Auguste Rodin's 172nd birthday marked by Google doodle

Auguste Rodin, born François-Auguste-René Rodin in Paris on 12 November 1840, is the subject of Monday's Google doodle.

Auguste Rodin was a sculptor who rebelled against the established rules of the time and is widely considered to be the father of modern sculpture. Like many other great artists, Rodin's work was criticised during his lifetime and it wasn't until after his death that his work came to be fully appreciated. But it wasn't as if he died an unknown. He developed a fan following during his lifetime, and by the time he was 60, he was well known around the world. He came to be patronised by wealthy private clients during the latter part of his life. While his popularity suffered a dip right after his death in 1917, his legacy became stronger a few years later.

Most of Rodin's original work departed from prevalent themes of the time - mythology and allegory. Instead, he modelled the human body with realism, and celebrated individual character and physicality, including what most considered 'flaws', that needed to be omitted. While Auguste Rodin was sensitive to the controversy surrounding his work, he refused to bow to the pressure and change his style.

Auguste Rodin's include The Age of Bronze (L'age d'airain) 1877, The Walking Man (L'homme qui marche) 1877-78, The Burghers of Calais (Les Bourgeois de Calais) 1889, The Kiss 1889 and The Thinker (Le Penseur), 1902. The Thinker is the one represented in the Google doodle and it depicts a man in sober meditation battling with a powerful internal struggle.

Best Google doodles of 2012

For more Google doodles, visit this page.