Rodin: Struggle. Sadness. Deep emotions paralleled in my art.

So I read in a website (http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/rodin/) that my works "confront distress and moral weakness".

Do you know why?

That is me. Dashing, I know. It's also a hint as to why my works are so emotionally resonant. The emotions I experienced in my life were tumultuous, as you can see from my great expression in the photo.

When I was young I was shy and suffered from myopia. I took art classes at the École Impériale de Dessin. It was then that I found clay and discovered sculpting, my true love! I was really good and had won two prizes for drawing and modelling by the time I was 17, but the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts refused me. THREE TIMES.


(My father.) My family wasn't particularly rich, so in 1858 I started putting my talent to commercial use and worked on public projects like statues and ornamental sculptures. I was very busy, working in the day and doing my own art at night. In 1862 my sister suddenly died. It was one of the most painfully vivid experiences of my life. I tried to seek solace in a the Catholic Order of the Holy Sacrament, but Father Eymard there encouraged me to resume doing my art to help me heal. In the end I left the monastery and became a sculptor.