1917
Dead
1840 
August Rodin was born on 12 November, in Paris.
1850 
He Started to draw.
1854 
He attended a special school for drawing and mathematics, known as “La Petite Ecole”, and followed courses given by Lecocq de Boisbaudran and the painter Belloc.
1855 
Rodin discovered sculpture.
1857 
He left “La Petit Ecole” and sought admission to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He was rejected three times.
1858 
Rodin worked for several decorators and ornamentlists.
1862 
Stricken by the death of his sister Maria, he withdrew to the Monastery of the Order of the Holy Sacrament, where he stayed for one year, until 1863.
1864 
He started to work with Carrier-Belleuse. He met Rose Beuret, aged 20. Birth of Camille Claudel.
1866 
Birth of his son Auguste-Eugène Beuret.
1867 
He worked as a practicien (sculptor’s assistant) for several ornamentalists.
1870 
Rodin accompanied Van Rasbourgh to Brussels. On his return to Paris, he was enlisted in the Garde Nationale as a corporal but was subsequently discharged because of his myopia.
1871 
After his discharge, he joined Carrier-Belleuse in Belgium. Death of his mother, Rose joined Rodin in Brussels at the end of the year.
1872 
He stopped working for Carrier-Belleuse and return to Paris.
1873 
He associated himself with the Belgian sculptor Antoine-Joseph Van Rasbourgh.
1874 
While in Belgium, he participated in the decoration of the Palais des Académies in Brussels, painted a series of landscapes of the Soignes forest and made some lithographs to illustrate the satirical magazaine Le Petit Comique.
1875 
Rodin traveled to Italy where he studied the work of Michelangelo. After the trip from Italy, he started to work on《The Age of Bronze》.
1877 
He exhibited 《The Age of Bronze》 at the Cercle Artistique et Littéraire in Brussels, then the Salon des Artistes Française in Paris. Rodin was accused of having cast his statue directly from life. In autumn, Rodin undertook his first tour of cathedrals in central France. Rodin and Rose left Belgium and returned to France.
1879 
Rodin worked at the Manufacture de Sèvres until Decembre 1882.
1880 
He moved into his first studio at the Dépot des Marbes, 182 Rue de l’Université, which he kept until he died. The French State bought 《The Age of Bronze》and commissioned him to sculpt a monumental door,《The Gate of Hell》for the future Museum of Decorative Arts. Although he worked on it until the end of his life, it was never delivered and was only cast in bronze after he died.
1881 
The French State bought a bronze model of 《Saint John the Baptist》. He visited England for the first time and learned the techniques of engraving from Alphonse Legros in London.
1882 
He sculpted the figures of《Adam》,《Eve》and《The Thinker》.
1883 
He met Camille Claudel, who was only 19 years old. Death of Rodin’s father.
1885 
The city council of Calais commissioned a monument to commemorate Eustache de Saint Pierre, which was to become known as The Monument to 《The Burghers of Calais》 and was inaugurated in 1895 in the presence of Rodin.
1886 
He received orders for monuments to Benjmin Vicuna Mackenna and General Patricio Lynch for Santiago in Chile.《The Kiss》was finished.
1887 
He was appointed Knight of the Légion d’Honneur. He illustrated a copy of “Les Fleurs du Mal”by Baudelaire belonging to Gallimard.
1888 
The State commissioned 《The Kiss》 in marble for the Universal Exhibition of 1889.
1889 
He became a founding member of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. He received a commission for a Monument to Claude Lorrain which was inagurated in Nancy in 1892. He exhibited with Claude Monet at the Galerie Georges Petit. He received an order for a Monument to Victor Hugo to be placed in the Pantheon.
1890 
The project for the Monument to 《Victor Hugo》 (Victor Hugo seated) was turned down.
1891 
While he prepared a new maquette for the Pantheon (Victor Hugo standing), the first project for a Monument to Victor Hugo was ordered for a garden. The Société des Gens de Lettres commissioned a Monument to 《Balzac》.
1892 
Rodin was promoted Officer of the Légion d 'Honneur.
1893 
Rodin succeeded Dalou as President of the Sculpture Department and Vice-President of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. He hired Bourdelle as a practicien.
1894 
On 28 November. Rodin was invited by Monet to Giverny where he met Cézanne. He received an order for a Monument to Sarmiento for Buenos Aires (Argentina) which was inaugurated in 1900.
1895 
He bought the Villa des Brillants in Meudon which he had rented since 1893 and started to build up his collection of antiques and paintings. Inauguration in Calais of The Monument to 《The Burghers of Calais》.
1896 
“Rodin, Puvis de Chavannes, Carrière” exhibition at the Rath Museum in Geneva.
