Rodin and Claudel | The Cultural Me

French sculptor François Auguste René Rodin is well-known for his creations of The Kiss (1882) and The Thinker (1904), but a tragic love story follows his career. He had many lovers who modelled for his sculptures, including Camille Claudel, a fellow French sculptor. Rodin and Claudel met when she was 19 and he was 42. Their relationship lasted for about 10 years and she grew to be his pupil, muse, assistant and lover. They helped each other’s artistry and modelled for each other in works such as Rodin’s The Slave and Laughing Man (1885) and Claudel’s the Bust of Rodin (1889); however, she felt her light was dimmed by Rodin’s fame and decided to part ways with him. She worked on her own career and exhibited her works in galleries around Paris, but she never felt she was respected as an artist by her peers, especially Rodin and his friends. She was known to destroy her pieces regularly. She slowly descended into madness and alienated herself from her friends and family, eventually becoming a recluse. 1 In March 10, 1913, she was committed to the Ville-Évrard mental hospital by a family member. The following year, she was transferred to the Montdevergues psychiatric hospital and remained there for 30 year years until her death in 1943. Only about 90 of her works survive today.

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