Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), whose status as the greatest sculptor of the late nineteenth century is undisputed, belongs among the few artists whose fame is based equally upon public and critical acclaim. Rodin's espousal of the erotic, his depiction of it in a bewildering variety of manifestations, is the leitmotiv that unites his vast oeuvre of sculptures and drawings. Woman's sexuality appears in Rodin's work as both threat and challenge, but also as the source of all creative inspiration and passion.

Selected sculptures have been rephotographed specially for this book. Superbly reproduced, and supplemented by color illustrations of some of the artist's late drawings - many of them published here for the first time - they constitute a fascinating visual essay on the theme of the erotic in Rodin's work.

Exploring the ramifications of eros in Rodin's sculpture and drawing, wide-ranging essays address such topics as the nature of the fragment and its role in Rodin's work, the artist's relationship to the model, his religiosity, and his influence both on his contemporaries and on artists throughout the twentieth century.

In word and image, this volume offers fresh insight into the work of a man who, perhaps more than any other visual artist, embodied Baudelaire's and Nietzche's concept of the modern genius as one whose stature is based on a combination of inventiveness, passion, and disturbing originality.