Nijinsky

Auguste Rodin

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

On May 29, 1912, Rodin attended the premiere of Vaslav Nijinsky’s modern ballet L’Après-midi d’un faune (Afternoon of a Faun), which scandalized Parisian audiences with its avant-garde choreography and sexually explicit content. The following morning, a front-page newspaper editorial signed by Rodin praised the "deliberately awkward" and "jerky" movement. Nijinsky posed for Rodin a few days later. The strong profile of this sculpted sketch pays tribute to his choreographic style, which mimicked Greek bas-relief sculpture.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art