Danaïd

Let's contiunue our special month with two great artists - the sculptor French Auguste Rodin and the Polish artist Xavery Dunikowski. Their joint exhibition can now be seen in the National Museum in Krakow - you will find more info about it in the link below. 

The female body was on of Rodin’s leading artistic motifs from the beginning of his career.. Female beauty was for him an unfailing source of amorous and aesthetic experiences: “What dazzlement; a woman who disrobes! It is as the sun piercing the clouds! / At first sight the body seen as a whole is a blow, a commotion. / Like an arrow, the eye for a moment surprised, glances off. / In each model, nature is present in its entirety, and the eye that knows how to see discovers and follows it so far!” (Auguste Rodin)

Women’s bodies were a masterpiece he never became weary of, whose two arms and two legs were elements of an infinite grammar of gestures. There was in Rodin a constant—one could say frenetic—urge to search for these bodies. Obviously involving sensual desire, but also a craving to capture a truth that was partly physical and partly spiritual—and which seemed to be possessed by women.

In the primary concept of the author Danaïd was supposed to be one of the elements of the Gates of Hell. However, the figure of the lamenting daughter of Danaus, a figure from Greek mythology, was not included in the final version of the composition. The woman’s charming sensuality makes the sculpture one of the most recognizable works by Rodin.

See you tomorrow!

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