In 1881 the use of quotidian poses was regarded as appropriate for an artist to do as a study in his studio, but not to present to the public. The use of mixed media in his sculpture The Little Fourteen Year Old dance was also a novelty.

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The Societe des Gens de Lettres, who commissioned Rodin to sculpt Balzac rejected Rodin's sculpture because they considered Rodin's depiction insulting for being out of proportion and in the nude.

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L'Arc de Triomphe, in English the Triumph Arch, was begun in 1806 during Napoleon Bonaparte's rule to recognize the sacrifice of French soldiers during the Revolutionary Wars. Through a series of governmental changes, the project went on under the supervision of many architects, all of whom kept the general theme of a Roman triumphal arch for the project. Completed in the 1830s, the Arc remains one of the key symbols of Paris, commemorating French heroism in different ways.

This sculpture is cast in Bronze, a brownish metal with some luster.

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Rodin frequently used the lost wax technique to produce many of his bronze sculptures. The technique involved making a negative of an existing sculpture, that is then filled with wax that is replaced with bronze as the metal is poured into the cast.

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The Thinker, portraying a nude man hunched over with his head on his fist deep in thought, is one of the most widely recognized pieces of art in the world. Created by Auguste Rodin in 1880, it was first widely cast in bronze in 1904, and was immediately desired thanks to its rough hewn texture, vivid portrayal of a man, and the emotion it displays. Thanks to being a bronze cast, there are about twenty-eight versions of the sculpture in existence around the world.

Auguste Rodin largely reinvented modern sculpture in the late nineteenth century, largely through his ability to capture human forms honestly and present motion in a still sculpture. The success of Rodin was attributable to his use of bronze casting for his sculptures. This both allowed him to mold in clay his radical forms before setting a mold and then allowed that mold to be recast multiple times to produce many copies of his most famous works.

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) was a revolutionary sculptor who helped develop modern art, but he actually saw himself as a traditional craftsman. Rodin would use clay to create bronze molds, and used models. In contrast to his predecessors, Rodin asked models to move so he could capture natural movement and a dark psychological perspective. Rodin also refused to use traditional classical and mythological themes in his work.

Degas frequently used dancers as his subject, often in every day poses, such as this dancer examining her foot.

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