Camille CLAUDEL is delighted with his marble sculpture of La Petite Châtelaine.

Camille CLAUDEL (1864.1943)

Autographed letter signed to Pauline Ménard Dorian, wife of Georges Hugo.

Unpublished letter.

Six and a half pages in-8°. [Paris, August or September 1894].

"I went straight to my craftsman's house to see my little marble bust. The marble this time is very beautiful."

A long and precious letter – unpublished – from Camille Claudel, recounting her epic return journey from Guernsey, and raving about the beauty of one of her masterpieces, her small marble bust, La Petite Châtelaine .

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"Dear Madam, We arrived in Paris this morning after a very unusual journey. The crossing from Guernsey to Cherbourg was very pleasant , and I didn't get seasick thanks to Miss Dora's lemons. We took a short walk on Alderney (a very deserted and wild place whose icy air cured my cold instantly). In Cherbourg, we missed the first train and took the 6:00 train, which was supposed to get us to Paris at 4:00 a.m. Unfortunately, an abandoned freight train blocked our path, and we suddenly woke up at 1:00 a.m. in the middle of a pine forest (in a place we never knew existed). We remained there for four hours, unable to move, while six other trains joined ours; it was a veritable procession of fireflies, and all the locomotives sighed one after the other with a very unhappy and weary sound, ach… ach… ach… That's how we saw the sun rise." Finally at 5 o'clock we decided to set off and we arrived in Paris at 8.

From the station, I went straight to my craftsman's to see my little marble bust. The marble this time is very beautiful ; I had already received four letters asking me to come and see it before continuing. It's not finished yet, and I won't have it for another ten days . I found my clay a little dry, but nothing bad happened while I was away. The air in Paris is very hot and heavy. I'm still quite bewildered to find myself within the four walls of my studio, with the memory of the beautiful countryside and the sea off Guernsey still fresh in my mind. I'm very surprised to find myself so alone and unable to talk to anyone.

I learned that my brother-in-law and sister are with my parents; so I won't be leaving right away and I'll be able to work here for a while . I will cherish the wonderful memories of the delightful holiday you gave me, which, much to my regret, I couldn't extend any longer. I'm happy to have gotten to know you all better and to have found such kind and understanding friends in you.

Please accept, dear Madam, the assurance of my sincere gratitude. Remind me of Monsieur Georges Hugo, Monsieur Léon Daudet, and all your family, whose kind welcome I will never forget. Camille Claudel.

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Camille stayed in Guernsey in 1894, at La Marcherie, the home of Mrs. Ménard Dorian, her host, wife of Georges Hugo.

Pauline Ménard-Dorian (1870-1941), a writer, held a literary salon in Paris. Her mother Aline's republican salon regularly brought together prominent figures of the time, including Rodin, and it was likely through him that Camille met the Ménard-Dorians, who invited her to La Marcherie, where she met Georges Hugo. On this occasion, she created "a witty statuette of him in soft, jade-green stone," as Mathias Morhardt noted in a letter to Judith Cladel dated August 19, 1934. This work has not yet been found.