Auguste Rodin

Much of Auguste Rodin's work defied traditional artistic conventions but out of the public eye, he took a further decisive step towards modernism in a different genre. His erotic female nude studies, created during the final two decades of his life, represent a completely new approach to art - one that freed itself from previous ideals of beauty and from existing concepts of morality. The work was considered to be indecent at the time. When a small collection of the drawings was shown in Weimar, the director of the museum was dismissed. More than 100 of these little-known drawings, taken from museums and private collections worldwide, are brought together in this book for the first time, including the notorious Weimar drawings. In her introductory essay, Anne-Marie Bonnet describes the conditions in which the drawings were created and traces their influence on avant-guarde art in the 20th century, from Duchamp to Yves Klein.