Rodin's Balzac Revisited at Dresden's Albertinum in Le Grand Drame

Dresden's Albertinum is reopening the case of Auguste Rodin's Balzac, a sculpture that was rejected by its commissioners in 1898 and has since been regarded as the birth of modern sculpture. The Société des gens de lettres, the commissioning body, dismissed the work as an amorphous mass, describing it as a man in a dressing gown without hands or feet. Rodin, now widely considered the father of modern sculpture, faced a legitimacy trial with each of his works during his lifetime, repeatedly raising the question: at what point does something unfinished become a work of art? The exhibition, titled Le Grand Drame, runs for nearly ten months. It will be on view at the Albertinum in Dresden, Germany, from October 31, 2026, to August 22, 2027. The presentation is part of the venue's exploration of Rodin's legacy and the controversies that shaped his career. Visitors can also see other exhibitions in Germany and across Europe through the museum's programming. The show examines the rejection and subsequent canonization of Balzac, a pivotal moment in art history that challenged traditional definitions of sculpture and paved the way for modernist experimentation.