It’s not every day that students can take a break from studying to see work by one of history’s finest sculptors.
The Arthur Ross Gallery — located in the Fisher Fine Arts Library — is holding a symposium on renowned 19th century French sculptor Auguste Rodin today at 1 p.m. The symposium will be the last program held in the gallery during its current exhibition of works by Rodin. The exhibition, which opened in August of this year and charges no admission fee, will run through December 22 for six days a week.
“Auguste Rodin was perhaps the most significant sculptor since Michelangelo,” said Lynn Marsden-Atlass, director of the Arthur Ross Gallery and one of the main figures responsible for bringing the Rodin collection to Penn.
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Rodin was known for his focus on capturing motion in his sculptures and deconstructing forms of the human body. Some of his most famous pieces include “The Thinker” and “The Burghers of Calais.”
The exhibition consists of 21 original bronze-casted statues of varying sizes, and visitors can use their smartphones to access an audio tour of the gallery.
Twenty of the pieces were lent to the gallery by the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation or by Iris Cantor herself, whom Marsden-Atlass knows personally. “This was one of the last opportunities to get Auguste Rodin at Penn, and we snatched it,” Marsden-Atlass said. The 21st statue, “Jean D’Aire,” is owned by the Penn Art Collection.
Marsden-Atlass hopes to continue attracting students to the gallery, encouraging “everyone to pop in, after a visit to the Fisher Fine Arts Library or between classes.”
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She explained that the gallery’s relatively small size means that students can spend as much or as little time as they like there, while still having access to world-class pieces of art.
From 1 to 3 p.m. on weekends, trained Penn students also act as docents to guide visitors through the exhibition.
Today’s symposium will consist of three talks, and prospective attendees are invited to come at either 2 or 3 p.m. if they cannot make the whole event. While the entrance fee is $25 for most visitors, students with a Penn I.D. can get in for free. The symposium will be moderated by Marsden-Atlass as well as assistant professor of art history Andre Dombrowski.
The first talk will be given by Juliet Bellow — a former Penn graduate student and current assistant professor at American University — on the relationship between dance and Rodin’s sculpting.
Linda Kim, an assistant professor from Drexel University, will discuss the female artists of Rodin’s studio, including Camille Claudel — a lover and inspiration to the artist as well as a renowned sculptor herself.
Lastly, Jennifer Thompson, associate curator of the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, will deliver a talk on the origins of her own museum’s extensive collections and how they came to Philadelphia.
While the symposium will be the final program for this exhibition, Marsden-Atlass, Thompson and Dombrowski will also be hosting a Classes Without Quizzes program on Rodin at the gallery this Saturday as part of Homecoming Weekend.
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