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International Art Treasures Web Magazine April 2005 |
Rodin & ClaudelCamille Claudel and Auguste Rodin
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Camille and Auguste's story begins in 1882. She, a youthful eighteen, is hired by the master sculptor to work with him on his commissions The Gates of Hell and The Burgers of Calais. He was in his early forties and was inspiration and desperation for Camille. Je Suise Belle / I am Beautiful and The Vague / The Wave are reflective of the early happy times with the couple. |
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The exhibition is divided into five key sections, chronologically following the relationship between the two sculptors. |
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They are
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It was a decade of relative happiness that marked the best of times between the two. The relationship, albeit stormy, was the greatest love of one another's life. It wasn't to last. |
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L'Age Mur / The Age of Maturity is Claudel's rendition of a young girl trying by sheer force of will to pull an elderly man, Rodin, back from entering old age. This inability to cope with the generation gap, and knowing she likely faced the future alone, drove her beyond the realms of reason. |
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Camille ended the relationship. In 1917 Rodin married Rose Beuret shortly before she died and he would not last out the year. Camille didn't find love again and spent the last 40 years of her life in an insane asylum. |
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One of the works on which they collaborated, The Gates of Hell was not finished. It was commissioned by the French Government to be the entrance to a Museum that wasn't built. The unfinished work resides outside the Musee d'Orsey. Some of that sculpture formed individual works such as The Thinker and The Kiss. |
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Fateful Encounter includes thirty works from each artist reflecting their talent and their relationship. The exhibit's North American debut is at the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, which is featured in-depth in this issue here.