En mand der omfavner en kvinde 1878 - 1881

Editor: We’re looking at "A Man Embracing a Woman," a drawing by Auguste Rodin from around 1878-1881, currently held at the SMK. The medium looks like pencil and watercolour on toned paper. There’s a real rawness to the sketch, an immediacy... what do you see in it? Curator: I see Rodin engaging with a long history of representing intimacy, but with a marked shift in its public function. Traditionally, depictions of embraces, especially within a classical context, often served moralizing or allegorical purposes, think of 'Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss'. But by the late 19th century, with changing social mores and the rise of psychological interiority, there’s a focus on the subjective experience. Editor: So, it’s less about a grand narrative and more about...individual feeling? Curator: Precisely. Consider where this drawing might have been intended to be viewed. It has the appearance of a private sketchbook. How might a more exclusive or private audience affect Rodin's choices in representing emotion? This shift in audience informs how we view it now, as well. How do public art collections change our interpretation? Editor: That makes me think about how museum context frames everything. A drawing like this would've likely circulated differently back then. Curator: Exactly! Its reception today is vastly different, influencing how we engage with this image. Now that it’s accessible and reproducible in the public domain. What might this reproduction encourage us to focus on or forget in terms of interpretation? Editor: It is fascinating to consider the evolving life of the drawing beyond Rodin's studio. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure, thinking about the politics of display definitely reshaped how I view Rodin's intimate subject matter!