Study of a hand 1900 - 1912

This plaster hand, a study by Auguste Rodin, sits here in the Met, waiting, reaching. I love that Rodin studied hands! I mean, he did whole bodies, of course, but hands are so expressive. This one is small, almost fragile, yet so full of potential energy. You can imagine him in his studio, clay in hand, pinching and prodding, trying to capture the essence of gesture. It must have been a real dance, between his vision and the stubborn materiality of the plaster. The slight roughness of the surface, those subtle imperfections, they give it so much character. It feels like a fragment, a piece of something larger, maybe a figure reaching out in anguish or maybe just trying to grab something. I see the way the light catches on the knuckles, the delicate curve of the fingers. There's a quiet intensity to it. Rodin’s hand reminds us of the artist's touch and the enduring power of observation and expression.