H. de Roos - What is an original Rodin? |
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The quoted text already illuminates one major problem when we try to define the original in Rodinīs work: An "original" work of art is "one which has never been done before", writes Chatelain. At the symposium, Dr Schaff referred to descriptions like "unique" or "one of a kind". But, as also pointed out by Alexandra Parigoris at the Toronto symposium, every object we meet in our life is in a certain sense "unique" and "never done before", for the simple fact it distinguishes itself, in the specific time of its existence and the specific space it occupies, from all other objects. In the case of Rodin, this insight gains art-historical significance, for even his clay models, that I referred to till now as the original, often are compound objects, parts of long series of studies and variations and, in many cases, themselves a result of multiplication procedures. Before a single clay model was selected to be cast in plaster and subsequently translated into marble or bronze, Rodin developed a whole set of variations and generations, in clay and in plaster, all having the status of "originals". At the other end of the chain, Rodin often supervised the carving and the casting closely and reserved the right to reject pieces that were not correctly executed, as described already. So with the recognition of the unique creative faculty
of the master artist and the notion he never repeats himself but adds
artistic quality to every item he touches, we indeed come "to the
point where any work realized by the artist himself is an original
work" and "any reproduction of an artistīs work made by someone
else, no matter what the process might be, is without real artistic
value", as Chatelain writes in the paragraph quoted in italics.
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