Auguste Rodin’s “Penseur” in front of the house in Meudon. The modern towers of la Défense can be seen in the back

You might have never heard of François Stahly, the German born French sculptor, but you know his work if you have passed by the Eiffel tower once in your life: as a sculptor he designed wooden columns for the hallway of Maison de la Radio (visible when you attend a concert there) and a chimney across the Seine, which rises high with its white tower. For the 10th anniversary of his death, his sculptures are shown at Musée Rodin in Meudon until November 20. 

He is better known in the United States where he worked for Nelson Rockefeller and taught at Berkeley, Aspen and  Seattle universities. He has a fountain in San Francisco and his daughter Catherine Stahly, an artist herself, remembers traveling to the States with him in 1960. They have both always lived in Meudon, a few miles west of Paris, and it was therefore a natural thing to exhibit his work in Auguste Rodin’s studio. I loved « Metamorphose », a tall sculpture in linden tree wood.

Chimney near the Eiffel tower in the XV th arrondissement

Metamorphose and Catherine Stahly, the sculptor’s daughter

Villa des Brillants, a modest house acquired by Rodin in 1985,  is charming and intimate and the garden with lilacs and roses was getting ready for the Nuit des Musées the next day. In his studio of Pavillon de l’Alma (transported from Paris), Rodin has kept all the plasters of his great works. Balzac, Victor Hugo, Claude Lorrain, Jean Baptiste Lepage, all have their monument. The « gates of hell » and the « Bourgeois de Calais » are also there, except that they are not in black bronze but in white plaster. And that gives them a completely different look! The house where Rilke worked for Rodin and where Bourdelle used to come at the same period as Loïe Fuller, was transformed into a museum in 1948.

Saint Jean-Baptiste et Adam, photo J. de Calan

Meudon is a lovely suburban town with gardens around each house. We had a great low key lunch at « L’Araignée au plafond » a café located (3 avenue Paul Bert) at the end of the street, with lovely food and a charming owner (bavette à l’échalotte and œuf cocotte). This is where the Museum staff has lunch every day and so we got the gossips before the opening from listening to the next table, something I love to do.

Gérard Garouste, a painter I revere, has started an association called La Source where young handicapped kids are taught  art and culture. He created a partnership with Musée Rodin Meudon, and workshops are organized in the studio.

(Musée Rodin in Meudon is opened from Friday to Sunday 1 pm to 6 pm, 19 ave Auguste Rodin)

The park is full of lilacs