L’Implorante

Camille Claudel’s skill was recognized early in her life, so much so that the entire family moved to Paris in 1882, for her to study sculpture at L’Academie Colarossi, since women were not admitted to L’Académie des Beaux-Arts. Claudel was one of the few female artists there, yet she was the most accomplished of them all. When Auguste Rodin came on board as instructor, he was immediately smitten with her. He asked her to sculpt the hands and feet (the most difficult parts) of some of his most famous sculptural ensembles such as Burghers of Calais, which he then signed as his own. Many of Claudel’s works claimed by Rodin—as well as those rightly attributed to her—are on display in the Rodin Museum in Paris today.

A fine podcast from Encyclopedia Womannica may be heard here on Spotify. Information on the two major motion pictures about Claudel, Camille Claudel (from 1988) and Camille Claudel 1915 (from 2013), may be seen on IMDB by clicking on the movie titles.