The inner voice
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- Place made
- Paris
- Medium
- bronze
- Dimensions
- 146.0 x 76.0 x 45.0 cm
- Credit line
- William Bowmore AO OBE Collection. Gift of the South Australian Government, assisted by the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1996
- Accession number
- 962S8
- Signature and date
- Signed on horizontal surface of base, front left: "A. Rodin". Not dated.
- Media category
- Sculpture
- Collection area
- European sculptures
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Rather than pursuing anatomical correctness or finish, Auguste Rodin was interested in the extent to which sculpted bodies could express emotion through the manipulation of form. Here, he has severely distorted the female figure to explore themes that touch on selfhood and introspection.
The laterally leaning upper body, with its head resting on the right shoulder, establishes a tranquil, curving rhythm that flows throughout the entire work. Such articulation would have been compromised, for example, by the inclusion of arms and the left knee.
Originally devised as one of a large number of nude studies for Rodin’s apotheosis, The Gates of Hell, The inner voice both shocks and seduces the eye with its violent amputations and serene, almost topographical, undulations. Thanks to its serpentine pose and dramatic sideways projection of the head, the sculpture achieves brilliant effects of torsion and plasticity.Tony Magnusson, Curator of European Art, 2016–18
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A Celebration: Recent Acquisitions of Heritage and Contemporary Art
Art Gallery of South Australia, 30 August 1996 – 22 September 1996 -
VERSUS RODIN: BODIES ACROSS SPACE AND TIME
Art Gallery of South Australia, 4 March 2017 – 16 July 2017
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[Book] AGSA 500.