Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 8 : Pressclippings, 1977-1981

sculptor gives us the kiss of life The arrival In BrlsbaJe of 28 work• by one of the moat progrets• lve and contra.verslal sculptors of all time, Auguste Rodin, has local art lovers excited. The ezhlbltlOII, wblch bas been bftllllht t.o Australia by -the Peter Stuyvesant o u It u ra I Foundation, opened at the Queensland Art Gallery on Wednesday niaht. Without doubt, It la the JD.Ollt roualng thing to happen In Brl.abane art circles In years. Buch famoua pieces aa The Thinker, The Mllrhty Hand and the Statue of Balac are amona the wora on mow. The Thinker II per• hape the moat widely reproduced acultpure or all time. It has been uaed for · bookenda, lamp baaea, for advertlaementa for physical culture, on uni· veralty portals and even for an electrical appli– ance with a built In "brain." It haa been reproduced ln ever)' Imaginable medium - from clay, etoie, brasa, bro111e, limestone and 10Jd throuah to m~em day .J plaat!CI. I Another or Rodin'• equally 1nf111110ua works. The Klu, waa oonaplc- 1 uoua by Its 11-Dce. 1 . ' Statue . 'l'h1i etatue, whlclj depicts two nalled Jove ln an Intimate embrace, baa becOmO one or the' moat exploited IC\llpturea 1n exlltence. Plcturu or It -have 1 adorned the covers ot oountleu mapzlnel and bookl. Sex manuals and romantic novell alike have traded on lta fam• lllarlty, There was an lmpre1• live roll up or guuta ror the launchlnl Including the Premier, Joh BJellle· Petenen, Mr Jlllllce 'Peter Connon:,, the exec– utive director or the Peter Stuyvesant Olli• tural Foundation Georp Hawllel, B1111'>' and Am• uula Bartlett, Ke'111 and Bel':, Siddell, the archl• teat for the Queensland Oultun·l complex Robin Gllleon, Len Daftnpori from the Arte OouncU and Town Galler:, direc– tor Vedle J-'- othera there Included Buderlm vllltora Jaalr. and Jenny Manton, Grace and Nell DaYIN, John and Karen Mu– oe:,, Fraaela Wllllama. Graci Fr:,er, Queenalalld Art CJallery director Raou1 lllellllh, BeUIDa MIIGAllla:,, YTIIIIIIII BaJ• aom, John and lllarjorie ,Mao.-u, Ba:, and Jo:,ee llar&luNI, hi Clark-Byan, lolm and Karen Muae:,, Paula Cbandler and Jane Whl&eollk. Permlaalon haa been granted for the vllually handicapped to experl• ence· the · exhibition tihrough the sense of touch. Interested groups or lndlvlduall are lnvl-ted to contact the pllery'a education office · to arr&n1e a vlalt, The show continues for six weeks. THE CHRONICLE Wednnday, Ausu•t 29, 1971 Until September 18, art lovers have a rare opportunity to see a major exhibition, "Rodin and his Contemporaries" at the Queensland Arr Gallery, Ann Street, Brisbane. Here arc drawings and sculptures by Rodin himself and 16 works by his contemporaries, such as Picasso, Renoir, llourdelle, Daumier and Maillot. "Head of a Woman" (1905) is the work of Picasso during his period in Paris 1900-1924. ll's almost geometric solidity of form indicates this artis1's progress rewards Cubism. Daumier's bronze, "Ralapoil" (1850) rcflecls lhe humour, realism and lendcncy 1owards caricanirc for which !his artist is nolcd. Renoir's 2 bronzes, " Busl of Paris" and "The Washerwoman" show his affinity with 1hc Classicisls and his trndili nal ou1look. Four piece:. rcprescnl Aris1idc Maillot who was so inspired by ancicnl Greece. He said, " I prefer the s1ill primitive arl of Olympus 10 1ha1 of the Parthenon, it is an arl of synlhcsis, a higher an 1han ours 1oday, which seeks to rcprcsen1 1hc human flesh." His Classical strenglh and pcrfec1ion is seen in " Large Head from 1he Monument 10 1he Dead a1 Perl Vendrcs" 1921-23, (pic– tured). Rodin, himself, sclcclcd Maillol's nude, "Leda" for great praise. Five drawings by Bourdcllc arc on show as well as "Tragic Mask of lkethoven" (1901) and "llce1hovcn with Crova1" (1890). This artist was employed for some lime in Rodin's studio; S1rcngth and simplicily arc evidenl in 1hcsc head sculprurcs. Our las1 opporlunity 10 view some of Rodin's work was in 1976 when, in 1hc Genesis of a Gallery Exhibition Par! I, The Burghers of Calaisex were seen at 1he University Arl Museum, St Lucia. Now we see 28 pieces which range from a statue of Bal1.ac (1897) to dancers of 1910 period. The famous "Thinker" of 1880 is includ- ed. . . . lfodfti \va, born in Paris in 1840 of working class parcnls. I-le spent 1hc nex1 20 years or his life working as an assis1an110 convcn1ional sculp1ors and as a s1onc111ason. I-le still aimed 10 become a sculptor in his own righl, however, and stressed how much he had gained from 1hcsc years as a craflsman. He criticised lhe decline in lhc nppren1iccship sys1em in his day saying, " the decline in apprenliccship i111n1t mntcd the deslruc• 1ion of cruftsmnnship". Rodin's figures 111 1hcir rcflccl ion of violent feel ing and in !heir movement show 1ha1, 10 him, form moves fro111 lhc inside to 1hc surfnee 1oward~ 11-.c spcctu1or. We sen,c forces wi1hin lhc form ilsclf. Thus Rodin rcprescn1~ n milestone in an his1ory and is considered by some as 1hc father of modern scuiplllrc. ·•················