auguste-rodin-hands-mains-cathedral-philadelphia-philadelphie
Auguste Rodin, The Cathedral, 1908. © Rodin Museum of Art

Rodin’s Hands in Philadelphia

FEBRUARY 4, 2022-DECEMBER 2023

Rodin Museum
2151 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia, PA 19130

Despite having little formal training as an artist, Auguste Rodin became famous for his ability to convey intense emotion through his naturalistic modeling of the human form. Rodin’s Hands explores his fascination with one of the most expressive parts of the body through 15 bronzes and plasters. One highlight is The Cathedral, whose title reflects another of the sculptor’s passions (he wrote a book on the cathedrals of France). Two right hands, palms facing, fingertips nearly touching, bring to mind a Gothic vault.