The Kiss (Rodin sculpture) and WOSU (AM): Difference between pages

Revision as of 01:11, 9 October 2005

Revision as of 14:24, 30 October 2005

Line 1:

{{Infobox_radio |

:''This article is about the sculpture created by [[Auguste Rodin]]. For more works of art that share this name, see [[The Kiss]].''

call_letters = WOSU|

station_logo = [[Image:WOSU_AM_Logo.jpg]]|

___location = [[Columbus, Ohio]]|

station_branding = NPR 820 Columbus Public Radio|

frequency = 820 [[Kilohertz|kHz]]|

format = [[National Public Radio|NPR]]<br>[[Talk radio]]<br>[[Sports]]|

callsign_meaning = '''O'''hio<br>'''S'''tate<br>'''U'''niversity|

owner = Ohio State University|

first_air_date = [[June 3]], [[1922]] ''as WEAO''|

erp = 5&nbsp;[[kW]] ''daytime''<br>790&nbsp;[[watts]] ''nighttime''|

homepage = [http://www.wosu.org/ www.wosu.org]|

}}

'''WOSU''' is an [[AM broadcasting|AM]] radio station in [[Columbus, Ohio]], located at 820&nbsp;kHz. Its official brand identifier is ''NPR 820 Columbus Public Radio''. WOSU is licensed by the [[Federal Communications Commission]] as a daytime and nightime radio station, operating with a non-directional power of 5&nbsp;kW during the day, and dropping to 790&nbsp;[[watts]] at night. The current license holder is the [[Ohio State University]].

[[Image:RodinKiss.jpg|frame|right|''The Kiss'']]

'''''The Kiss''''' is a [[marble]] [[sculpture]] by the [[France|French]] sculptor [[Auguste Rodin]]. Like many of Rodin's best-known individual sculptures, including ''[[The Thinker]]'', the embracing couple depicted in the sculpture appeared originally as part of a group of [[relief]]s decorating Rodin's monumental bronze portal ''[[The Gates of Hell]]'', commissioned for a planned museum of art in [[Paris]]. The couple were later removed from the ''Gates'' and replaced with another pair of lovers located on the smaller right-hand column.

WOSU is the oldest radio station in [[Columbus, Ohio]] that is still currently broadcasting. WOSU's origins trace back to 1920 when Ohio State University was granted an experimental license on [[April 20]], [[1920]]. On [[June 3]], [[1922]], the station received the call letters WEAO. In 1933, the call letters were changed to WOSU.

==Controversial homage to women==

Today, WOSU-AM is primarily an NPR member station, however, also broadcasts programs from [[American Public Media]] and [[Public Radio International]]. WOSU-AM is also home to the Ohio State [[Hockey]]. [[Women's Basketball]], and [[Baseball]] broadcasts.

Rodin indicated that his approach to sculpting women was of homage to them and their bodies, not just submitting to men but as full partners in ardor. The consequent [[eroticism]] in the sculpture made it controversial. A bronze version of ''The Kiss'' (74 cm high) was sent for display at the [[1893]] [[World Columbian Exposition|Chicago World's Fair]]. The sculpture was considered unsuitable for general display and relegated to an inner chamber with admission only by personal application.

In addition to it's sports and news coverage, the station also produces an award-winning talk show, ''Open Line'' with host, Fred Anderle, during weekday mornings.

==Smaller versions of ''The Kiss'' ==

During [[July]] [[2005]], WOSU supported the [[StoryCorps]] project, developed by the [[Library of Congress]] to record and archive unique and notable stories by regular citizens. Some local tales recorded by StoryCorps are archived on WOSU-AM's website.

Rodin's method of making large sculptures was to employ assistant sculptors to copy a smaller model made from a material which was easier to work than marble. Once they had finished, Rodin himself would put the finishing touches to the larger version.

== See Also ==

Before creating the marble version of ''The Kiss'', Rodin produced several smaller sculptures in [[plaster]], [[terracotta]] and [[bronze]]. The sculpture was originally titled ''[[Francesca da Rimini]]'', as it depicts the [[13th century|13th-century]] Italian noblewoman immortalised in [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]]'s [[Divine Comedy#Inferno|Inferno]] (Circle 2, Canto 5) who falls in love with her husband [[Giovanni Malatesta]]'s younger brother [[Paolo Malatesta|Paolo]]. Having fallen in love while reading the story of [[Lancelot]] and [[Guinevere]], the couple are discovered and killed by Francesca's husband. In the sculpture, the book can be seen in Paolo's hand. When critics first saw the sculpture in [[1887]], they suggested the less specific title ''Le Baiser'' (''The Kiss'').

