| Article Index |
|---|
| The Essence of Ecstasy |
| Fogg Art Museum |
| Eternal Idol by Auguste Rodin |
| All Pages |
Long after the moment, you remember -- as much as the salmon remembers the stream of its birth. Etched into memory especially if consumated with one you love and the love was returned.
What it is, is not just what transpired before, during and after the deed was done. Or, the prolonged bliss even during the lull after the height of passion. Rather, from that moment on you see a future different from before.
What could be more beautiful than two people in love?
Long before this moment we have found and knew what love is. Felt in the comfort in the bosom of Mother, the security from the pat of Father and the bond that developed with a Sister or Brother. This too we love -- different forms of love.
One of the things I am thankful for in life is to experience all this. I just thought as a young boy that it was part of the natural order of things, and perhaps took it for granted. It came as a shock when I came to the United States, and found that there are too many unwanted and disposable children in the world, especially in a country as rich as America. But, then I realized that wealth or lack thereof was not a the reason why children become unwanted and disposable. But, disposable people are not limited to children. While waiting for a bus sometimes or in a number of unexpected settings, I cannot count the times when I had to lend a sympathetic ear to an older people I first met -- mostly older women for some reason -- who unburdened their feelings of neglect, from the children they cared for all their lives.
Something must have gone awry, along the way, in our modern society -- why love was denied to those we should love and those who are most in need of love -- our children and our elder people.
With all the problems we have in society to confront the issue of unloved and disposable children and older people, it boggles my mind why we should not encourage love more between people who find this.
I find it disturbing why many people, churches and the states instead focus their energy in regulating or meddling with the expression of love between consenting individuals.
Fogg Art Museum
Harvard University Art Museums
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
The Fogg Museum, where you will find the Rodin sculpture shown here, is one of a number of museums associated with Harvard University and one of the gems of Cambridge and Metro Boston that is not as much visited nor as popular as the other more publicized museums in the Metro Boston area. 
If you ever come to Boston though, make sure to visit the Fogg Museum and the Busch-Reisinger Museum also in the same building. Actually, if you are not connected with Harvard, a single ticket would get you to all the museums associated wtih Harvard. I guarantee you, a day is not enough to visit all of them, if you take the time to really look and enjoy what you are viewing.
If you cannot afford the entrance fee of $9 for adults, they have free visiting hours on Saturdays if you come between 10am-12noon. Of course, you can stay until closing time that day. Personally, it is best to take art in small doses, and take the time to enjoy viewing and reading the bits of information provided, if any.
There is such a thing "art fatigue", ie., viewing too much beauty in a single dose -- as I have experienced when I was at the Louvre. I visited it twice in two summers that I have been there, and in both occasion, it just got overwhelming -- there is too much to see in a day.
Take pictures of the art that you like, then go to the nearby Harvard Bookstore (not associated with Harvard), browse and read more about art from the books available. The staff won't bother you***; and in fact, they encourage it by actually unwrapping these expensive coffee table books to entice their customers to read and sample things. The variety and scope of the subjects presented excel over what are offered by the national chain bookstores, e.g., Barnes and Nobles, Borders, have to offer -- at least the ones I have seen locally, in New York, or the ones I visited during breaks in my trips in Europe.
After this, if you wish to know more, go home check the internet to get more information about the art or artist you discovered What you will realize is that if you truly love art, you will not get tired viewing the original work again. In fact, you will come to love it more, the second time around, or the succeeding visits in the future.
You and the artist have become intimate friends, sharing the work of art as a common bond.
At least, that was how I learned to appreciate many works of art, even if I did not have any formal art education. I especially like a work of art more after I have learned more about the artist -- to understand what he was striving for, his vision and his own life. What you will find is they are not much different from us. Except perhaps that each is driven by a greater desire to share a vision with the world, each has their strengths as well as weaknesses, some even with skeletons -- a human being.
Cornelio
N.B.
***As a result, Harvard Bookstore has many loyal customers that earned the Harvard Bookstrore the National Bookstore commendation by the independent bookstore association or something. Because of its loyal customers, Harvard Bookstore has thrived, while many independent bookstores have failed including many in the Harvard Square area that used to have at least 17 bookstores in the small area around Harvard.
Eternal Idol by Auguste Rodin
Fogg Art Museum
Harvard University Art Museums
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
The sculpture that inspired the first part -- titled "The Essence of Ecstasy" -- was the Eternal Idol by Auguste Rodin. Some people claim that it is his most famous work, but in terms of recognizability, it would be the Thinker that wins hands down, The latter is so iconic, it must have been used (and often parodied also) in various forms of multimedia.
What catapulted Rodin to fame however was his "life like" sculpture of a young and very naked athlete -- with all the correct proportions. [Photos of the model are displayed in the Rodin Museum when I visited.] As a result of the "realism", Rodin was accused of directly casting the model in plaster (think of denture casting for an analogy).
