Auguste Rodin

Visual Arts French 1840 – 1917 358 quotes

Father of modern sculpture, The Thinker

Most quoted

"The artist must be a seer, a visionary, a poet, a dreamer, a philosopher, a scientist, a craftsman, a worker, a man of the world, a man of solitude, a man of action, a man of contemplation, a man of passion, a man of reason, a man of faith, a man of doubt, a man of joy, a man of sorrow, a man of life, a man of death."

— from Various writings

"The artist is the confidant of nature, flowers carry on dialogues with him through the graceful bending of their stems and the harmoniously tinted nuances of their blossoms. Every flower has a cordial word which nature directs towards him."

— from Art, 1911

"It is a mistake to think that the art of the Greeks depended on the beauty of the human form. What they sought was the expression of the soul, and this is to be found in the ugliness of a Silenus as well as in the beauty of a Bacchus."

— from Art, 1911

All quotes by Auguste Rodin (358)

The artist must be a master of texture.

Various interviews and writings

The true artist is a man who can make us feel.

Various interviews and writings

The artist must be a master of rhythm.

Various interviews and writings

The work of art must be a testament to life.

Various interviews and writings

The sculptor must understand the human form.

Various interviews and writings

Art is the most powerful form of communication.

Various interviews and writings

The artist must be a master of proportion.

Various interviews and writings

The great artist is a great interpreter.

Various interviews and writings

The artist must be a master of contrast.

Various interviews and writings

The true artist is a man who can make us think.

Various interviews and writings

The artist must be a master of harmony.

Various interviews and writings

The work of art must be a celebration of existence.

Various interviews and writings

The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.

Attributed

The sculptor must learn to reproduce the surface, which means all that vibrates on the surface, the soul, the passion, the love, the life.

Attributed

Art is contemplation. It is the pleasure of the mind which penetrates nature and discovers the spirit with which she herself is animated.

Attributed

The artist who is not a man of his time is nothing.

Attributed

The beautiful is everywhere; it is not the eye that is lacking, but the will to see it.

Attributed

To the artist there is never anything ugly in nature.

Attributed

The artist must have a profound respect for nature.

Attributed

The true artist is one who, in his work, reveals his soul.

Attributed