The new Rodin exhibit at the LSU Museum of Art boasts more than 60 of the sculptor’s bronze pieces, but one Florida artist claims more than half of them are fake. “Rodin: A Magnificent Obsession,” an exhibition provided by the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, is on display through April 19 and features bronze statues by renowned French sculptor Auguste Rodin. His famous works include “The Thinker” and “The Kiss.” More than 50 pieces in the exhibition were produced after Rodin died in 1917, raising the question of what makes a piece of art original. Gary Arseneau, a Florida llithographer and gallery owner, has been critical toward the Cantor Foundation’s Rodin exhibitions, which have made appearances in numerous museums across the country for nearly a decade. Arseneau claims because the majority of the pieces were created after Rodin died — one as late as 1995 — they should be disclosed as “reproductions” rather than “originals.””Simply put, the dead don’t sculpt,” Arseneau said. Tom Livesay, LSU Museum of Art executive director, said Arseneau’s accusations can be dismissed after hearing the conditions of Rodin’s will, where the sculptor authorized the French government to continue casting his work after his death. The French government gave Rodin’s production rights to the Musée Rodin in Paris. The Musée Rodin holds many originals and issues authorized posthumous casts. “The casts after his death are made from Rodin’s original moulds, assembled according to his instructions, and are therefore originals,” Livesay said in an Oct. 15 news release. During Rodin’s lifetime, master sculptors commonly created their work first in clay and then had craftsmen create replicas in any size in stone or metal through a pointing process, Livesay said. Judith Sobol, Cantor Foundation executive director, said Rodin most likely didn’t see most of his finished pieces. The bronzing process was left to artisans, not artists. “In [Rodin’s] day, the artist didn’t see the finished work,” Sobol said. Sobol said Rodin was not only a brilliant artist, but a savvy businessman who tried hard to sell as many pieces of his artwork as he could. Rodin would take orders according to size and color, having his skilled craftsmen recreate his works for the masses. Sobol said when casting in bronze, multiple originals can be made in any size. “[The sculptures] were all Rodin’s — Rodin saw them equally,” Sobol said. Arseneau has, in a way, made his mission in life to expose the majority of Rodin pieces in the Cantor Foundation’s exhibitions as fakes, contacting media across the country when the traveling exhibit premieres. He has been featured in numerous newspapers since he began voicing his opinions in 1999. By touting the pieces as “original,” the Cantor Foundation and the LSU Museum of Art are misleading the public into thinking they are seeing an original Rodin, Arseneau said. “I go where the facts lead me,” Arseneau said. “They go where the money leads them.” Sobol and Livesay both said Arseneau fails to understand Rodin’s art-making process and original intent.”When he touched the clay it was the same thing as a photo negative,” Sobol said. “It is not a work of art — it is the beginning to a work of art. A stage.”Assistant art history professor Darius Spieth said the issues Arseneau brings to attention are philosophical, often without an answer. “It’s like black and white for [Arseneau],” Spieth said. “The reality is more of a gray area.”Spieth said an estate can legitimize multiples of a work posthumously, like the Musée Rodin. Having studied Rodin copyright law, art history and the Cantor Foundation extensively, Arseneau said he has made his opinion known through many media outlets, including newspapers and television. Arseneau said Sobol and other museum officials across the country have never contacted him to refute his numerous claims against the Cantor Foundation, several national museums and the Musée Rodin. He said these officials don’t debunk his assertions because the art world would virtually collapse if the Cantor Foundation said most of the exhibit’s pieces were reproductions. “Instead of going head-to-head with me, they call me the ‘Rodin Chaser,'” Arseneau said. Livesay said no one in the art world supports Arseneau’s claims. An April 1999 article, “Cummer curator fired,” published in The Florida Times-Union, said otherwise. Robert Torchia, former curator for The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens in Jacksonville, Fla., was fired three days after he wrote a letter questioning the authenticity of sculptures in a Rodin exhibit entitled “Rodin’s Monument to Victor Hugo.” The letter was written to Arseneau.Torchia, who was supposed to leave The Cummer at the end of the week anyway, wrote, “Although this is an extremely complex issue, I have to admit that I am in basic agreement with your objections concerning this work’s originality and degree of authenticity. Certainly the words ‘posthumously cast’ ought to be used in order not to lead the public astray, the term ‘reproduction’ seems a little too strong in this context, but it may well prove applicable.”The same exhibit and firing was later written about in The Wall Street Journal in July 1999. Arseneau’s opinions were also featured in a January 2008 article, “What is an original?” published in The Boston Globe.—-Contact Kyle Bove at [email protected]
Rodin’s art questioned at museum exhibit stop in BR
January 27, 2009