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L'âge d'airain by Rodin

Artist: Bose, Fanindra Nath, ARSA · 1888-1926

L'âge d'airain by Rodin

Bose was in Paris in the summer of 1911 and executed a number of sketches of sculptures both ancient and more recent. Commenced in Brussels in…

Bose was in Paris in the summer of 1911 and executed a number of sketches of sculptures both ancient and more recent.

Commenced in Brussels in October 1875 Rodin's statue took him 18 months to create and was modelled from the life using a Belgian soldier as his model. It was Rodin's first attempt at a life size bronze figure and caused great controversy when first shown in Belgium in 1877 and again at the Paris Salon later the same year where critics accused him of having cast it from life rather than modelling it from the life as Rodin claimed.

The piece was also notable in capturing a sense of continuous motion which was perceived as revolutionary a the time.

Bose was apparently given an introduction to Rodin whilst in Paris and Rodin took an interest in the work of the young sculptor.

There is no documentary evidence in the Musee Rodin in Paris to support this, but the references to Bose and Rodin existed in Bose's own lifetime and were also highlighted in his official Obituary from the RSA.

Rodin's work would have been familiar to Bose through his training and also from its being exhibited in the RSA Annual Exhibitions.

It is possible that the introduction could have come from Percy Portsmouth RSA, Bose's tutor at the Edinburgh School of Art and latterly at Edinburgh College of Art. Portsmouth's visiting card survives in the Musee Rodin archives.

Interestingly, without apparently being aware of the present sketch, Ratan Parimoo in his short essay 'Fanendrath Bose: The Neglected Expatriate Sculptor' [not dated, on the Asian Art Archive, www.cdna.aaa.org.hk] notes the influence of Rodin on Bose's work for the Maharaja of Baroda and singles out the L'âge d'airain in particular.