Once inside the museum’s stone gateway, one immediately notices the large, impressive gardens that surround the mansion. The gardens are peaceful and lovely, with a view of both the gilded dome of Les Invalides, and the top portion of the Eiffel Tower. But the biggest attraction are the countless Rodin sculptures that dot the landscape, from the large, elaborate masterpiece "The Gates of Hell" on the eastern end, to "The Thinker" who sits on a high pedestal surrounded by geometric, maze-like hedges, on the western side. Behind the mansion, the gardens continue, with sculptures peeking out at surprising moments, and a long, glass-windowed contemporary building housing some of the artist’s larger plasters. The museum’s interior contains all the other greats, from the delicate intertwined marble hands series, to the monumental "The Kiss". There are also many notable examples of Rodin’s early works, including some surprisingly academic busts, and "L’Age d’airain". This bronze of a young soldier was so lifelike that when it was first exhibited, people thought Rodin had simply made a cast of the model, and hadn’t sculpted it himself. The comment changed the artist’s work, causing him to work on a larger scale, as well as to develop his "unfinished" style. Besides Rodin’s oeuvre, one also finds several sculptures by his pupil and ill-fated lover Camille Claudel, including "The Wave" and "The Waltz".

But the Musée also offers even more insight into Rodin and his works. On the walls of nearly every room are paintings the artist collected. There are canvasses by Monet, Renoir, Carrière, Meunier, Rafaelli, Degas, Géricault, and Van Gogh, not to mention a number of delicate landscapes and portraits by Rodin himself. The highlight of this part of the museum for most people will be Van Gogh’s brilliantly- textured and -colored portrait of Père Tanguy. It is fascinating to observe these paintings to see how and if, at times, they’ve influenced the sculptor’s own oeuvre (especially thought provoking here are the drawings by Degas). Art, tragic love, and masterpieces -- not only do the works Rodin realized and collected make for a splendid museum visit; they also reveal more about the sculptor’s life and creations, than any self-portrait.