Rodin Museum

Two of my favorite sculptors are Auguste Rodin and his protégé Camille Claudel, so I was enthused to find the Rodin Museum which houses both of these artists. My friend Morgan and I went on a beautiful sunny day, which was wonderful since many of Rodin's most famous sculptures (i.e. The Burghers of Calais) are located outside in the garden courtyard. Both artists worked with bronze and marble mediums, and Rodin's influence on Claudel is clearly evident when viewing the two artists' work together.

Actually, Claudel's "The Waltz" is probably my all-time favorite sculpture and I knew it was housed in Paris somewhere. The first few days of the trip I continuously tried to remind myself to Google search which museum the sculpture belonged to; however, I always absentmindedly forg0t. Luckily, I walked into the "Camille Claudel Room" and what do I instantly see? Oh yes, you guessed it..."THE WALTZ." It was such an amazing moment to be able to get so close to the figure and inspect each crevice and wrinkle in the bronze cast. The most beautiful part about Claudel's "The Waltz" is the twirling movement it captures between the two dancers. Every angle captures a different movement; therefore, the piece is definitely something that one must see in a 360-degree view. As I said earlier, art history textbooks cannot capture the greatness of any one piece!

The museum also housed two Vincent van Gogh works, which are always interesting to view. There is so much detail in his brushwork and the colors seem to pop from the page! I was happy to get a photo of these, since the Musée d'Orsay (which has many of Van Gogh's works) does not allow the public to take photographs.

Overall, I would say that this was my favorite museum. It was not gigantic like the Louvre, so it didn't create a feeling of rush. Furthermore, the pieces are magnificent in detail, form, and content.