Camille Claudel, Sculptor and Artist
Camille Claudel before 1883. Image credit: César, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
About a hundred kilometers southeast of Paris, the village of Nogent-sur-Seine honors one of its most creative residents with the first museum in France to focus on the works of a female artist. Sculptor Camille Claudel spent only a few years of her adolescence there, but it was the clay of its riverbanks that gave her the opportunity to express forms through sculpture. The Musée Camille Claudel opened seven years ago to exhibit a large collection of her work as well as that of other sculptors of the 19th century such as her former teachers Alfred Boucher and Auguste Rodin.
Claudel, the oldest of three children, was introduced by her father Louis-Prosper to Boucher, who encouraged her to develop her artistic talent. She moved with her mother and siblings to Paris in 1881 at the age of sixteen and studied under Boucher in addition to pursuing art studies at the Académie Colarossi, which accepted female art students unlike the Académie des Beaux-Arts. The following year, Claudel and several English students whom she met at Colarossi rented studio space together but soon thereafter lost their instructor, Boucher, who moved to Florence after being awarded the Grand Prix du Salon. He asked his friend and fellow sculptor, Auguste Rodin, to take his place as a mentor to his female students.
Camille Claudel, “L’Abandon / Abandonment”, cast about 1905. Private collection exhibited by The Art Institute of Chicago. Image credit: Kathy Hymson
Thus started a multifaceted and turbulent relationship between Claudel and Rodin that would last for several decades. Nearly a quarter-century younger than Rodin, Claudel became his student, muse, assistant, and lover for nine years. She assisted Rodin on some of his masterpieces such as The Gates of Hell but he also took inspiration from Claudel, an influence that was seldom acknowledged until recently. During their time together, Claudel created Sakuntala, a sculpture of an embracing couple based on a scene from an ancient play by the Indian poet Kālidāsa, which received an honorable mention at the 1888 Salon des Artistes Français. The work was later cast in bronze by gallery and foundry owner Eugène Blot, who supported Claudel’s career in the early 1900s, and renamed L’Abandon / Abandonment.
As a well-established artist, Rodin provided Claudel with resources and an environment to pursue her artistic ambitions in his studio while her presence rewarded Rodin with her energy, vision, and ideas that contributed to his art. He was effusive in his praise of her abilities and advocated for her to receive commissions but refused to leave his longtime partner, Rose Beuret. Claudel’s growing frustration with their personal relationship and Rodin’s satisfaction with the status quo contributed to her decision to set out on her own in 1893. She turned down Rodin’s offers of financial support but he found ways to back her financially and professionally. Claudel received a commission from the French government in 1895 for L’Âge mûr / The Age of Maturity but the state reneged on its commission. Another commission from that year, Clotho, was removed from the Musée du Luxembourg. It was Claudel’s belief and that of others that Rodin was behind these setbacks after he viewed the model for L’Âge mûr, which is comprised of a man embraced by a woman as they turn their backs on a younger woman on her knees, arms outstretched toward them.
Camille Claudel, “L’Implorante / The Implorer,” modeled about 1898–99, cast about 1905. Private collection, exhibited at The Art Institute of Chicago. Image credit: Kathy Hymson
On her own, Claudel had to scrape together occasional sales, commissions, and sponsors to maintain her professional career, but the mounting disappointments were taking their toll. She suspected that Rodin was sabotaging her career and stealing her ideas, and showed increasing signs of mental instability. At a reception following a gallery exhibition of her work in 1905, Claudel lost her temper and caused a scene that alienated attendees. She lost the support of one of her patrons, the Comtesse de Maigret, and retreated into her studio where she would periodically destroy her own work in fits of rage. By 1911, she rarely left her studio and interacted with others infrequently.
Louis-Prosper Claudel had remained supportive of his daughter’s art career but the rest of the family was concerned and scandalized by her choice of vocation and personal conduct. Upon Louis-Prosper’s death in 1913, Claudel’s younger brother Paul signed papers to confine Camille to a psychiatric facility in suburban Paris. She was transferred to an asylum in the south of France as World War I hostilities intensified and lived there for some thirty years before passing away in 1943 at the age of 78. During this time, friends and doctors periodically advocated for her release but her family did not agree. They rarely visited and Claudel no longer created art as far as is known.
Camille Claudel’s sculptures show her depth of feeling and attention to human relationships expressed through applications of her considerable technical talent. Her skill with sculpting human forms was aided by her study of anatomy at the Académie Colarossi, which allowed female students to view nude male models as part of their art education. She incorporated emotions ranging from serenity to distress as well as intimate expressions of love and loss in her work, making them timeless and relevant to all.
Movies and discussions of Camille Claudel often focused on her relationship with Rodin and its ensuing fallout rather than exploring the life and works of the artist. Working with a sculptor who used her even as he promoted her talent and during a period when art was not considered a suitable profession for women by society and most of her own family, Claudel was unable to achieve recognition or personal satisfaction during her own lifetime. It is fortunate that the sculptures she successfully brought to fruition endure to bolster her artistic legacy. A comprehensive exhibition of Camille Claudel’s work and life recently closed at the Art Institute of Chicago and is moving to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles to be shown from April 2 through July 21.
Jeu de français
Having lived a life of disappointment and betrayal yet devoted to her passion while she was able, Camille Claudel left sculptures that are now earning her the respect and acclaim that she was always due. Find eleven words pertaining to her life and art in the word search below.
Subscribe to our newsletter to receive Art de vivre posts, information about courses, Conversation Café, special events, and other news from l’Institut français d’Oak Park.