For many Shanghai residents, sculptor Camille Claudel, the long-time mistress of Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), may be more familiar than his sculptures.

First, Isabelle Adjani portrayed Claudel so well in the movie "Camille Claudel." Second, there is little chance to see Rodin's sculptures here in Shanghai.

However, an exhibition featuring 36 of Rodin's original sculptures to be unveiled tomorrow provides a rare treat to local art lovers who now can feast their eyes on the works of the master himself - though some say his mistress Claudel gave more than inspiration to his statues.

The Shanghai Urban Sculpture Center is an ideal venue to display the master's artworks, since the former steel plant has a post-modern aura.

Since it opened last year, the sculpture center has remained largely unused.

The great, familiar statues by Rodin, such as "The Thinker," "The Kiss," "Balzac" and "The Age of Bronze" have arrived in time.

"We are going to host a top Rodin exhibition, also the biggest in the country," says Zheng Peiguang, director of the Shanghai Urban Sculpture Center. The show also includes some of Rodin's manuscripts, photos and a documentary film about him.

Born in a poor family, Rodin received full support from his sister in his art career. But at that time, he was not able to afford the cost of oil paints, so he switched to sculpture.

He suffered a series of blows: His sister died and he was refused admission by Ecole National Superieure des Beaux Arts.

To escape the pains and tortures in his heart, Rodin became a monk to "serve God with his art." But the abbot discovered his talents and convinced him to leave the monastery and further his career in sculpture.

Though Rodin was well acquainted with academic traditions and idealized subjects of classical and Renaissance sculpture, his aim was to be absolutely faithful to nature.

His uncanny ability to convey movement and to show the inner feelings of the men and women he portrayed, the bravura of his light-catching modeling, and his extraordinary use of similar figures in different mediums, established him as one of the greatest sculptors of all time.

Rodin, together with Michelangelo and Phidias, are considered three "unsurmountable mountains for their successors."

Rodin preferred solemn and stirring themes. He went beyond romanticism, time and space.

"Rodin was able to find the beauty and power in the fragments," says Zheng. "For example, he once used a dirty and ugly beggar as his model. Yet the final statue reflected a universal dismal beauty."

Maybe echoing the saying that "every genius artist is insane and selfish," Rodin didn't marry his long-time lover Claudel, also a sculptor who gave tremendous help to Rodin in his creations. Some even say that many of Rodin's masterpieces were done by her.

Claudel spent her last 30 years locked in an asylum. Her words - "How I wish I have never known you" - not only gave a tragic twist to the female artist's life, but also left a mystery about Rodin and his art.

No one can answer, and the bronze sculptures are mute.

Date: through February 18, 2007 (closed on Mondays), 10am-4pm
Address: 570 Huaihai Rd W.
Admission: 20 yuan
Tel: 021-6280-7844