Old Woman Standing with Folded Arms

Old Woman Standing with Folded Arms

Auguste Rodin

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A gift from Rodin to The Met in 1912, this plaster preserves the sculptor’s sensitive modeling of an aged woman’s body. The sobering realism of the figure recalls The Old Courtesan, a composition for The Gates of Hell sculpted after the same model, and evokes Rodin’s attitude that "what is commonly called ugliness in nature can in art become full of beauty."

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Old Woman Standing with Folded ArmsOld Woman Standing with Folded ArmsOld Woman Standing with Folded ArmsOld Woman Standing with Folded ArmsOld Woman Standing with Folded Arms

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.