Everything seems to set these two personalities apart, even though Mapplethorpe ceaselessly sculpted bodies through his lens, and photography accompanied Rodin throughout his career.
Robert Mapplethorpe pursued the perfect form, while Rodin sought to capture movement within matter. Nothing is spontaneous in Mapplethorpe’s work—everything is meticulously constructed—whereas Rodin preserved the traces of an artwork’s creation and embraced the accidents of the process. One was drawn to men, the other to women—both to the point of obsession. Yet this did not prevent Mapplethorpe from photographing female nudes or Rodin from sculpting numerous male bodies.