Laurel museum opens Rodin exhibit
By By Penny Randall / staff writer
March 7, 2003
LAUREL In celebration of its 80th anniversary, The Lauren Rogers Museum of Art opens a year-long exhibit today of sculpture by noted artist Auguste Rodin.
The exhibition opens with an introductory lecture by Ilene Susan Fort, curator of American Art for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, at 5:30 p.m. today.
Fort's lecture, free and open to the public, will be in the museum's American Gallery.
Rodin, who lived from 1840 to 1917, is one of the best-known and most influential sculptors of the modern era. In his own lifetime, his Parisian contemporaries considered him the world's greatest living artist.
His humble beginnings prevented him from studying at the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He instead trained at a government school for craft and design and in a tapestry manufacturer, where he studied drawing.
Rodin's exploration and use of the fragment revolutionized figurative sculpture. He considered sketch-like, improvisational, roughly finished works of art to be finished works. Polish and perfection were not his goal; expression and emotion were his aim.
Rodin was well-known, widely admired and financially successful.
Before his death, the sculptor donated his entire estate, including his home, to the French government so that his legacy could be preserved for generations to come.
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor built the largest private collection of Rodin's work outside of the Musee Rodin in Paris and the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia.
The collection traces its origins to 1945, when B. Gerald Cantor, one of the founders of Cantor Fitzgerald, discovered a passion for Rodin while visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Within 18 months he had purchased his first Rodin, a small bronze entitled "The Hand of God."
Also opening today is an exhibit of watercolor paintings titled "One Hundred Thirty-Fifth International Exhibition: American Watercolor Society."
This exhibit will remain in the lower-level galleries at the museum through March 30.
EVENTS THIS WEEKEND
Friday
5:30 p.m. Opening of "Rodin: Selected Sculptures from the Iris &B. Gerald Cantor Foundation" at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art. For information, call (601) 649-6374 or visit www.lrma.org. The museum is at Fifth Avenue and Seventh Street in Laurel.
7 a.m.-7 p.m. Meridian Masonic Center's Relay for Life "Pancake Day," 2300 11th St. The price is $4. Dine in or carry out; orders of 10 or more can be delivered. Call 693-1465.
Saturday
4 p.m. Marvin Weir and Jimmy Roundtree host a Country and Western Show at the Collinsville Community Center, Highway 19 North in Collinsville. A pot luck supper begins at 5 p.m. All area musicians are invited to join. The public is invited to attend; bring your favorite dish.
