"A. Rodin Imprinted"

I'm fascinated by signatures. It is not that I claim to be able to read anything into each slanted line or big loop that tells me something definitive about the person who created it, but still a signature does seem to carry more meaning than the name itself. Perhaps it is that combination of the intimate and public in one act.

The act of writing our signatures is unique, practiced, and a moment of natural focus that we all experience. It is in its way artful. And while so much of a signature is just about the person writing it, we more often pull that signature out for public use than private: on checks, receipts, credit card machines, and important documents. We are aware of our signatures' public presentation of us.

So, I guess that is why with the glory of a larger than life expressively wrought statue in front me I couldn't help but have a special private delight in honing in on what felt like a personal detail from the artist's life when I spotted this dirt laden signature.