Image: Exhibition poster 'Rodin selon Rilke', organised by the musée Rodin, Paris — Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny
The Fondation Pierre Gianadda is showing 'Rodin selon Rilke' from 26 June to 22 November 2026, an exhibition built around Auguste Rodin's sculpture as described by the German-language poet Rainer Maria Rilke. The exhibition has been organised by the musée Rodin in Paris, credited as organiser both in the foundation's mailing and on the exhibition poster. The foundation describes Rodin as a “figure tutélaire de la sculpture moderne” and says visitors will encounter the sculptor's works through Rilke's lyrical language; its exhibition page notes this is the fourth time Rodin has been hosted at Martigny.
Rather than presenting Rodin through a standard chronological survey, the exhibition is structured as a poetic itinerary, allowing the sculptures to be read through descriptions written by one of the major poets of the 20th century in German. The presentation is divided into several chapters, giving it a rhythmic structure, and draws on selected passages from Rilke's writings alongside a number of Rodin's best-known works.
The project also marks the centenary of Rilke's death, which the foundation notes in its announcement. That temporal link frames the exhibition not only as an encounter with Rodin's sculpture but also as a literary commemoration, and the text emphasises Rilke's “plume lyrique,” underscoring an interest in the language used to approach Rodin's work rather than in a biographical retelling of either figure. The foundation's exhibition page sets out the background: Rilke, born in Prague in 1875, received a commission from a German publisher for a monograph on Rodin, met the sculptor in Paris in 1902 and published the book in March 1903; the two remained close over some eleven years, with Rilke spending time at Rodin's house at Meudon and taking on some secretarial work for him.
Presented at the Fondation Pierre Gianadda in Martigny, Switzerland, the exhibition opened with a vernissage on 26 June 2026 and runs to 22 November 2026, with the venue open daily from 10am to 6pm. In the same email, the foundation directed readers to screenings of Jacques Doillon's 2017 film 'Rodin' at the Cinéma Corso in Martigny, listed for Sundays at 11am on 26 July, 30 August, 27 September, 25 October and 22 November 2026.
Press materials, including a press release and a press image list, are offered on the foundation's exhibition page. No further details on the selection of sculptures or the display layout were included in the newsletter.
