Description
Book SynopsisCamille Claudel (1864–1943) was among the most daring and visionary sculptors of the late nineteenth century. Although much attention has been paid to her tumultuous life—her affair with her mentor, Auguste Rodin; the premature end to her career; her thirty-year institutionalization in an asylum—her art remains little known outside of France. Memorably praised by critic Octave Mirbeau in 1895 as “a revolt of nature: a woman of genius,” Claudel was celebrated for her brilliance during a time when female woman sculptors were rare. Featuring more than two hundred photographs along with contributions from leading experts, this publication accompanies the first comprehensive survey of Claudel’s oeuvre in nearly forty years. With essays exploring the many facets of her life, work, and reception; a biography; commentary by American sculptor Kiki Smith; and a fascinating appendix of documents written by Claudel and her contemporaries, this volume reevaluates the artist’s work on its own merits and repositions her legacy within a more complex genealogy of modernism.
Table of ContentsDirectors' Foreword - Timothy Potts and James Rondeau Acknowledgments/list of lenders Introduction Notes to the Reader An Interview with the artist Kiki Smith Camille Claudel: A Biographical Overview - Cécile Bertran Women Sculptors in Late Nineteenth-Century Paris: Artistic Education and Career - Clarisse Fava-Piz Patrons and Supporters of Camille Claudel - Anne-Lise Desmas Claudel's Critical Reception from Her Internment in 1913 until Now - Emerson Bowyer CataloguePortraits - Anne-Lise Desmas In Rodin's Studio - Clarisse Fava-Piz Sakuntala, 1886–1905 - Chloé Ariot The Waltz, 1889–1905 - Franck Joubin The Age of Maturity, 1890–1907 - Emerson Bowyer The Little Miss, 1892–98 - Chloé Pelletier Small Genre Statuary, 1895–1905 - Anne-Lise Desmas The Last Years, 1902–5 - Anne-Lise Desmas Checklist of the Exhibition Chronology
