François Auguste René Rodin

Ah, François Auguste René Rodin, the man who sculpted feelings. Considered the father of modern sculpture, he masterfully captured the messy, beautiful chaos of being human in bronze and marble. He gave us iconic works like "The Thinker" and "The Kiss". Interestingly, the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts in Paris rejected him three times. Perhaps they weren't ready for his revolutionary style. After his sister's death, a grief-stricken Rodin briefly joined a Catholic order, but was encouraged by a priest to return to his art. A juicy, though likely false, rumor from his time was that his sculptures were so realistic he must have been casting them from live models—a serious accusation of "cheating" back then. He also had a famously tumultuous love life, including a passionate affair with his talented student, Camille Claudel.