40 THE ART NEWSPAPER Number 284, November 2016
Conservation International
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37RODIN: ALL IMAGES © AGENCE PHOTOGRAPHIQUE DU MUSÉE RODIN. ALDA MORENO: PAULINE HISBACQ. DANCE MOVEMENT A: JEROME MANOUKIANRodin’s working methods revealed
as his dancers give up their secrets
Scrutiny of clay figures and plaster casts shows how artist reused limbs and torsos
SCULPTURE
London. It is no secret that Auguste
Rodin (1840-1917) was an early advocate
of recycling. One only has to look at
versions of his monumental sculptural
work The Gates of Hell in the collec-
tions of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the
Kunsthaus Zurich and Mexico’s Museo
Soumaya to find some familiar faces
lurking among the 200 figures that
make up the work. The Thinker—one
of the French sculptor’s most recog-
nisable pieces—occupies a prominent
position towards the top of the Gates
of Hell, which Rodin began in 1880 and
returned to on and of until his death.
Simply put, he excelled at fragmenta-
tion, assemblage and variation.
The recent examination of the ter-
racotta figures and plaster casts from
Rodin’s expressive Mouvements de
danse (dance movements) series, which
he began at the age of 70, has shown
how limbs and torsos from two sculp-
tures known as Alpha and Beta were
reused to create figures in positions
that pushed the boundaries of what the
human body could achieve naturally.
The research into the artist’s technical
process for this series, for which no
documentation survives, is a result of
preparations for the exhibition on Rodin
and dance, which opened last month at
the Courtauld Gallery in London (until
22 January 2017). François Blanchetière,
from the Musée Rodin in Paris, co-organ-
ised the show with Alexandra Gerstein,
the Courtauld’s curator of sculpture and
decorative arts.Pressed into moulds
An examination of figures from the
dance movements series in the collec-
tion of the Musée Rodin has revealed
that they were formed from existing
limbs that had been hand-pressed
into moulds; earlier theories had sug-
gested that they were quickly modelled
entirely by hand as models such as the
dancer and acrobat Alda Moreno posed
in front of Rodin.
“They came out of the moulds still
wet, so they could be retouched, assem-
bled and then fired,” Blanchetière says.
In many cases, the seams from the
mould can still be seen on the figures.Tool marks and fingerprints, showing
how Rodin reworked these raw clay
figures, are also visible. Gerstein notes
that the examination further revealed
how Rodin wanted these sculptures
positioned; some had areas of flattened
clay where they had been set down.
A plaster cast known as Assemblage
of Two Figures, called Alpha and Beta
(possibly around 1911), is particularly
interesting from a technical standpoint.
Gerstein explains that as its title suggests,
it is formed of two clay figures (Alpha
and Beta) that were cast, in pieces, in
plaster. The individual plaster body parts
were assembled, using incised marks
as guides, to make these figures. Rodin
then poured plaster slip over the two
sculptures to create the finished
work, a process that illustrates
his expertise at fragmentation
and assemblage in achieving the
desired composition.
Emily Sharpe- Rodin and Dance: the Essence of
Movement, Courtauld Gallery, London (until
22 January 2017) - Hell According to Rodin, Musée Rodin,
Paris (until 22 January 2017)
Above, from left: Rodin’s model Alda
Moreno in Le Nu Académique (1905),
his pencil sketch Standing Nude Holding
Her Right Leg (1903) and Dance
Movement A (1911). Below, Assemblage
of Two Figures, called Alpha and Beta
(around 1911)Opera house
roof gets
special
soundcheck
does not penetrate the concrete and
corrode the internal steel structure.
Leaks can lead to cracks, concrete
loss and even structure failure.
According to Susan Macdonald,
the head of field projects at the
Getty Conservation Institute, it is
often difficult to determine how
well a concrete building is holding
up until it the damage is already
under way. The concealed position
of the concrete, under a layer of
tiles, complicates the problem.
The opera house’s chief execu-
tive, Louise Herron, adds: “The con-
crete elements are in generally very
good condition and we want to keep
it that way.”
Gianluca Ranzi from the Uni-
versity of Sydney says: “The use of
advanced technology [developed as
part of the project] has provided the
basis for the development and pro-
totyping of an efective inspection
strategy applicable to 20th-century
concrete buildings.”
Macdonald praises the Sydney
Opera House staf for making pre-
ventative conservation and the
“maintenance, investigation anddiagnostics” that come with it part
of their day-to-day agenda “instead
of something that happens every
50 years”. She adds: “This is what
we strive for in conservation, and
it’s something we haven’t quite got
to yet with concrete buildings or
Modern buildings generally.
“We want conservation embed-
ded at the core of the asset manage-
ment plan.”
Antoine Wilmering, a senior pro-
gramme oicer at the Getty Foun-
dation, says the opera house “is
leading the field” in its approach to
conservation and that it can serve as
a model for other institutions.
The opera house was the world’s
first major building to use comput-
ers in its construction on such a
scale. Macdonald is pleased that,
with the Getty’s help, this trailblaz-
ing spirit remains at the heart of
the building’s long-term preserva-
tion plan. E.S.It “is leading the
field” in approaches
to conservation