Providing a cultural highlight of the year, one of the best known works of Auguste Rodin is being exhibited at the Meštrović Gallery in Split. His sculpture Meditation directly inspired his great friend, Ivan Meštrović himself, to create his 1927 work Psyche, one of the key attractions of the permanent collection in the gallery in Split. For first time, the two sculptures are being displayed side by side.
There is an interesting story behind this and explains why this masterpiece is coming to Split. The two artists were close friends during the Croatian’s years in Paris, and in 2012, in preparation for a Meštrović retrospective in the French capital, a long lost letter written by Rodin emerged. The document, now in the possession of the Meštrović Gallery, Rodin says he was going to give a plaster model of Meditation to the Croatian artist. World War I and Rodin's death meant that the gift remained in France but now, almost a century later, Meditation is coming to Meštrović’s former home. Besides the two sculptures, the letter will also be exhibited, and the whole project will be accompanied by a multimedia presentation.