Camille Claudel : A Life

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Summary: "Camille Claudel-A Life" Odile A-Clause
Review: After gaining access to previously unpublished materials, private letters, and medical documents the author presents the first factual in-depth portrait of the woman who has been known primarily as the lover of the renowned sculptor Auguste Rodin. Camille Claudel was so much more than that.

A gifted artist in her own right she fought for recognition in a 19th century Parisian art world that refused her acceptance. There were, of course, critics who recognized her gifts but their comments always contained dismissive remarks, underscoring the pervasive bias against women.

Twenty-four years younger than Rodin, Claudel's relationship with the vaunted master grew from apprentice to equal to romantic entanglement. Regrettably, Claudel's mental health was fragile. Following the creation of a statue in 1907 she took a hammer and destroyed all her subsequent work. According to the author, this was "both a form of sacrifice and an act of rebellion against the world."

Sinking deeper into paranoia and delusion, she became an embarrassment to her family and the subject of city-wide gossip. After the death of her father, who wished to rally to her aid, Claudel's mother had her committed to an asylum, the first of two in which she would spend her last 30 years.

This is a heartrending story, a tribute to a great artist, and an important contribution to the annals of art history.

- Gail Cooke

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Summary: Life.....If You Could Call It That!
Review: Camille Claudel was an amazing Parisian sculptress who lived far before time was good to her and this biography does her justice...finally!

Born in 1864, Camille Claudel grew up with an ambition un-worthy of her sexual status. She held within her being an artistic fire that was only extinguished by supposed madness. I have the feeling that had this woman been alive today her art and her spirit would thrive. But during the 19th century women were still meant to be barefoot and pregnant with no ambition other than being a wife and mother. Claudel struggled to represent her art and her spirit was destroyed by those she loved the most. She fought against a mother who wanted to keep her quiet and reserved, she defied her brother's idealistic religious beliefs and she competed against the world renowned artiste, Auguste Rodin. Despite the odds against her she created many works of pure and exquisite beauty proving that women could surpass men if given a chance. But because of her spirited talent she was eventually relegated to a hospital for the insane due to her inability to deal with the pressures of a love not returned (with Rodin), financial ruin and a lack of respect for her hard honed works.

Camille Claudel captured the struggles of love, aging and sexism in her famous sculptures: Jeune Fille a la Gerbe (1887), Giganti (1886), Vertumme et Pomone (1905), La Valse (1905), Clotho (1893), L'Implorante (1894-1905) and the magnificent L'Age mur (1902). Her abilities were innate but fine tuned through her affiliation with Auguste Rodin. In this relationship Camille flourished at first, guided under the wing of a master (24 years her senior), but she soon succumbed to his jealous competitiveness and his inability to commit fully to her love. Comparing the two sculptors one finds Claudel to be the true master because she refines lines that Rodin tends to leave unbalanced. Their competitive natures are apparent in the similarities of ideas but in my opinion Claudel outshines her "mentor." Claudel created sculptures from many mediums some plaster, some clay, many marble and even onyx, jade and bronze as well as dabbling in other art forms such as charcoals and portrait paintings. Many of Claudel's best works remain lost due to her internment and her loss of ability to control her own work. She also destroyed many of her own pieces in her angry despair believing them to be under jeopardy of being stolen by "Rodin and his gang." Thankfully the art world has managed to retain most of her great pieces and they currently reside in (of all places) the Rodin Museum in Paris.

This biography is a wonderful read being both interesting and factual and additionally very well written by Odile Ayral-Clause. Camille Claudel lived a tragic life full of ups and downs eventually ending in complete despair. Her life is interesting because she was one of the forerunners for women's rights in that she refused to be dominated by male society and ferociously attacked anyone who attempted to destroy her dreams, unfortunately in 19th century Paris her actions labeled her insane, remember a woman who chose to wear pants was considered a criminal unless they obtained special permission from the police to do so and it was a popular thought at the time that talented women possessed genitalia very similar to men! I think society was more insane than Miss Claudel and I will forever wonder what she could have contributed had she been born in this century. The ending of this woman's tale is heartbreaking in itself but every page in between provides an eye-opening experience of what it must have been like to be an artistic woman during an age controlled by men.


