GAUDENZIO MARCONI FOR RODIN
La Chute des Anges, 1865
Gaudenzio Marconi
1841-1885
Posing for a Rodin sculpture in 1865, it could be hours, days, weeks.
Models were expensive and some poses so complicated, like the Fallen Angel in this photo, that they often got in the way of the artistic process. It is therefore not surprising that Rodin quickly saw something in the medium of photography.
Gaudenzio Marconi (1841–1885) was an Italian photographer, who worked mainly in France and became known for his artistic photographs of nudes. Students of the École des beaux-arts in Paris often sketched from his photographs. The nudes by Rodin known as "the Bronze Age" are based on works by Gaudenzio Marconi.
In 1877, Rodins submission to the Paris Salon, The Age of Bronze, was the subject of huge controversy. Its critics accused Rodin of not having modelled this male figure, but of having used a life cast. The sculptor reacted by employing photographer Gaudenzio Marconi, who supplied art students with images, to take a series of shots of both the plaster version of The Age of Bronze and Auguste Neyt, the model who had posed for the work, so that they could be used as proof in his defence.
Rodin’s concept of photography was in line with the prevailing views held in his day: photography’s merit lay in its documentary precision, its ability to reproduce mechanically, faithfully and with neutrality, and not in any artistic capacity. Marconi, like so many other great artists, he never had the good fortune to witness the success of his work. Today his photographs reach remarkable prices in major international auctions.
LITERATURE:
- The naked and the nude : a history of nude photography » JorgeLewinski, Ed. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Londres, 1987, p 10. (Femme nueallongée)
EXPOSITIONS:
- 'Malerei und Photographie im Dialog, von 1840 bisheute' Kunsthaus Zurich, 197713 mai - 24 juillet 1977, reproduit p.14
(Nu féminin assis tête entre lesjambes)
- 'Franzosische photographie 1840-1871' Kunsthaus,Zurich, 19875 juin - 23 août 1987, reproduit au catalogue p.95 n.77.
(Nu féminin assis tête entre les jambes)
- 'Autour du symbolisme : Photographie et peinture auXIXe siècle' Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles, 200427 février - 16 mai 2004, non reproduit au catalogue,référencé p.135 cat.174. (La chute des anges)