4. Sculptural Impressionism. In the very different
art of sculpture, a tendency arose which is somewhat
analogous to impressionist painting. Sculptural im-
pressionism is most highly developed in the work of
Auguste Rodin (Figure 6). As if to ignore and overcome
the inherently static, rigid quality of marble and
bronze, he represented in them the most fluid, melting,
and evanescent of forms, such as clouds and water.
Human or human-like figures in his work seem to be
in the process of breathing, awakening, moving, or
expiring; of being created by the hand of God. Rough,
uneven, deliberately unfinished parts abound in his
statues, as if to show the finished parts emerging from
them. (In this he shows the influence of Michelangelo.)
In portrait sculpture, Rodin's surfaces are sensitive and
expressive, while he often seems to care little for
building a strong inner structure.
In The Age of Bronze (also called The Awakening
of Man), Rodin expressed his early interest in evolution
and primitive man. Rodin's sculptural style can be
linked with Degas as a kind of visual impressionism.
It relies, not on color, but on surface and solid
shape, together with light reflections, to suggest the
moving, changing aspects of living flesh and human
feeling.