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Summary: "Camille Claudel-A Life" Odile A-Clause
Review: I received "Camille Claudel-A Life" for my birthday this month.
I began reading it at noon and completed it by 4 pm. I could or nor would I put it down so to speak. The book is well written, excellent sources, index, bibliography. Unfortunately, the photo's are not of good quality but passable considering there are any left and the abuse of many photo's and her own work in itself which have vanished! I cannot blame the photographer who did his best! That in itself would be a photographer's dream to compile photoghraphs of her work and publish them as a book of photography of her work and places she lived.
I have studied Camille for years and sat through a relatively good film, "Camille Claudel" which made Rodin appear an outright monster and she a victim to the max. In analyzing the aforementioned I felt something was indeed amiss. In reading the book many if all of my questions were answered and I was delighted with the writers sensitivity and reality of what may have transpired. When I lived in Paris, by accident, I was standing outside of herlast atelier's before she was committed to an asylum by her family. This was 4 years ago and in asking questions about her at numerous bookshops the Sorbonne and communicating with noted people no one who knew more than I did about her! No one has completed such an intelligent, well documented and researched book as Odile A-Clause. Thank you, Ms. Clause, Thank You

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Summary: Camille Claudel's Life and Work
Review: I've just read Odile Ayral-Clause's biography (advanced copy) of this nineteenth-century French sculptor, and I couldn't put it down. Ayral-Clause says in the preface that one of her objectives is "to give a voice to the women artists who lived in Paris at the turn of the nineteenth century, and who, like Claudel, struggled to overcome the limitations imposed upon them." To do this, the author takes the reader on a fascinating visit to the art studios of Paris, where women (unlike their male cohorts), were forbidden to use nude modela, and where, at the famous Ecole des Beaux-Arts, female students often had to pay double the fee men paid for classes. If it was tough going for a man, especially a sculptor, to earn a living on completion of his studies, one can only imagine the unsurmountable frustrations experienced by a woman like Camille Claudel!

But besides the art world, Ayral-Clause also takes us on a refreshingly unsentimental journey through Camille Claudel's personal struggles: from her lifelong, sometimes rocky relationship with the English sculptor, Jessie Lipscombe, to her devastating love affair with the famous Rodin, to the heartwrenching separation from a family who let her spend many years in a mental asylum.

Through intimate letters, the author reveals the truly difficult and turbulant personality of a female artist whose career and mental illness took on mythic proportions. As Ayral-Clause herself acknowledges, "This facet of her life, as well as her relationship with Rodin, has been the focus of much romantic speculation and misrepresentation."

But it is the many beautiful black and white photographs of the artist's daily life and her works that reveal other facets of Claudel's character: her vulnerability and her genius. From her home in Villeneuve, where as a child she molded the local red clay used for roof tiles "into fascinating shapes," to the girl in the studio smoking and laughing with her friends, to the still dignified old lady in a long rumpled coat and porkpie hat holding her old friend Jessie's hand, the reader is brought full circle.
And the photos of her actually working happily in her studio alongside Jessie on some of her most inspired pieces, remind the reader that women did produce magnificent works of art in spite of all the difficulties involved.
It is the author's intent she says to "dispel the myths enveloping Claudel." This she does and more. But you don't have to be a Francophile or a connoisseur of art to enjoy this book. Indeed its merit lies in its appeal to a much wider audience. Because whether or not you know anything about the subject matter or the protagonist, Camille Claudel, a Life just makes for a darn good read.

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Summary: An excellent and intimate read!
Review: Odile Ayral-Clause's work is excellent! I read the book from cover to cover last year and as I am now planning a trip to Paris this Spring, I am rereading the book again and enjoying it even more!

A.C. captures so well the spirit of the woman, her social environment, and the city of Paris.

Thank you for bringing this beautiful artist to life!

Rating:
Summary: An excellent and intimate read!
Review: Odile Ayral-Clause's work is excellent! I read the book from cover to cover last year and as I am now planning a trip to Paris this Spring, I am rereading the book again and enjoying it even more!

A.C. captures so well the spirit of the woman, her social environment, and the city of Paris.

Thank you for bringing this beautiful artist to life!

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and fascinating
Review: This book is the best, most meaningful work on Camille Claudel that I have read thus far. I highly recommend it as an accessible, informative, fascinating work that illuminates the life of one of the finest sculptors in France. Odile Ayral-Clause tells the truth, with unflinching honesty, drawing upon new documents that only came available in September 2000. She offers the details that make this woman's life come real for the reader.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and fascinating
Review: This book is the best, most meaningful work on Camille Claudel that I have read thus far. I highly recommend it as an accessible, informative, fascinating work that illuminates the life of one of the finest sculptors in France. Odile Ayral-Clause tells the truth, with unflinching honesty, drawing upon new documents that only came available in September 2000. She offers the details that make this woman's life come real for the reader.