It is bad to repeat oneself. Yet I am anxious to say once more--and my insistence will be understood--that my long friendship and personal admiration for Auguste Rodin and my gratitude for the affectionate regard that he shows me count for nothing here. A study is asked of me, not a panegyric. When I have reckoned up the vast quantity of work, the maker's life, theories, talks, doings, and influence, very little room will be left for compliments. It will be for the reader to think them. Many people who would have had a difficulty in talking of sculpture have found Rodin a convenient subject for literary declamations--too many for me to wish to imitate them. Such a course would be pleasing neither to the artist nor to the public, and would content them no more than it would content me. Precise details about the man, the work, and the iconography; clear explanations of technicalities and ideas--these form all my ambition. The statement of facts will be enough to arouse love and admiration for Rodin; louder than all praises and with a stronger claim speaks the work of thirty years. C. M. [1] "The Art of Rodin," _Revue des Revues,_ Paris, 15th June, 1898; and lecture, 31st July, 1900. CONTENTS PREFACE I. YOUTH AND EARLY WORK OF RODIN--HIS FIRST ATTEMPTS; HIS TIME AT CARRIER'S--HIS STAY IN BRUSSELS AND WORK THERE--"THE AGE OF BRASS" AT THE SALON OF 1877; THE INCIDENT ARISING IN REGARD TO IT--THE "ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST"; BEGINNING OF RODIN'S REPUTATION II. RODIN'S STUDIO--HIS WORKS FROM 1880 TO 1889--"EVE"; SOME BUSTS; THE MONUMENT TO VICTOR HUGO--"THE GATE OF HELL"--"THE DANAID"--THE "THOUGHT"--THE EXHIBITION OF CLAUDE MONET AND RODIN, IN 1889--THE MONUMENT TO CLAUDE LORRAINE AT NANCY (1892)--"THE BURGHERS OF CALAIS" (1888-1895) III. RODIN'S WORK FROM 1895 TO 1898--SMALL GROUPS--THE STATUE OF "BALZAC"--THE INCIDENT OF THE SOCIÉTÉ DES GENS DE LETTRES--THE "TECHNIQUE" OF THE "BALZAC"--RODIN'S IDEAS UPON MODELLING AND COMPOSITION--HIS OPINIONS ABOUT THE GREEKS, THE GOTHIC STYLE, CLASSICISM, AND MYTHOLOGICAL SUBJECTS--RODIN'S "ANTIQUE" PERIOD IV. WORKS SINCE THE "BALZAC"--SMALL WORKS IN MARBLE--PLAN OF THE MONUMENT TO LABOUR--DRAWINGS AND ETCHINGS V. RODIN'S PRIVATE LIFE--HIS PERSON, STUDIO, AND HOME--HIS INFLUENCE; SCULPTORS INSPIRED BY HIS IDEAS--RODIN'S PLACE IN THE FRENCH SCHOOL--HIS PRESENT POSITION IN RESPECT TO ACADEMIC SCULPTURE VI. APPENDIX--CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF RODIN'S PRINCIPAL WORKS--LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL BOOKS OR ARTICLES WRITTEN ABOUT HIM--QUOTATIONS REFERRING TO HIM--AN OPINION OF EUGÈNE CARRIÈRE'S; AN OPINION OF HENLEY'S--VARIOUS NOTES INDEX 141 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS