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Auguste Rodin: The Hero (Man and His Genius), around 1896, casting 1900 / Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie / © Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Andres Kilger
Rodin – Rilke – Hofmannsthal. Man and His Genius
This year marks the 100th anniversary of Auguste Rodin’s death. A number of the artist’s key works such as The Thinker, The Age of Bronze, and Man and His Thought are held by the Nationalgalerie Berlin. Rodin’s work is characterized by an unfinished quality and the depiction of fleeting mental states. The exhibition is thus dedicated to such a work that has until now received little attention, the bronze statuette The Hero (Man and His Genius). This bronze stood for 20 years on Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s desk, and then, through the involvement of Rainer Maria Rilke, became part of Werner Reinhart’s collection in 1920. Works of painting and graphic art, writing on art, correspondence, and photographs shed light on the theme of inspiration in art and poetry in the period around 1900. A catalogue is being produced to accompany the exhibition.