January at paulcarvill.com, the home of Paul Carvill on the web 2007 at paulcarvill.com, the home of Paul Carvill on the web

I went to see the Rodin exhibition at the Royal Academy recently. I have to admit I knew absolutely nothing about Rodin prior to going. For this reason the explanatory texts throughout the gallery rooms proved informative and indispensible in placing the sculptor in a wider context, that of the swirling art world of Delacroix and Duchamp.

Time and again we learn that Rodin revolutionized the sculptural art form, although I found this hard to confirm with no knowledge of the genre up to that point. At this risk of asking to be spoon-fed I wonder if the RA could have provided a short introductory history up to the point of the artist’s emergence.

But looking at the works here it’s immediately apparent that here was a man in thrall to the human body. Everything is smooth and fluid and balanced, every physique perfect and perfectly realised. To think of the amount of time the artist would have spent looking at his subject, admiring it, understanding it, is to share with him in some small way an obsession. An obsession with perfection, of the utter beauty of the human form.

Moving through the galleries this thought came to me again and again, as the sculptures and their various permutations became a series of repetitions on a theme. Rodin made many, many prototypes, sketches, tests and alternate versions of everything he worked on. Casts were reused for multiple works, the subject being revolved, flipped, enlarged or combined with other elements to create something new. Over the years he must have come to know every face and body he worked with as well as his own.

The presentation and setting of each piece brings out the best in nearly all of them – the lighting in particular was set up very well, highlighting the curvature of muscles and sinews, every details picked out to dramatic effect. The Thinker, especially, benefits from a grand setting all of its own in a circular gallery on a raised pedastal, where you can circle it entirely.

The show is fleshed out with photographs and a multitude of sketches by the artist, some fully realised diagrams, others nothng more than doodles on the back of envelopes or newspapers! In addition I would have liked to have seen more on the actual manufacturing process of creating the sculptures – how they were modelled, sculpted and cast, but perhaps that belongs in another exhibit.

The only disappointment was that the “Gates of Hell”, the huge 6 metre high structure created for , was completely unlit. It stands in the courtyard of the RA. It is made of dark bronze. As we know, England in the winter months gets dark at 4pm. After that time it is rendered almost completely indiscernable. Even the key, standing nearby and identifiying the various sections, is unlit.

But this is a small drawback in what is otherwise a captivating show, one that has inspired me to go on and seek other sculptural displays. First stop, I think, is the Chola exhibit of southenr Indian bronze sculptures also showing at the Royal Academy until February.