Albert Elsen; Stanford Professor, Rodin Expert

Albert Elsen, 67, a Stanford University art professor and expert on sculptor Auguste Rodin. Elsen helped established a Rodin sculpture garden on the Stanford campus and is credited with reviving public and scholarly awareness of Rodin’s work. A native of New York City, Elsen earned several degrees at Columbia University. He taught at Carlton College in Minnesota before heading to Stanford as a visiting professor in 1963. He joined the faculty there in 1968. Elsen’s enthusiasm for art and Rodin drew the attention of financier B. Gerald Cantor, who donated all the pieces of the Rodin sculpture garden and $10 million to the university’s Museum of Art. In Palo Alto on Thursday of an apparent heart attack.