Rodin Museum Tour

Tour Details

About the Tour

Duration: 3 hours
Location: Paris

Photos & Highlights

Explore Rodin’s expansive oeuvre with an art historian or artist
Includes skip-the-line tickets to the Rodin Museum's permanent collection and sculptures garden
Rodin Museum

Tour Description

On this three-hour tour in the company of an artist or art historian, we’ll explore the Musée Rodin, a monographic museum home to the world’s largest collection of works from the celebrated sculptor, Auguste Rodin. The museum is housed in a Parisian mansion, Hôtel Biron, where the artist worked during the final years of his life. In both its location and its contents, the museum presents a uniquely comprehensive vision of Rodin’s artistic development and innovative style. By the end of our visit, we’ll have a greater appreciation of Rodin’s work and his impact on the art world that still resonates today.

Sites Visited

Rodin Museum (Hôtel Biron)

Included

Skip-the-line tickets to the Rodin Museum and Gardens
The Thinker, The Kiss, and The Gates of Hell

Itinerary Details

As we explore the exhibition space, spread over 18 rooms, we’ll learn about the working methods that allowed Rodin to create his uniquely expressive works by examining the plaster models and other objects that he made in advance of casting his final bronze sculptures. We'll visit a replica of the room where Rodin lived and worked, with its original furniture and pieces from his vast collection of antiquities. We’ll also get a feel for the artists and artworks that inspired him, including antique marbles and the drawings and sculptures of his Parisian contemporaries.

Then, as we stroll through the sprawling gardens of the museum estate, we’ll experience Rodin’s expressive power first-hand as we examine some of his largest and best-known works, including The Thinker, The Burghers of Calais, and The Gates of Hell. We might also discuss the way that The Thinker began as a small figure to be placed within a larger work, or explore the thirty-five-year process that finally brought the Gates of Hell to fruition -- only after the artist’s death.

By the end of our tour, we’ll have a greater understanding of the complexity of Rodin’s working method and the dynamism of his completed sculptures. This will help us to appreciate what makes a Rodin, a Rodin.

Interested in learning more about 19th-century art? Check out our Musée d’Orsay and Giverny tours.

FAQ

What is a private tour?

Our private tours are limited exclusively to travelers in your party. They are designed to provide a learning experience that is completely tailored to you and your traveling companions. Private tours give you more flexibility with scheduling (you decide when the walk best fits in your trip), the ability to tailor your itinerary (we'll work to match the itinerary to the interests and dynamics of your group), and more personalized time with your guide.

There are 9 people in my family but your website won't allow me to include more than 8 participants. Can't you make an exception?

The Rodin Museum requires special reservations for groups larger than 8 people. Please contact us for information on pricing and availability for a larger group.

Will you pre-purchase tickets?

Yes. We pre-purchase Rodin Museum tickets for all visitors, which give access to the museum's permanent collection, temporary exhibitions, and gardens. These tickets will only allow you to enter the museum once. Any exit is final. You can, however, reenter with a Museum Pass. Your guide will have the tickets with him/her on the day of the tour.

Is there a long line to enter the museum? Can I "skip the line"?

If you have one of our pre-purchased tickets, you will not be required to wait in any ticket line. There is a security check through which all visitors to the museum are required to pass, and there is sometimes a line for this. Because we have advance tickets, we have access to a special ticket holder security line, which is very short.

Where You'll Start

Tour Experts

Marie

The daughter of a sculptor, Marie has been surrounded by art ever since she was born. A native Parisienne, she holds an undergraduate degree in history and art history, with a specialty in iconography and French and Flemish paintings from the 16th to the 18th centuries. She also holds a Master's degree in museology from the Ecole du Louvre and one in Art History from the Sorbonne. She currently works for the French National Art History Institute on special cultural events. Since she loves literature, ballet, theatre, opera, jazz clubs, and classical concerts—she has been playing the piano since she was 9—Paris and its artistic life are a perfect fit.

Laure-Caroline

A native Parisian, Laure-Caroline completed her Ph.D. at the Sorbonne, with a focus on Paul Cezanne and other impressionists. She has published many books on these subjects: Lire la peinture de Cezanne (Larousse 2006), Les oeuvres clés de l'Impressionnisme (Larousse 2007), and l'Art Abstrait (Larousse, 2010), Paul Gauguin (Larousse, 2018) and Toulouse-Lautrec( Larousse 2019) in addition to contributing to various French publications on art history. She had taught art history at the Sorbonne University and is currently senior lecturer for French and American universities study abroad programs, such as Sciences Po, and NYU Paris. Laure-caroline is extremely passionate about art and art history and tries to convey this passion to the people she teaches.

Marie Theres

Marie Theres is a painter who has made Paris her home for more than two decades. She works in her studio in Montmartre and shows her paintings in galleries in Europe and the United States. She studied history at the University of Cologne, Germany and painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia before coming to Paris to study art history at the Ecole de Louvre. Her knowledge of art history is enhanced by her practical painting experience. Beyond a purely academic approach, this enables her to convey the emotional dimension of the artwork and to focus attention on the act of creation. She loves to share her passion for art and painting and is fascinated by the 19th-century artistic heritage of Paris, its art movements, and urbanism.

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6 Reviews – (4.87)

Reviews can only be left by Context customers after they have completed a tour. For more information about our reviews, please see our FAQ.

Marie Theres was wonderful - very passionate about the subject and well informed. This may be just a me thing but I would love for the tour to be combined with something else for an a half day - maybe the musee d'orsay or another sculptor. On an unrelated note, I completely forgot to tip Marie Theres - is there any way to do that digitally?

Janine

Jan. 15, 2023

Laurent was a very thorough guide! He even went out of his way to help me get a taxi after the tour!

Rebecca

Sep. 29, 2022

Marie, was enthusiastic, informative and a fun tour guide. Very gracious

Howard

Sep. 14, 2022

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