Camille Claudel was a French sculptor and artist. Her fascination for clay, stone, and dirt, began when she was a young child, and as she came of age, despite the protestations of her mother, her father supported her to study art. Around 1884, she started working with Auguste Rodin and before long became his lover and confidante. Obviously her family was outraged by the affair.
After 1905, she was afflicted by a mental illness. In the throes of her paranoia, she destroyed much of her work. Today, only 90 pieces exist. She disappeared for long periods of time, which alarmed her family. She came to believe that Rodin had stolen her all her ideas and he would soon kill her. As a result, she hid from the world, locking herself in her workshop to work. In 1913, her brother convinced her to voluntarily enter a psychiatric hospital where she had numerous outbursts. Despite her agitation, whenever engrossed in creating art, she was always…
Read original History and Women.
First Night Design 
Good morning Sarah,
The life of Camille Claudel has always fascinated me, especially her relationship with Rodin.
God knows it’s hard enough today to make one’s way as a woman in the arts….back then it would have been a nightmare.
Personally, I don’t think she was mad at all….but rather caught up in the madness of art/gender politics at that time.
Thank you and have a lovely day filled with smiles:)x
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Good morning, dear Janet. I quite agree. There were too many women who were unnecessarily incarcerated in mental asylums and spent the remainder of their lives there. Have you ever read Sebastian Barry’s The Secret Scripture? I recommend it highly.
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I haven’t read The Secret Scripture, and so will order. Thank you Sarah…have a lovely day. Janet.
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a beautiful young woman…but, so sad…probably some amazing work was lost…
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Heartbreaking to think of the losses.
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What an extraordinary face. I agree with Janet about the terrible pressures there must have been on women artists of her day. So many talented women became subsumed, invisible.
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So many and thus many lost to history. It is a sublime face – one can detect such pain in those eyes.
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she was a fascinating woman and an amazing artist in her own right. i saw a film about her and rodin once and it was painfully sad. i think part of her ‘madness’ was due to the constraints she was under at that time and place in history.
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I think you’re absolutely right. While women today still have many crosses to bear, we are fortunate in countless ways.
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Good Morning Sarah, What a story, thank you for putting up, I will share this dear Sarah, always love..love you side bar
Sherri
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I’m pleased you enjoyed it, Sherri. The History and Women blog is well worth following.
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If I get a chance I would love to go there..
have a great week.
Sherri
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Reblogged this on Sherri's Sharing.
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I remember seeing an exhibition of her work at Rodin’s museum in Paris. Women artists had a very difficult life
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I envy you, Olga. As I often do for one reason or another!
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How sad this story is. I wonder if she would have been locked up and kept there if she had been a man?
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Very sad. I rather doubt they would have been quite so quick to lock her up if she’d been a man.
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a fascinating artist, one who went too soon into the night…. sad so many suffered so many centuries due to illness of the mind(or not). Her work is staggeringly beautiful. Hoping life is treating you well. xo
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Yes, too soon. I agree that her work is beautiful. Thank heaven we have some of it. As I recommended to Janet, it’s well worth reading Sebastian Barry’s The Secret Scripture which is a novel about a woman who is locked up in the early part of the century.
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Wonderful! Prompted me to read up on her. Such great art and a sad story.
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How delighted I am that it has made you find out more. My life’s work is done. 😀
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How sad, considering at a young age she knew what art meant to her and the love of creativity. It seems her father, didn’t take care to be sure she would be safe and secure with Rodin resulting in a destroyed life and destruction of her life’s work. She was incredibly talented – those remaining 90 pieces are treasures.
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Couldn’t agree more, Mary.
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Thank you very much for liking my blog post!
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My pleasure, harmonioustew.
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Wonderful!
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Glad you enjoyed the article, Shelby.
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