During that period, few women achieved celebrity in the field of sculpture, which, unlike painting or drawing, continued to be a largely male enterprise. Densely material, largely reliant on nude models, physically demanding, and bound up in male-dominated and politicized systems of state patronage, sculpture was not considered a polite art, and Claudel’s ambitions in that arena were transgressive. Her work prompted the critic Octave Mirbeau to famously exclaim, “We are in the presence of something unique, a revolt of nature: a woman genius.”
The Implorer (large model), modeled about 1898–99, cast about 1905
Camille Claudel. Private collection. Image courtesy of Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe
Crouching Woman, about 1884–85
Camille Claudel. Musée Camille Claudel, Nogent-sur-Seine. Photo by Marco Illuminati
Claudel’s biography—her passionate and complicated relationship with her teacher, Auguste Rodin, and her forced confinement in a psychiatric institution for the final 30 years of her life—is popularly known today, but her forward-thinking artworks have received less attention in the United States. This exhibition is the first comprehensive display of Claudel’s work in the United States in over 20 years and marks the 130th anniversary of the first public presentation of her sculpture in this country—at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Featuring some 60 sculptures from more than 30 institutional and private lenders, the presentation gathers her key compositions—including Young Roman, recently acquired by the Art Institute—showcasing her remarkable technical ability and innovative creations across multiple genres and materials. These range from portraiture to large-scale allegories to scenes inspired by her keen observation of everyday life, and are made in terracotta, plaster, bronze, and stone.
The Waltz (Allioli), about 1900
Camille Claudel. Private collection. Photo courtesy of Musée Yves Brayer
Giganti or Head of a Brigand, modeled about 1885, cast 1885–before 1892
Camille Claudel. Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille
Abandonment (detail), cast about 1905
Camille Claudel. Private collection
Claudel’s sculptures contend with universal themes of love, loss, passion, and the intimacy of daily experience; they embody the artist’s uncompromising pursuit of stylistic and professional independence. Her genius and sensibility are so thoroughly modern that her works continue to resonate, perhaps even more loudly today than during her tumultuous life.
The Chatterboxes, 1897
Camille Claudel. Musée Rodin, Paris. © Musée Rodin. Photo by Christian Baraja
Curated by Emerson Bowyer at the Art Institute and Anne-Lise Desmas at the J. Paul Getty Museum, the exhibition is accompanied by a scholarly catalogue with essays by specialists on Claudel, newly translated letters written by the sculptor, and a contribution by contemporary artist Kiki Smith.
Sponsors
Lead support for Camille Claudel is provided by an anonymous donor.
Major funding is provided by the Walter and Karla Goldschmidt Foundation, an anonymous donor, Amy and Paul Carbone, Marion A. Cameron-Gray, Nancy and Sanfred Koltun, Barbara and James MacGinnitie, Monika A. McLennan, Robin and Sandy Stuart, and Diane M. Tkach and James F. Freundt.
Members of the Luminary Trust provide annual leadership support for the museum’s operations, including exhibition development, conservation and collection care, and educational programming. The Luminary Trust includes an anonymous donor, Karen Gray-Krehbiel and John Krehbiel, Jr., Kenneth C. Griffin, the Harris Family Foundation in memory of Bette and Neison Harris, Josef and Margot Lakonishok, Robert M. and Diane v.S. Levy, Ann and Samuel M. Mencoff, Sylvia Neil and Dan Fischel, Cari and Michael J. Sacks, and the Earl and Brenda Shapiro Foundation.
