FROM THE PUBLISHER

Auguste Rodin's extraordinary watercolors are generally less familiar to the public than his grandiose bronzes which set standards for later generations of sculptors. Yet these studies, executed with apparent ease, are no less significant as works of art—indeed, their enthusiastic naturalism and openness make them almost more timeless and modern than his sculptures. In addition to preliminary watercolor studies for his 3-dimensional works, this section of Rodin's oeuvre includes a large number of erotic silhouettes, some of them quite explicit: cheerful, warm-hearted sketches with which the artist unabashedly papered the walls of his studio. This small volume presents a delightful selection of rarely-exhibited yet enchanting watercolors from the artist's estate, administered by the Musée Rodin in Paris.I invent nothing, I rediscover. —Auguste Rodin Edited by Thomas Knubben and Tilman Osterwold.