* [[WOSU]]

== External links ==

[[Image:Hoellentor.jpg|thumb|left|''[[The Gates of Hell]]'', sculpture by Rodin]]

* [http://www.wosu.org/am/npr820.php Official website]

* [http://www.storycorps.net StoryCorps]

* {{AMQ|WOSU}}

[[Category:Radio stations in Columbus, Ohio]]

== Larger-than-life marble carvings of ''The Kiss'' ==

[[Category:NPR member stations]]

[[Category:College radio stations in the United States]]

=== The French commission ===

In [[1888]], the French government ordered the first large-scale marble version of ''The Kiss'' from Rodin for the [[1889]] ''Exhibition Universelle'', but it was publicly displayed for the first time in the ''[[Salon de la Société National des Beaux-Arts]]'' in [[1898]]. It was so popular that the company ''[[Barbedienne]]'' offered Rodin a contract to produce a limited number of smaller copies in [[bronze]]. In [[1900]] the statue was moved to the [[Musée du Luxembourg]] before being taken to its current ___location, the [[Musée Rodin]], in [[1918]].

=== Edward Perry Warren's commission ===

In [[1900]], Rodin made a copy for Edward Perry Warren, an eccentric American collector who lived in [[Lewes]] in [[Sussex]], [[England]], with his collection of [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] antiquities and his lover John Marshall. After seeing ''The Kiss'' in the Salon de Paris, the painter [[William Rothenstein]] recommended it to Warren as a possible purchase, but ''The Kiss'' had been commissioned by the French government and was not available for sale. In its place, Rodin offered to make a copy and Warren offered half of its original price (10,000 francs, instead of 20,000), but Rodin would not lower the price. The contract for the commission included that "the genitals of the man must be complete." A previous letter explained that "being a pagan and lover of antiquities," Warren hoped that the genitals of the man would be sculpted prominently in the Classical Greek tradition rather than modestly hidden.

When the sculpture arrived in Lewes in [[1904]], Warren placed it in the stables where it remained for a decade. It is not known whether this ___location was chosen due to the great size of the sculpture or because it did not fulfil Warren's expectations. In [[1914]] the sculpture was loaned to Lewes town council and put on public display in the town hall. A number of puritanical local residents, led by headmistress Miss Fowler-Tutt, objected to the [[erotic]] nature of the sculpture. They were particularly concerned that it might encourage the ardour of the large number of soldiers who were billeted in the town at that time and successfully campaigned to have the sculpture draped and screened from public view. It was returned to Warren's residence at Lewes House in [[1917]] where it remained stored in a stable for 12 years until Warren's death in [[1929]]. The beneficiary of Warren's will, H. Asa Thomas, put the sculpture up for sale with Gorringes, the local auctioneers, but it failed to meet its reserve price and was withdrawn from sale. A few years later it was loaned to the [[Tate Gallery]] in [[London]]. In [[1955]] the Tate bought the sculpture for the nation at a cost of £7,500. In [[1999]] between [[5 June]] and [[30 October]], ''the Kiss'' returned briefly to Lewes as part of a exhibition of Rodin's works. It now resides at the [[Tate Modern]].

=== Carl Jacobsen's commission ===

A third replica was commissioned in [[1900]] by Carl Jacobsen for his projected museum in [[Copenhagen]], [[Denmark]]. The replica was made in [[1903]], and became part of the initial collection of the [[Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek]], inaugurated in 1906. <!-- (Inventory Number ''MIN 609''). -->

=== Additional notes ===

The three larger marble versions were exhibited together at the [[Musée d'Orsay]] in 1995.

A fourth, smaller copy, about 90 cm in height (compared to 181.5 cm for the copy in Paris), was made after the death of Rodin by sculptor [[Henri Greber]] for the [http://www.rodinmuseum.org/ Rodin Museum] of [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]].

A large numbers of bronze casts have been done of ''The Kiss''. The [[Musée Rodin]] reports that the Barbedienne foundry alone produced 319. [http://www.rodin-web.org/report_rom/1_07.htm] According to French law issued in [[1978]], only the first twelve can be called original editions.

==References==

*This article draws heavily on the [[:es:El Beso (Auguste Rodin)|corresponding article]] in the Spanish-language Wikipedia, which was accessed in the version of [[July 17]], [[2005]].

* ''The World of Rodin 1840-1917'', (Time-Life Library of Art, 1969) by William Harlan Hale

==External links==

* [http://www.musee-rodin.fr/senf2-e.htm#baiser-e ''The Kiss''] at [[Musée Rodin]], [[Paris]], France

* [http://www.glyptoteket.dk/ ''Ny Calsberg Glyptotoek], [[Copenhagen]], Denmark

* [http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/ ''Tate Britain''], [[London]], England

* [http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/utopia/circle2.html ''Alighieri, Dante. Inferno, Canto V'']

[[Category:Sculptures|Kiss, The]]

[[es:El Beso (Auguste Rodin)]]

[[fr:Le Baiser (Auguste Rodin)]]

[[nl:De Kus]]