Although my European journey was cut short and most of what I intended to do and see was left undone and unseen, I WAS able to make it to the Musée Rodin in Paris.
Auguste Rodin is my favorite sculptor. I had studied him in grad school and always love experiencing his work at the Art Institute of Chicago. I also recently read Naked Came I, the bestselling 1963 novel by David Weiss based on Rodin’s life, which gave me some insight into the artist’s relationships, especially that with Camille Claudel.
The museum was easy to walk to and affordable. Housed in an 18th-century mansion that Rodin used as his workshop, it has been a public museum since 1919. The museum has undergone recent renovations and everything is beautifully arranged. The grounds and gardens are peaceful and pretty.
I decided to do the museum slowly and meditatively. (Still getting over bronchitis, I welcomed the slow pace.) I began my tour armed with the museum’s audio guide and Rick Steves’ guided tour in his Paris guidebook. It was a pleasurable journey, an afternoon of extreme beauty. I was inspired by the expressive power of the human body as interpreted by Rodin and left feeling enlivened.
