Friday, Aug. 3, 2001 | 9:38 a.m.
Fast Facts
What: "Rodin's Obsession: The Gates of Hell."
When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday; through Sept. 16.
Where: Las Vegas Art Museum, 9600 W. Sahara Ave.
Admission: $5 for adults; $3 for seniors; $2 for students.
Information: 360-8000.
The 19th century sculptor Rodin may be best known for his piece, "The Thinker."
But he had grander ideas.
Rodin's images of passion and anguish and his visions of hell are on display in "Rodin's Obsession: The Gates of Hell, Selections from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection" at the Las Vegas Art Museum through Sept. 16.
The 50-piece exhibit centers on one of the most ambitious commissions of Rodin's work.
"The Gates of Hell" was completed by Rodin between 1880 and 1900. It was originally intended to be the entrance for a never-realized museum of arts in Paris.
The original cast molding of "The Gates of Hell" resides at the Cantor Sculpture Garden at the Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University. It was completed in 1977, 60 years after Rodin's death.
That's exactly what the sculptor had in mind.
A year before Rodin died in 1917 he donated his entire estate to the French government. In his will he entrusted the Musee Rodin in Paris with the rights to cast his sculptures after his death.
The practice of bequeathing art to be commissioned posthumously is not unique, said Mary Levkoff, curator of European culture at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
"To Rodin there was no concept of numbered editions or casts," Levkoff said. "He would make dozens of the same plaster (sculpture) for himself and break off an arm to place it on another (piece) to see how it would work there."
Rodin intended his art, some of which had not been cast in bronze by his death, to eventually be completed, Levkoff said. Many artists of that time did the same.
Rodin's contemporary, Jules Dalou, willed his casts to the orphanage that was chosen to take care of his infant daughter after his death. Painter Edgar Degas' bronze statues were created after his death by his heirs.
The casts' authenticity has been called into question by critics, Levkoff said.
"But Degas' dancers are never criticized," she said. "It's a question a lot of people bring up, but these were authorized by Rodin."
The conundrum of what is true, the plaster cast created by Rodin's hands or the final bronze sculpture, is an interesting point of the Rodin exhibition, said Marianne Lorenz, executive director of the Las Vegas Art Museum.
"Every cast bronze piece is a replica of what he made in plaster so these are as close as you can get to the artist's hands," Lorenz said. "Nonetheless the question always comes up and it's an interesting question."
Rodin created many plaster casts before his death. The casts were not completed in expensive bronze during his life because they had not been commissioned by a patron.
That patron came along 28 years after Rodin's death.
Art after the fact
Rodin was inspired by the works of Michelangelo when he traveled to Italy in 1875. That strong influence can be seen in much of Rodin's works, such as the "The Hand of God" bronze sculpture.
Gerald Cantor was touched by Rodin's large bronze hand reaching for the sky when he first encountered the piece in 1945 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Cantor became a collector and champion of the deceased sculptor.
With his wife, Iris, Cantor built the largest private collection of Rodin's works. Today the Cantors have collected more than 750 sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs and other memorabilia, which they display in museums around the world.
Iris Cantor continued to create traveling exhibits of Rodin's work, including a video of the traditional process of making the bronze sculptures, after Gerald Cantor's death in 1996.
Trancois Bujon de L'Estang, the ambassador of France to the United States, honored Iris Cantor with the insignia of the Order of the Legion of Honor last year.
In a speech at the medal ceremony held at the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in New York on Oct. 17, the ambassador said:
"As one of its many works, the Cantor Foundation organizes and circulates traveling exhibitions on Rodin, enabling the international public from America to Europe to enjoy your precious collection ... As a patron of the arts and friend of France, your attachment to France is not limited to one artist's work."
In 1977 the Cantors received the French government's approval to cast Rodin's molds in bronze.
They had no children. Rodin became their legacy.
That legacy is carried on by four sisters, the Cantor's nieces.
Michelle Geller, one of the nieces, grew up playing on and in awe of the sculptures that decorated the home of their beloved aunt and uncle.
"We've really grown up with it," Geller said. "It's a part of our life."
The collection was personal to the Cantors, who shared the history and awe with their nieces.
"It's like family," Geller said. "There are certain pieces we are really fond of."
Public property
The pieces may be cherished by the family, but sharing them with the public is priceless, Geller said.
"It's so nice to see everyone enjoying the pieces," Geller said. "That's why it's never in storage. It's always out in museums. It's a wonderful mission in the terms of sharing it with the world."
Art enthusiasts effuse about Rodin's simplicity and grandeur. He was a famed artist at a time when art was rebelling against classism and inhibition.
Rodin is most famous for his sculpture the "The Thinker," which rests in the garden of the Musee Rodin in Paris. That large piece was done in stages.
It was common for Rodin to cast a piece in more than one size. Smaller "Thinker" sculptures are scattered in museums around the world.
It would seem every major art museum wants a piece of Rodin -- including the LVAM. But this is the first exhibit for the LVAM in which the museum was selected for what it offered the public, not vice versa.
Judith Sobol, director of the Cantor foundation, said the LVAM fit the profile the foundation seeks in showcasing its exhibits.
"Las Vegas is just the kind of community museum we like because (the museum) is woven into the fabric of the community," Sobol said.
The foundation prefers the shows to be placed in cities that would not otherwise benefit or could ordinarily afford such an important exhibit, Sobol said.
"We don't charge a fee and it gives them a boost in the community's eyes," Sobol said. "It's something good for the community and it completes what the Cantors wanted, to share Rodin with the world."
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