Autographed letter signed to Judith Cladel.
A precious letter from Camille Claudel offering insights into her childhood, her life as an artist, and her countless sacrifices. An autobiography in a few lines.
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Camille CLAUDEL (1864.1943)
Autographed letter signed to Judith Cladel.
Three and a half pages, octavo. No place or date (Paris, 1897)
"I believe it would be much more artistic to make general remarks about my art, the love of searching, the awareness, the desire to penetrate to the heart of things."
A precious letter from Camille Claudel offering insights into her childhood, her life as an artist, and her countless sacrifices. An autobiography in a few lines.
“Dear Madam, I am a little late in replying because my mother didn't arrive as soon as I expected, and besides, she didn't recall many anecdotes that might add anything of interest to your story. Anecdotes reveal the artist's personality, while reflections on her work are, in my opinion, far more interesting. My mother makes some very profound observations. A life like mine,” she says, “doesn't prove at all that a woman can be independent through work; on the contrary, the sacrifice is more complete than in any other existence. One is not a slave to a husband, but not only to his work, but to all the scoundrels who steal from you , exploit you, drag you into court, and so on, without ever having a single defender. Sacrifices of money, pleasure, and coquetry, renunciation of everything that ordinarily constitutes the charm of women's lives— all this for a single purpose.” My mother particularly remembers the large group portrait I created at the age of 19, how many times I started over, turning it over and over in my mind to find something truly personal; how many pointless studies I made, only to abandon them because they didn't reflect my vision. Apparently, as a very young child, my greatest pleasure was building Lourdes grottoes, before which I would spend entire days in contemplation, delighted to have created such masterpieces (I'm including notes at random, as I find them). It was only later that I began to sculpt the heads of famous men who most impressed me. You see that I haven't been able to glean much more from you, but I believe it would be far more artistic to make general remarks about my art, the love of exploration , the awareness, the desire to grasp the essence of things, rather than offering anecdotes (even those I've already shared with you) which are rather picturesque, theatrical, something so contrary to my character. It seems to me better to speak only of the artist than of the woman, even from an original perspective. What do you think? With warmest regards, dear Madam, and until we meet again to chat, a firm handshake. Camille Claudel .
As her great-niece, Reine-Marie Paris, indicates, this letter was most likely addressed to Judith Cladel (1873-1958), who met Camille shortly before her confinement at Ville-Evrard. Judith Cladel was writing a book on Rodin and visited Camille, who welcomed her " with simplicity and cordiality " in her studio on the Quai de Bourbon. The two women had already met in Rodin's studio in 1897, when she was writing an article about Camille for the newspaper La Fronde. It was certainly at that time that Camille wrote her this letter.
Camille mentions the execution of his Large Group , created at the age of 19 in 1883. To this day, this work has never been found. Similarly, no trace has been found of the sculptures from the Lourdes Grottoes mentioned in this letter.
Bibliography : Camille Claudel – Letters and correspondents (RM Paris / P. Cressent – Éditions Culture Economica), page 750 and following.