Camille 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.

About the Author
Emerson Bowyer is Searle Curator, Painting and Sculpture of Europe, at the Art Institute of Chicago. Anne-Lise Desmas is senior curator and head of the Department of Sculpture and Decorative Arts at the J. Paul Getty Museum.


Book Information
ISBN 9781606068700
Author Emerson Bowyer
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint J. Paul Getty Museum
Publisher Getty Trust Publications