This year’s Tessin lecturer, Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, is relying on investigations and historical research on Auguste Rodin and will discuss the freedom of the artist in the studio, the choice of founders, carvers and casters, the question of edition and the objects’ provenance.
Date and time
Wednesday 16 October, 17:30–18:30. Doors open (main entrance) 17:15.
Location
The South courtyard, entrance floor
Language
English
Admission
Free
No pre-bookings, limited number of seats.
In recent years, a growing number of students have begun to question the materiality of artworks, which is an important aspect especially in 19th century sculpture. Relying on investigations and historical research on Auguste Rodin, Antoinette Le Normand-Romain will discuss the freedom of the artist in the studio, the choice of carvers and casters, the question of edition (terra cotta or bronze, enlargement and reduction) and the objects’ provenance. Sculptures are often produced in several copies; therefore, the question of originality is of particular importance, and makes it necessary to clarify the status of the sculptures.
Auguste Rodin makes a perfect study case as there are so much of his artworks left all around the world, not least in the storages of the Rodin Museum, allowing us to explore the process of creation. In Sweden for instance, you can marvel at The Age of Bronze at the Nationalmuseum, The Thinker at Waldemarsudde Museum, and The Shade and The Sirens at the Thielska Gallery.
Antoinette Le Normand-Romain. Private photo.
August Rodin, The Age of Bronze, 1877. Bronze.
About Antoinette Le Normand-Romain
Antoinette Le Normand-Romain (*1951), has worked as chief-curator for sculptures at Musée d’Orsay (1977-1994) and Musée Rodin (1994-2006), and was the director of the Institut national d’histoire de l’art (INHA), Paris from 2006 until 2016.
Her main field is the history of sculptures from the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, in particular by Auguste Rodin, Camille Claudel, Aristide Maillol and Antoine Bourdelle. Her publications include Rodin et le bronze. Catalogue des œuvres conservées au musée Rodin / The Bronzes of Rodin (2007) and Rodin (2013), an important monograph.
She has been the curator of many exhibitions, among which Rodin (Stockholm and Helsinki, 2015-2016), and more recently Rodin in the United States (Williamstown, The Clark, 2022), Maillol, la quête de l’Harmonie (Paris, Zurich, Roubaix, 2022-2023) and Rodin. Une Renaissance moderne (Ghent, BAM, 2024).
The Tessin Lecture
Once a year the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, invites a prominent international scholar to give a lecture in art history. The lecture, which is public, is a way to pay tribute to an exceptional scholar in art history and emphasize the museum’s commitment to research.