H. de Roos - The critique of the toronto exhibition


3. THE R.O.M. EXHIBITION WOULD MIX UP STUDIO AND FOUNDRY CASTS (3)

THE DEFINITIONS SUPPLIED BY THE R.O.M. EXHIBITION (2)

Since William Moore´s letter by  was never published by the Toronto Globe and this exhibition text panel explains the status of the exhibited works frankly enough, the critique, foundry and studio plasters would be mixed up "without shame", cannot be maintained.
The fact the inventory list and exhibition labels contain descriptions like "studio or foundry cast" evidently does not imply the curatorial staff did not care to find out their status or even note the difference, but only shows that in a number of cases, this precise status could not be determined. Instead of "shamelessly" mixing up both kinds of plasters, the curatorial team has made due efforts to educate the visitors about the differences between various kinds of plasters, so that in the middle of the exhibition, we find a second panel illuminating the same matter from a slightly different angle:

Rodin´s work method involved the use of three different kinds of plasters.

The first is generally referred to as an "exhibition plaster". These were the completed sculptures Rodin used for exhibitions. Rodin also used his exhibition plasters as guides for orders in bronze and marble.

The second kind of plaster Rodin used was the "reserve plaster ". These were cast from the work Rodin originally executed in clay and provided him with the means to document his process of creation.

The third and final kind of plaster Rodin used is what is called a "foundry plaster ". These are casts which replicate either the exhibition or reserve plasters and provide the first step in the process of translating a sculpture into bronze. The accuracy and detailing of the foundry plasters is essential. This helps to ensure that the finished work captures and conveys with as much fidelity as possible the form, dimensions and nuances the artist intended.

Again, the status of the foundry plasters is frankly declared here. But to determine which individual piece is a studio, a presentation or a foundry cast and if it was derived directly from the bon creux mould or was replicated from a studio cast or even duplicated from this replica, that may in some cases be difficult or in even impossible, even with the expertise of the Musée Rodin:

In the reserve of the Rodin Museum at Meudon are many Rodin sculptures without dates and titles. They lack histories of enlargement or reduction, bronze casting or carving, exhibition or photographic reproduction.

[A. Elsen, When The Sculptures Were White: Rodin´s work in plaster, in Elsen, p. 127]

 

 

 

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