghas lost its attraction.
"
but"ilfaut travailler
; rienque travailler
Theydont careto gettheirhands dirty,
he likesto repeat.In fact,Rodin did littleifany carving(or weldingeither,of
course),althoughitis said thathe likedto greetpeople at thedoor head to toe
withdust and fistinga chisel. His bronzes were cast, his marblescarved,by
workershe rarelysaw.13Henri Leboss enlargedthe sculptorsplastermodels
Rodin complainsthatthe
to thedimensionsproperfora public monument.14
schools teach "thekids nowadays"to compose- to emphasizecontourrather
thanto model and shape surfaces."Ce nestpas laformede Ibbject, mais: le model. . . "15 Rodins hands werehis principaltools,and withthemhe plopped
lines
and punchedand gougedand smoothed,makingbothcurvesand straight
from
blocks
to
torsos
and
into
torsos
flow
to
shoulders
emerge
wavy,allowing
(even when theyhadn't),encouragingelbows to establishtheirown identity,
his fingerseverywherebusyat fosteringtheimpressionoflife,givingstrength
and will to plaster,etherealityand spiritto stone.
Not to everybody'staste.Rodins hopes forhis workwere revolutionary
and, at first,fewsharedthem.Loversof the antique saw in the figureof Aphroditethe embodimentof Love. She was a god of mythologyand therefore
neverexisted,so she could onlybe regardedas ideal. Her thighswereto be as
smoothas a peeled stick,thoughfleshierand amplycurved.Since,like Ham-
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WILLIAM GASS
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WILLIAM GASS
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WILLIAM GASS
23
Remember
now,myLove,whatpiteousthing
We sawon a summersgraciousday:
Bytheroadsidea hideouscarrion,quivering
On a cleanbed ofpebblyclay,
Herlegsflexedin theairlikea courtesan,
venomously,
Burningand sweating
Calmlyexposeditsbelly,ironicandwan,
Clamorouswithfoulecstasy.
Rilke's animism is poetical, of course, but is also, in its way, religious, for it requires respect for all things equal to the respect we tend
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WILLIAM GASS
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WILLIAM GASS
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WILLIAM GASS
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WILLIAM GASS
3I
inRilke
andFrance:
A Study
inPoetic
Oxford
(London:
by.A.J.Batterby
Development
University
Press,
1966).
13R.H.Wilenski,
TheMeaning
Beacon
Press,
(Boston:
1961),
25.
ofModern
Sculpture
14SeeAlbert
Perfect
HenriLeboss,"
inRodin
Rediscovered
Elsen,"Rodin's
Collaborator,
, ed.
Albert
Elsen(Washington,
DC:National
ofArt,
1981),
249-59.
Gallery
Letter
toClaraRilke,
Letters
,84.
5,1902,
September
Elsen,
32.
Elsen,
103.
Wilenski,
23,illus.ib.
ElieFaure,
trans.
Walter
Pach(NewYork:
andBros.,
Art,
1924),
Harper
History
ofArt-Modern
402-3.
bitfrom
Lestweforget
Mrs.Fuller
stalent,
herskill
with
here
isajuicy
Cocteau:
illusion,
namely
whodiscovered
thedanceofherage?AfatAmerican,
"Isitpossible
... toforget
that
woman
bespecshemanipulates
waves
offloating
tacled
andquiteugly,
ona hanging
platform,
gauzewith
standing
a protean
orchid
likea hornet
ina flower,
churns
aboutherself
andsomber,
active,
invisible,
poles,
s
andmaterial
that
oflight
rises,
turns,
floats,
swirls,
flares,
roars,
shapelikeclayina potter
changes
PorSouvenir
ofthetorch
andheaddress."
twisted
intheairunder
theemblem
Cocteau,
hands,
Jean
81.
traits
Browner
House,
,trans.
1990),
Jesse
(NewYork:
Paragon
Descharnes
andChabrun,
216.
Letter
toAuguste
Rodin,
11,1902,
87-88.
op.cit.,
September
tothelittle
refers
Letters
Letter
toClaraRilke,
, 90.Rilke
27,1902,
tiger
againina
September
128.
letter
toLouAndreas
Salom,
15,1903,
August
New
Works:
Rainer
MariaRilke-Selected
ed.andtrans.,
(NewYork:
J.B.Leishman,
Poetry
Rilke
H. Gass,Reading
William
arefrom
(NewYork:
Directions,
i960),, 178.Thesetranslations
Alfred
Knopf,
1999).
25Allen
and
TheFlowers
Baudelaire's
inCharles
wonderful
translation
Tate's
ofEvileds.Marthiel
CT:NewDirections,
Matthews
1955),
38.
(Norfolk,
Jackson
Letters
ofJuly
Letter
,112-15.
18,1903,
YaleUniversity
TheShape
Butler
sRodin:
from
Ruth
Press,
Somedetails
(NewHaven:
ofGenius
1993)Freedman,
242.
233,
andGirStraus
onArtandArtists
Leonardos
Farrar,
(NewYork:
Fenton,
James
Essays
Nephew:
anded.Charles
Kessler
TheDiaries
inLights:
Berlin
,trans,
; 1918-1937
oux,1998),
171.
Harry
ofCount
thisquote
anddoesnotcontain
ofthediaries
Grove
Kessler
Press,
1999)isanabridgment
(NewYork:
edition.
orinthecorresponding
foritthere
hunt
sodon't
English
Coburn:
Alvin
from
ofthismeeting
Details
Butler,
390,andthequotefrom
PhotograLangdon
22.
DoverPublications,
AnAutobiography
1978),
(NewYork:
pher,
in
"Rodin
andPhotography"
tothisartseeKirkVarnedoes
article,
ForRodins
relationship
Rodin
Rediscovered,
203-48.
126.
Quoted
byElsen,
390-91.
Quoted
byButler,
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