A debate held in October in London on public sculpture was attended by a broad range of professionals concerned with advising and commissioning as well by many interested members of the public. Passions ran deep and there were few voices of dissent from the general view that the proliferation of public sculpture is now completely out of hand. This applies both to commemorative and memorialising works as well as to sculpture for its own sake, with little or no specific historical or social import. The former are rampant, the latter relatively few.

Shortly before his death, Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) made provisions to bequeath to the French nation his entire stock, archives and personal collection. To these, he added two buildings as a museum and shrine to his art and life. The Hôtel Biron in Paris and the Villa des Brillants in the suburb of Meudon form the Musée Rodin, opened to the public in 1919. 2012 marks a significant turn for this institution: an ambitious programme of renovation and redisplay is under way, under the leadership of the Museum’s new director, Catherine Chevillot.