1897 
An art patron, Maurice Fenaille, publisfied a series of 142 drawings by Rodin, with a preface by Octave Mirbeau, known as the “Goupil Album” (named after the publisher). The Monument to Victor Hugo was displayed at the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts.
1898 
He broke up with Camille Claudel who was then 34 years old. The Société des Gens de Lettres refused the plaster statue of 《Balzac》 which was presented at the Salon of the Société Nafionale des Beaux-Arts.
1899 
He received a commission for a Monument to Puvis de Chavannes. First exhibition devoted to him in Brussels, then Rotterdam, Amsterdam and The Hague. The large-scale 《Eve》was shown at the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts.
1900 
Rodin was appointed Knight of the Order of Leopold of Belgium. Inauguration of the Rodin Pavilion at Place de l'Alma in Paris on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition.
1901 
The Rodin Pavilion for the Universal Exhibition was dismantled and reinstalled in Meudon, on the grounds of the Villa des Brillants. It was converted into a studio. Major photographic exhibition of Rodin s works by Eugene Druet at the Galerie des Artistes Modemes.
1902 
Major exhibition of Rodin in Prague. Rodin met the poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926). He was Rodin’s secretary from 15 September 1905 to 12 May 1906. Illustrations for the second edition of  “Mirbeau 's Jardin des Supplices”, with lithographs by Auguste Clot.
1903 
Rodin was appointed Commander of the Legion d'Honneur.
1904 
Rodin met the Duchesse de ChoiseuI (their friendship broke up in 1912). First exhibition of a large-scale plaster of The Thinker at the International Society of Painters, Sculptors and Engravers in London, then a bronze version at the Salon in Paris. Friendship with Gwendolen Mary John (1876-1939), an English painter, woman of letters, and sister of the painter Augustus John. She became the mistress of Rodin and was his model for the《Whistler Muse》. International exhibition in Dusseldorf.
1905 
Rodin was appointed member of the Conseil Supérieur des Beaux-Arts and awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Iéna.
1906 
Rodin was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Glasgow. The Thinker was placed in front of the Pantheon. Rodin was appointed titular member of the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts. He painted a series of watercolours of Cambodian dancers who performed at the Colonial Exhibition in Marseilles. He met the Japanese dancer Hanako (1868-1945) who posed for him for the first time in 1907.
1907 
Rodin was granted an Honorary Doctorate by Oxford University. The first　major exhibition devoted exclusively to his drawings at the Galerie Bernheim　Jeune in Paris. The Walking Man (large model) was exhibited at the Salon of　the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts.
1908 
《The Cathedral》was created. Thanks to Rilke, Rodin discovered the Hôtel Biron (now the Rodin Museum in Paris) and moved in. Major exhibitions of drawings in Vienna, Leipzig and Paris.
1909 
Decision to sell the Hôtel Biron. Major exhibition of drawings at the Galerie Devambez in Paris. First draft of a donation to the State drawn up by Paul Escudier.
1910 
Rodin was appointed Grand Officer of tlie Légion d'Honneur. Exhibition of drawings at the Gil Bias Salle des Fêtes in Paris.
1911 
Royal exhibition of the Berlin Fine Arts Academy. The State commissioned a Bust of Puivis de Chavannes for the Pantheon. Acquisition of《The Burghers of Calais》by England for the Westminster garden. 《The Walking Man》was installed in the Palazzo Farnese in Rome.
1912 
Rodin exhibition in Tokyo. Display of drawings at the Nouvelle Bibliotheque in Lyons. Inauguration of the Rodin Room in the Metropolitan Museum of New York.
1913 
Internment of Camille Claudel in an asylum. Exhibition at the Faculty of Medicine in Paris where Rodin’ s collection of antiques were shown for the first time. Rodin went to London to supervise the installation of《The Burghers of Calais》in front of the Parliament.
1914 
Publication by Armand Colin of the “Cathédrales de France”, and a preface by Charles Morice. Rodin fled the war and left France for England with Rose, in the company of Judith Cladel. He stayed in Rome with the Marshalls.
1915 
Another trip to Rome during which Rodin sculpted a Bust of Pope Benedict XV. 《The Burghers of Calais》 was unveiled officially in London without a ceremony. Exhibition of sixteen of the eighteen works donated to England at the Royal Scottish Academy of Edinburgh.
1916 
Rodin fell seriously ill. Three successive donations (1st April, 13 September and 25 October) of Rodin s collections to the State. The Chamber of Deputies and then the Senate accepted the donation, and the National Assembly voted for the establishment of the Rodin Museum in the Hôtel Biron.
1917
Rodin married Rose Beuret on 29 January in Meudon. Rose died on 14 February and Rodin died on 17 November. He was buried in Meudon on 24 November, next to Rose. Their tomb is dominated by The Thinker.
1919 
A decree officially established the Rodin Museum which opened its doors to the public on 4 August 1919.