In the Time of Camille Claudel, Being a Woman Sculptor in Paris

Since being rediscovered in the 1980s, Camille Claudel has inspired major monographic exhibitions. Her fame today is such that it might wrongly lead one to believe she was the only woman sculptor of her time. Yet, around 1900, many other women followed the same path and, despite the obstacles linked to their status as women, distinguished themselves in the field of sculpture. As part of the exhibition In the Time of Camille Claudel, Being a Woman Sculptor in Paris (« Au temps de Camille Claudel, être sculptrice à Paris »), these leading female sculptors are brought out of the shadows! An exhibition co-produced by the Camille Claudel Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts of Tours, and the Pont-Aven Museum brings together the works of around 20 of them: Charlotte Besnard, Marie Cazin, Madeleine Jouvray, as well as Jessie Lipscomb, Agnes de Frumerie, Anna Bass, Jane Poupelet, and many others. French or foreign, often daughters or wives of artists, they were Camille Claudel’s studio companions, friends, or sometimes rivals. Some preceded her, others followed her footsteps.

Thanks to national and international loans, nearly 90 objects — sculptures, but also painted, drawn, or photographed portraits of these sculptors, as well as photographs and correspondence — bring back to life Camille Claudel’s female artistic circle, from her beginnings in the cosmopolitan Paris of the 1880s to her internment in March 1913.

What artistic training was available to women at the turn of the 20^th century? What strategies did these sculptors develop to carve out a place for themselves in this male-dominated field? What relationships did Camille Claudel have with her contemporaries? And what roles did these artists play in Auguste Rodin’s studio? These are just some of the questions explored by the exhibition.

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