Rodin, dessiner, découper

He knew how to sculpt, obviously. He painted, and drew, of course. He also photographed. This catalogue, that accompanies an exhibition in his museum, unveils another talent Rodin held secret, cut outs. He dedicated himself to this art at different periods in his life. First in the 1880s, a lot more in the period between 1903 and 1905, on erotic figures or characters that were bent backwards, twisted. This allowed him, in a very unique procedure, to manipulate them, to assemble them, to turn them around. The book also looks into abstract cut outs, that is, the type done with flat, colored patches to isolate a figure: Rodin did it on drawings as well as on photos, thus anticipating the practices developed by Matisse, Picasso, Braque, Schwitters…

• Rodin, dessiner, découper, by Sophie Biass-Fabiani, Hazan, 2018, 192 p., €35.