Rodin selon Rilke

Exhibition at the Fondation Gianadda, Martigny, 26 June – 22 November 2026

In 1902, Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926) met Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) in Paris. Tasked with writing a monograph on the sculptor, he discovered his work and forged a decisive intellectual and artistic relationship with the artist.

Published in 1903, *Auguste Rodin* became one of the most widely translated works on the sculptor in the world and remains a seminal text to this day. For over a decade, the exchanges between the two men fostered a fruitful dialogue between literature and sculpture. Having become Rodin’s secretary, Rilke also helped him discover the Hôtel Biron – the future Musée Rodin – thanks to his wife, the sculptor Clara Westhoff.

Drawing on extracts from Rilke’s writings, this catalogue of the exhibition – organised in collaboration with the Rodin Museum – invites readers to rediscover the sculptor’s masterpieces in a new light. It brings together sculptures, drawings and archival documents with the poet’s texts, creating a dialogue between the visual, the material and the literary.