A Lost Camille Claudel Sculpture Now Set to Go To Auction

Claudel may have lived a tumultuous life, but long awaited recognition has slowly been in the works for the French native. Born to wealthy gentry in the Northern province of Aisne, Claudel rose to relative renown in the late 19th century during her time as a student to Auguste Rodin. 

However, her work has often been overshadowed by her decade-long affair with the artist, especially since she relied on his patronship even after they had ended their romance. Despite a hesitation to include female artists into the zeitgeist, a French government inspector of fine arts named Paul Armand Silvestre suggested the state purchase Claudel’s The Age of Maturity in 1895, but the sale was never realized. 

In truth, Claudel died in relative obscurity. After the death of her father— the sole family member who supported her choice to pursue a career in the arts— she was confined in a psychiatric hospital by her mother and younger brother. 

Though Claudel did show some symptoms of paranoia and mania, her friend and fellow artist, Jessie Lipscomb, insisted that her suspected illness was a fabrication. John Walker, author of Art and Artists On Screen (2010), argued that many of the difficulties she faced came from the market and medium itself. 

Though her lack of commissions could be seen as a result of her gender, Claudel was also invested in expressive and experimental work, which limited her in comparison to more traditional contemporaries.  

Found under a draped cloth in a Parisian apartment left vacant for the last 15 years, The Age of Maturity’s 1989 replica is one of four, and the only one not already held by a museum. Sand cast in 1907 by Eugène Blot, a foundry owner, gallerist, and ardent champion of Claudel, the sculpture hasn’t been seen publicly since 1908. 

Since the work’s discovery, it has been authenticated by Le Cabinet Lacroix-Jeannest, an organization responsible for the sale and authentication of more than 20 works by Claudel over the last decade.

Claudel has been the subject of retrospectives at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the Art Institute of Chicago in 2024 alone and is set to star in a show at Berlin’s National Gallery in 2025, bolstering hopes for successful auction results this coming February.