MURRELLS INLET, SC.- Brookgreen Gardens is displaying Rodin: Contemplation and Dreams – Selections from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collections from Jan. 29 – April 23, 2023, in Brookgreen’s Rosen Galleries. Featuring 45 works by French sculptor Auguste Rodin, celebrated as the greatest sculptor of the 19th century, this exhibition brings world-renowned sculptures to America’s first sculpture garden.

“We are thrilled to display works from such a celebrated and talented sculptor,” says Page Kiniry, president of Brookgreen Gardens. “Bringing the works of one of art history’s most influential great masters to South Carolina's coast furthers our mission to display the finest sculptures and will offer visitors an exclusive chance to experience Rodin’s bronzes in an esteemed sculpture garden.”

Rodin: Contemplation and Dreams – Selections from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collections is made up of 45 works from the prestigious Cantor Collections, including nine life-size statues, portraits, full figures, torsos, fragments, and reliefs. Some of Rodin’s best-known sculptures are represented such as Balzac, figures from The Burghers of Calais, and maquettes from The Gates of Hell. The title of this exhibition comes from Rodin himself, who said that artwork, “…opens before us an enchanted land of contemplation and dreams.”

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) was a pivotal figure and is to this day celebrated as the greatest sculptor of the 19th century. His work influenced many sculptors in Europe and America and his students carried forward his beliefs in sculpture into the 20th century. Most well-known for his sculpture The Thinker, housed in the Rodin Museum in Paris, Rodin created many iconic works that altered the way traditional sculpture was perceived and set the stage for many modern sculptors to come.

This exhibition has been organized and made possible by the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation.