Claudel, Camilla

Born in Fer-en-Tardinoy in the north of France , the second child in a petty-bourgeois family. Her father, Louis Prosper, was engaged in trading and banking operations. Mother Louise Atanis Cecile Servo came from a family of Catholic farmers and clergy.

The family moved to Villeneuve-sur-Fer when Camille was still a child. It was there, in 1868, that Camille's younger brother, Paul Claudel , was born. Later, the family moved many times, but still came in the summer to Villeneuve-sur-Fer. The strict landscape of this region has had a huge impact on children.

In 1881, Camilla, her mother, with her sisters and her little brother, was forced to move to Montparnasse , Paris , leaving her father, who, however, helped the family financially.

Fascinated from childhood by stone and clay, having matured, she enters the Colarossi Academy , where she studies with the sculptor Alfred Boucher (at that time women were forbidden to enter the schools of fine arts). In 1882, Camilla with other girls, mostly English, rents a workshop.

It was here that in 1883 she met for the first time with Auguste Rodin , who teaches sculpture to her and her friends.

Around 1884, she began working in Rodin's workshop. She becomes for him a source of inspiration, his model, apprentice and lover. She never officially lived with Roden, who did not want to break off his 20-year relationship with Rosa Bore.

Although Camille became pregnant, she did not have children from Rodin: she lost the child as a result of an accident, and this plunged her into a deep depression. Camilla's family was worried about her, especially her mother, who never approved of her daughter's desire for art. As a result, Camilla left her home. In 1893, there was a break with Roden, although for several years they continue to meet until 1898.

Since 1903, she begins to exhibit her works (in the French Art Salon and in the Autumn Salon). It would be a great misconception to believe that Camille was only helped by a connection with Rodin. In fact, she was a brilliant sculptor, quite distinctive and independent. Famous critic Octav Mirbo said of her: “Riot against nature: a woman is a genius!”

In early works, a significant influence of Rodin was noticeable, but, in addition, they are marked by a dynamic composition, revealing passion and, of course, surprising, as if flowing smoothness of lines. In particular, the Bronze Waltz (1893) and the Age of Maturity (1900) are a powerful allegory of her break with Roden, with the Appealing figure - which is Camille's self-portrait.

Her works from onyx and the small bronze statuettes of Volna (1897) were a deliberate violation of her early "Rodin" period, with a sophisticated and decorative performance different from the "heroic" feeling of her previous works. In the early years of the 20th century, Claudel had many patrons, dealers, was a commercial success - she did not need to bask in the rays of the glory of another.

Since 1905, Camille Claudel suffered from neuropsychiatric disorders. She destroyed almost all of her work and, according to some assumptions, showed signs of paranoia. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia .

Camilla herself accused Rodin of stealing her creative decisions from her.

After the wedding of her brother, the religious writer Paul Claudel in 1906 (he helped her financially) and his return to China, she lives in solitude in her workshop.

The father, who always approved of his daughter's choice, tried to help Camille and supported her morally and financially. When he died on March 2, 1913 , Camille was not informed of his death.

On March 10, 1913, at the initiative of her brother, she was placed in a psychiatric hospital in the city of Ville-Edward in Neil-sur-Marne. It is usually claimed that Camilla gave her consent, but the fact is that the document on consent to placement in a psychiatric hospital was signed only by the doctor and brother.

Some historians believe that Paul Claudel, also a painter, unable to withstand staying in the shadow of her fame, decided in this way to get rid of his sister. There are sources according to which Camille, although she had psychopathic outbursts, was absolutely clear when she created her sculptures. Doctors tried to convince her family, including her brother, that there was no need to keep Camilla in the hospital, but, nevertheless, they decided to keep her there.

In 1914, in connection with the advancement of German troops, Ville-Edward patients were transferred to Engye. On September 7, 1914, Camilla, along with other patients, was transferred to the Montedeverge hospital, six kilometers from Avignon.

The Monteverger sickness card is dated September 22, 1914; it follows that the patient suffers "from a systematic disorder of consciousness based on false interpretations and hallucinations."

At the same time, the press accuses the Camilla family of destroying the sculptor's genius. Mother forbids her to receive mail from anyone other than her brother.

Hospital staff regularly suggest that the family release Camilla, but the mother refuses each time. On June 1, 1920, Dr. Brunet sent a letter to her mother, trying to bring Camilla back to the family. There was no response.

Paul Claudel visited his sister once every few years, but spoke stubbornly about her only in the past tense. In 1929, she was visited by a friend of her youth, Jesse Lipscomb.

For all 30 years spent in the Monteverger Clinic, neither her mother nor her sisters ever visited her.

Camille Claudel died on October 19, 1943. She was buried at Montafet Cemetery.

There is an opinion that Camille Claudel and Auguste Rodin are the prototypes of the play “ When We Dead Awaken ” by Henryk Ibsen ( 1899 ).

In 1988 , director Bruno Nuitten made a feature film about the life of the sculptor and her complex relationship with Rodin (starring Isabelle Adjani , also co-producer of the film, and Gerard Depardieu ). The film received 5 Cesar awards, including as the best film of the year, and had two nominations for the Oscar (in the categories of "Best Actress" and "Best Film in a Foreign Language"). For performing the role of Camille Claudel, Isabelle Adjani received the prize of the Berlin Film Festival .

In 2000 , at the Marseille National Ballet, the French choreographer Marie-Claude Pietragalla staged the Sacuntala ballet, inspired by the sculpture of Camille Claudel (the same year the performance was released on DVD). Claudel, along with Rosa Bore, is one of the main heroines of the ballet of the Russian choreographer Boris Eifman's “Roden”, which premiered in 2011 .

In 2013, director Bruno Dumont made the film Camille Claudel, 1915 . The main role was played by Juliette Binoche , the premiere took place at the Berlin Film Festival .

In March 2017, in the city of Nogent-sur-Seine , the Camilla Claudel Museum was opened, which exhibited about half of the ninety surviving works of the artist (statues, sketches and drawings) ^{[1] [2]} . The Rodin Museum in Paris has a separate room dedicated to the work of Claudel.

• Anne Delbe. Camilla Claudel, a woman. M .; AST, Folio, 2001. ISBN 966-03-1340-3