Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Villa des Brillants, acquired by Auguste Rodin in 1895, became his main refuge and workshop. This modest neo-Louis XIII building, located in Meudon, was gradually enlarged with appendices, a park decorated with sculptures and architectural elements such as the facade of the castle of Issy, saved by Rodin in 1903. The artist lived there with his companion Rose Beuret, surrounded by animals and a menagerie, creating a world that is both domestic and artistic.

Rodin accumulated his works (original plasters, bronzes, antique collections) and those of friends like Renoir or Van Gogh. The Alma Pavilion, built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900, was rebuilt there before being replaced in 1948. After Rodin's death in 1917, the villa was restored and opened to the public in 1953, becoming a unique museum-workshop where one discovers its creative process.

The estate, classified as a historic monument in 1972, now houses major works such as The Thinker, The Kisser or The Gate of Hell. It reflects the sculptor's intimacy, between daily life and creation, with his workshops of practitioners, his carved gardens and Rodin's tomb, overhanged by Le Penseur.

Among the illustrious visitors were King Edward VII (1908) and Rainer Maria Rilke, who stayed there in 1905 as secretary before being dismissed. The poet wrote a book about Rodin, marking their complex relationship. The villa, restored in 1997, preserves furniture and personal objects, offering a rare testimony of the artist's universe.

The ensemble, including the park and the workshops, was a creative venue led by some 50 practitioners. Rodin experimented with techniques and materials, leaving models and preparatory studies. The present museum allows to understand his work in situ, in the very environment where it was conceived.

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