Explore the Exhibition
Browse Selected Works
Browse Selected Works
By the early 20th century, Auguste Rodin (1840 - 1917) was widely regarded as the greatest European sculptor since Michelangelo. Rejecting 19th-century academic traditions that dictated what was "proper" in art, Rodin pursued his own deeply held belief that art should be true to nature. Working in clay, wax, plaster, marble, and bronze with vigorous modeling that emphasized his personal response to his subjects, Rodin explored new ways to express the vitality of the human spirit. He was also one of the first sculptors to embrace the fragment as a complete work of art, capable of conveying the same expressive qualities as a fully-finished figure. With his commitment to the free exploration of form and emotion, Rodin’s work paved the way for the development of 20th-century modernist sculpture.
This special exhibition is organized and made possible by the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, presents 22 of Rodin’s bronze sculptures, which were modeled between 1860 and 1910. The works on view include preparatory studies for some of Rodin’s most important public commissions, such as The Burghers of Calais and The Gates of Hell, as well as portraits of French authors Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac.
A complementary exhibition in the Bellarmine Hall Galleries, Prints from the Age of Rodin, features lithographs and etchings by Rodin’s contemporaries, ranging from views of the urban environment of Paris, to portraits of artists, writers, and thinkers, t o theater playbills and advertisements. Drawn from the museum’s permanent collection, as well as selected items on loan from the Jundt Art Museum of Gonzaga University, the exhibition includes works by Berthe Morisot, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Félix Vallotton that illuminate the rich cultural atmosphere of Paris during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
This exhibition is organized and made possible by the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, with support from the Eichholz Foundation and WSHU.
Browse Selected Works
Browse Selected Works
Learn more about the artists at the DiMenna-Nyselius Library
Thursday, September 12, 5 p.m.
Opening Lecture: Drama from Head to Toe: Rodin and the Making of the Burghers of Calais
Jennifer Thompson, PhD, The Gloria and Jack Drosdick Curator of European Painting & Sculpture and Curator of the John G. Johnson Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art
Quick Center, Wien Experimental Theater
Thursday, September 12, 6-7:30 p.m.
Opening Reception: Rodin: Truth, Form, Life
Quick Center, Walsh Gallery and Lobby
Thursday, October 3, 5 p.m.
Gallery Talk: Prints from the Age of Rodin
Michelle DiMarzo, Curator of Education and Curator of the Exhibition
Bellarmine Hall, Bellarmine Hall Galleries and Great Hall
Thursday, October 3, 6-7:30 p.m.
Opening Reception: Prints from the Age of Rodin
Bellarmine Hall Galleries and Great Hall
Thursday, October 17, 11 a.m.
Art in Focus: Alexandre Lunois, One Night at "Burrero," 1897
With Michelle DiMarzo, Curator of Education and Academic Engagement
Bellarmine Hall, Bellarmine Hall Galleries
Wednesday, October 23, 5 p.m.
Lecture Rodin & Plaster Casts
Martina Droth, Deputy Director of Research and Curator of Sculpture, Yale Center for British Art
Bellarmine Hall, Diffley Board Room
Part of the Edwin L. Weisl, Jr. Lectureships in Art History, funded by the Robert Lehman Foundation
Saturday, October 5, November 16, December 14, 12 noon
Exhibition Tours: Rodin: Truth, Form, Life
Michelle DiMarzo, Curator of Education and Academic Engagement
Walsh Gallery
Tuesday, November 12, 7-9 p.m.
Drawing Party: Rodin’s Birthday
Quick Center, Walsh Gallery
Thursday, November 14, 6 p.m.
Gallery Talk: Sculpting in Bronze
Marc Mellon, sculptor
Quick Center, Walsh Gallery
Tuesday, December 3, 5-7 p.m.
Gallery Talks: Student Presentations
Bellarmine Hall, Bellarmine Hall Galleries
Thursday, December 12, 11 a.m.
Art in Focus: Rodin, Heroic Bust of Victor Hugo, 1890-97 or 1901-2
With Michelle DiMarzo, Curator of Education and Academic Engagement
Quick Center, Walsh Gallery
Walsh Gallery and Bellarmine Hall Galleries Hours:
Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. We are closed for national and university holidays and during inclement weather.
Admission:
The museum is open to the public and admission is free.
Tours:
Private tours with a curator are available for a fee; please contact museum@fairfield.edu or 203-254-4046.
Location:
Walsh Gallery is located in the Quick Center for the Arts on the campus of Fairfield University. For GPS please use the following address: 200 Barlow Road, Fairfield, CT, 06824
Enter through the stone gates of
the University, then turn
right onto McInnes Road. The Quick Center is to your left, and parking is to your right.
Reach Us By Car:
CT Turnpike (I-95) from New York:
Exit 22, left on Round Hill Rd. Follow to second stop sign, turn right on Barlow Rd. Follow 1/2 block to University entrance on left through stone gates. Follow directions above.
CT Turnpike (I-95) from New Haven:
Exit 22, right on North Benson Rd. Follow to first stop light, turn left on Barlow Rd. Follow 1/2 block to University entrance on right through stone gates. Follow directions above.
Merritt Parkway (Rt. 15) from New York:
Exit 44, left at end of ramp, right on Black Rock Tpke. Follow 2 mi., turn right on Stillson Rd (Rt. 135 South). At second light, bear left onto North Benson Rd. At second light, turn right on Barlow Rd. Follow 1/2 block to University entrance on right through stone gates. Follow directions above.
Merritt Parkway (Rt. 15) from New Haven:
Exit 44, at end of ramp make a left. At first light make left onto Black Rock Turnpike. Follow directions above.
Parking:
Free parking available at the lot in front of the Quick Center, including handicap parking.
Reach Us By train:
Take Metro-North, New Haven Line, to Fairfield Station (approximately 70 minutes from Grand Central Station).
www.mta.info/mnr
800-638-7646
For further information or to schedule a visit or tour, please contact
Fairfield University Art Museum
1073 North Benson Road
Fairfield, CT 06824
(203) 254-4046
museum@fairfield.edu
