[Today’s featured artwork for Day 45 of the 365 Days Project is by Auguste Rodin and Camille Claudel.]
Valentine’s Day is about love. Artists are experts.
#45 – If you want to fall in love with something, paint it, draw it, sculpt it.
Artists are always in love – with the subjects of their art. It is difficult to remain neutral if you’re looking to capture the essence of a person or idea. The deepest work is always done when there is a strong resonance with the subject, rather than merely copying.
That resonance can begin with a simple curiosity, but once an artist begins to work with a subject, a relationship develops that continues throughout the creative process.
Auguste Rodin sculpted The Kiss as a sensual depiction of a tragic love story, but Camille Claudel sculpted Rodin as a loving tribute to the artist. Claudel was Rodin’s student and muse who also became his lover. Deeply in love with her mentor, she modeled a portrait of him in Bust of Rodin. The details in his furrowed brow, his eyes, his beard, capture the essence of the sculptor in the way a lover would.
Looking at the world through the eyes of an artist, we can often catch glimpses of how an artist loves the world in order to depict it. Valentine’s Day is a good day to embrace how we might better see the world through the loving eyes of its artists.
“There is nothing more artistic than to love people.”
Vincent Van Gogh
“We will make love an art and we will love like artists.”
Marianne Williamson
“Art must be an expression of love or it is nothing.”
Marc Chagall
Description of the images included in this post:
The Kiss (c. 1882)
Auguste Rodin
Marble
Bust of Rodin (1888-1889)
Camille Claudel
Bronze
The 365 Days Project
In 2012, Serena Kovalosky committed to writing an article a day for 365 days as an exploration into the lives of artists and the value of creative thinking in our society.
Experience the full evolution of the project! Click below to read the entire collection of articles.
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