Street art moves upmarket in Valencia, courtesy of Rodin

It might be late autumn, but Valencia is currently enjoying an artistic spring, courtesy of some of the world’s most iconic sculptures.

Until December 13th visitors to the city will be able to view Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker and The Burghers of Calais in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. This welcome cultural exchange has been organised by the Art in the Street programme, which aims to move art out of the rarified atmosphere of galleries and museums into public spaces, where it can be enjoyed by people who might not otherwise have the chance to view it.

Auguste Rodin was one of the most influential artists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and The Thinker is undoubtedly his most famous work. The statue currently on display in Valencia has arrived straight from Paris where it sits in the Musée Rodin. It was originally created to represent the poet Dante at The Gates of Hell as depicted in his epic poem, The Divine Comedy.

The Burghers of Calais refers to an incident that occurred during the Hundred Years’ War when England’s King Edward III besieged the city. Edward had originally ordered that the populace should be slaughtered en masse, but agreed to show clemency only if six of the town’s leading citizens presented themselves to him as sacrifices, prepared for death with bare heads and feet and ropes around their necks. Edward was perfectly prepared to murder the six burghers, but pardoned them when his wife, Philippa of Hainault, begged for their lives to be spared.

This dramatic statue, begun in 1884 and first displayed in 1889, is considered one of Rodin’s most important works.

Most sculptors, however successful within the world and culture of the Fine Arts, remain largely unknown to the general public, yet the work of Auguste Rodin, a working-class Parisian boy made good, has changed forever the way that art is viewed.

This very public exhibition is a once in a lifetime chance for valencianos to enjoy the work of a famous artist displayed as part of their own city’s landscape.

Chic living in Valencia center:

Luxurious apartment in the heart of Valencia

Luxury apartment in select Valencia area

New post on at Wednesday, 2 December, 2009, 6:46 am and is archived in Art, Culture, Lifestyle, Places of Interest. Subscribe to answers with RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.