The "Eternal Idol by Auguste Rodin" owned by the Fogg Art Museum is quite a small piece of marble sculpture. I had to crouch down and close up to get a good photo. A much larger (larger than life size?) marble sculpture is found in the Rodin House and Museum in Paris. [I took several images of them, but the film was among the many lost when I returned to the US.]
More than likely, the one owned by the Fogg Art Museum was one of the many copies done by one of the many apprentices to Rodin. Unlike same size bronze copies of the sculpture, there are slight differences in the "finished" marble sculptures.
The image of the "Eternal Idol by Auguste Rodin" shown here may seem the same as the one shown in the first image, but it is not. Apart from the obvious lighter image, there is a subtle change in the perspective that was framed -- but is lost in a two-dimensional limitation of a photograph.
That is the beauty of a sculpture -- the added perspective that contributes to the essence that you get when you interact with the work of art. Change your position and you discover something new.
On the other hand, a two-dimensional image forces you to focus on what is there, in a specific perspective.
Comments
scubapup says:
always a good read to accompany your photos hehe
cgc0202 says:
Thanks for visiting Lenny. I am not sure sometimes if I took a picture because of a thought instilled in my mind beforehand; or, the thought came to mind or coalesced upon viewing the image, such as this.
Until I was writing this, I did not know I would associate this work with the Harvard Boookstore, though. I know I like visiting the bookstore because I could not afford alll the books they have to offer dealing with art, photography, architecture -- what I call visual books. I wish I have more time to visit this bookstore.
People who visit the bookstore from out of town might be surprised and disappointed because it is actually a "small bookstore" in terms of floor space, compared with even the smallest Barnes and Nobles chain store found in many corners of Metro Boston. But, the floorspace -- just a small corner store with a basement (the latter for used and other "overstock" books) -- does not do justice to the breath of what it offers. I guess you have to be there often to appreciate what a treasure it is.
One thing sure, I wish every visitor in Boston would visit this bookstore, a second choice is the Harvard Coop (the one associated with Harvard) because it gives you a sense of what is lost with the onset of online books available on sale through the internet.
It is the sense of discovery of thoughts and visions of others, by accident -- driven by chance encounter possible only through book browsing, rather than wanting to buy or read a book because it got good reviews and becomes popular.
Cornelio
pinoyphotog says:
Cornelio, like Lenny I've also come to expect "annotations" of your uploaded photos.
Keep on Shooting!
Jim
Fil-Am Fotogs
cgc0202 says:
Jim: It is good to know that some people, like you, are reading it. You might like to visit and read the annotations in the other images in this series ; or the Random Thoughts set. -- Cornelio
historygradguy says:
OK this is at Harvard. I thought it was the MFA and I know I hadn't seen that statue there. )
cgc0202 says:
The Fogg Art Museums, and the other museums at Harvard are among th e treasures of Metro Boston that is not as visited by even residents. It is free on Saturdays if you go there before noon.
Pear Biter says:
Wow. Great capture!
--
Seen in my contacts' photos. (?)
cgc0202 says:
Thanks for visiting Eric,
You are quite fast. *grins*
I have not written the commentary I want to use this for -- the obssesion of the church and the extreme religious(sic) right, as well as the state to regulate or interfere with sexual intimacy between consenting individuals. This is specially more ironic in Massachusetts where the Catholic Church has been hypocritical -- having condoned or looked the other way when it came to sexual molestation especially of the young. For decades this was a dark secret, and when it came out, the Catholic Church has done its best and used its power to cover the scandal or malign the reputation of those who tried to seek justice for the harm done.
What I found most repugnant about the situation was that there seem to be no true sense of "Mea Culpa". In fact, in the case of Cardinal Bernard Law(?), he was awarded a highly covetted position in Vatican, a few years after he was forced by the public to resign.
With this as a background, I found it bizzare that a religious institution that coddled child molesters felt that it had the moral authority to invoke and dictate that two consenting adults of the same sex and found love have no right to get married.
Cornelio
rembcc - Lord of the Ping says:
That is a well written comment
cgc0202 says:
I am glad you like it Rem, thanks for passing by.
sadepolesad says:
www.mokrota.com/2007/04/06/top-10-most-grueso mebizarre-sp...
cgc0202 says:
Thanks for visiting, sadepolesad.
pineridge_cowgirl111 says:
isnt this rodin?
cgc0202 says:
Thanks for the fave and the comment.
Yes, it is. According to L'Enfer, the piece itself is called "Eternal Idol". The one found in the Fogg Museum is a smaller "marble" piece. Like many sculptural works, there are also other versions, including bronze.
Visit:
Rodin and his protégés
www.flickr.com/groups/rodinsulpture/pool/
for some images of this and other versions.
Siryn says:
wow, I'm not sure what is more powerful, the photograph of this beautiful statue, or your rather lengthy explanation of your feelings when you looked upon said statue. Either way, I appreciate and share your point of view. Thank you for sharing!
cgc0202 says:
Thanks for visiting and the fave,anaisnin21170, Dexter, nickymcnickerson, Siryn and remy123go. Cornelio