The storm 

Curator: Well, here we are facing Auguste Rodin's "The Storm," carved from marble. It currently resides in a private collection, but what's your immediate reaction? Editor: Intense! The raw emotion just hits you, doesn’t it? The figure seems caught in something overwhelming. Is it agony or terror etched on that face? There’s such drama in how Rodin shapes the marble around them. Curator: Absolutely. Rodin often explored these primal states. In "The Storm," the turbulent setting engulfs the figure—they are struggling, almost drowning. You see similar themes mirrored in other works like "The Gates of Hell." Editor: It's so raw! The body language screams vulnerability. Look at the hands, as if bracing against a force, but almost transparent. Like they can’t actually grasp anything solid. It also evokes Romantic themes. Do you get the same sense? Curator: Most definitely. There is a visual drama indicative of the Romantic era. "The Storm" employs that dramatic struggle, the focus on inner experience externalized in physical form. It also explores how nature can reflect or provoke profound emotional states, often as an allegory of human condition. Editor: Yes, the connection between nature and emotional turbulence feels key here. It feels eternal, doesn't it? This moment of raw fear – someone will be able to look at it in centuries to come, and it still speaks to something deep inside, right? Curator: Indeed. It's about the universality of such feelings of being overwhelmed. The marble, a stone associated with eternity and strength, also juxtaposes beautifully to express fleeting yet intensely human experience. A wonderful tension, don’t you agree? Editor: It certainly lingers in the mind! The sculpture really makes us confront the chaotic potential inside of us all. Curator: And it highlights the profound skill that Rodin wielded over his material, granting this work lasting emotional relevance, even today.