Auguste Rodin primarily modeled his sculptures in clay before bronze casting.
Clay was central to Rodin’s working process because it could be shaped, added to, removed, and repeatedly revised. He often created a small or full-size clay model first, after which assistants could make plaster versions. Bronze foundries then used those models in the casting process.
This process explains why a bronze Rodin sculpture is not necessarily a unique object personally carved by the artist from solid metal. Rodin’s studio produced multiple versions, and authorized bronze casts could be made after his lifetime under legal and institutional arrangements.
Stone was also important to Rodin, especially for works such as The Kiss and Monument to Balzac, but stone carving followed a different process. Rodin’s artistic reputation rests especially on his expressive handling of clay and his ability to preserve the sense of movement in later plaster and bronze forms.