MONTEREY, CA.- The Monterey Museum of Art presents Rodin: Light & Shadow, Selections from Guardian Stewardship and the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor, July 5-October 21, 2012 at the MMA Pacific Street, 559 Pacific Street, Monterey, California, 93940.

In conjunction with the reopening of Philadelphia’s Rodin Museum, on July 13, 2012, 6-8 pm, the Monterey Museum of Art will present a guided exploration of Rodin’s mastery of light and shadow with special guest Ted Wells, architect and author of Rodin: Casting Shadows.

This unique exhibition is interactive for all ages and is set amidst the character of Rodin’s Parisian studio. Consisting of a selection of portrait busts and figurative sculptures such as The Thinker, The Kiss, John the Baptist, and Romeo and Juliet, each one has its own fascinating, complex story to tell. Rodin: Light and Shadow encourages the viewer to take a close look at the work of this celebrated artist and explore the mysteries that lurk within the shadows that reveal the energy and complexity of these beautiful objects.

Executive Director E. Michael Whittington says, Rodin: Light and Shadow is one of the many ambitious temporary exhibitions organized by the Monterey Museum of Art. Its significance lies in the fact that it permits visitors to interact with familiar sculptures such as The Thinker, in a fresh and exciting way. This innovative exhibition clearly establishes the Monterey Museum of Art among the leading regional art museums in the United States.

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) is recognized as the most important modernist sculptor in France during the 1880’s and became world-renowned by the turn of the century for his mastery of the human form and use of light and shadow in his figurative sculptures. His popular works such as Le Penseur (The Thinker) and Le Baiser (The Kiss) are widely used as symbols of human emotion and expressive character. Rodin primarily worked in clay, and made plaster casts that were forged into bronze or carved marble. His unique perspective and attention to line, form and volume created by deeply pocketed surfaces reveal his adept relationship with light and darkness; elements that reflect movement and bring his sculpture to life.

Rodin’s partial figures and mid-size sculptures were works he made for himself during his lifetime and how he wanted his art to be seen. He worked with live models and studied them from all angles, at rest and in motion, by candlelight and in sunlight. His themes of rumination, passion and tragedy were inspired by Italian Renaissance sculptor, Michelangelo, French poet Charles Baudelaire and Dante Alighieri’s epic poem, The Divine Comedy. Many of his sculptures were derived from Greek and Roman myths and biblical allegories of physical and human spirit.