On March 26, 2017, something happened in the field of art in France – in the town of Nogent-sur-Seine, 100 km southeast of Paris, the first and only museum in the world focusing on the works of the brilliant sculptor Camille Claudel was inaugurated.
The museum presents a long creative period from 1880 to 1913, that is, from Camus's 16th birthday to her forced hospitalization when she was about fifty. The museum's spectacular display contains about two hundred sculptures, of which about fifty are the work of Camus Claudel.
Camus Claudel Museum – Useful Information
The museum is located at rue Gustave-Flaubert 10 in Nogent-sur-Seine.
Arrival by direct train from Gare de l'Est in Paris. Journey time 55 minutes.
From the train station to the museum it is about a 10-minute walk.
The museum is open all week, except Mondays, from 10:00.
Entrance ticket: 8-10 euros. Reduced ticket: 4.50 – 6 euros. Free up to age 26. Free on the first Sunday of every month.
The history of the museum
In 1876, the Claudel family moved to a house in the historic center of Nogent-sur-Seine. The family lived there for 3 years for the needs of the father of the family. When Camus was 12 years old, she met the local resident, the well-known and successful sculptor Alfred Boucher. His support was crucial to her future. Camus took her first steps in self-taught sculpture. She made her first clay figurines. Camus's father asked Boucher to evaluate her work. Boucher soon noticed Camus's enormous artistic potential and convinced her father to allow her to take sculpture lessons. Boucher thus became her first teacher. He taught her the basics of sculpture and gave her important professional advice. In fact, he took her under his wing and encouraged her father to develop this talent.
The contemporary Camille Claudel Museum is an extension of a museum created in 1902 by sculptors Paul Dubois (1829-1905) and Alfred Boucher (1850-1934). As such, it also includes collections and works by its founders and other sculptors from the same period.
The museum was initially established on the first floor of the “Chateau”, an old house purchased by the municipality and standing in the middle of a public garden. It gradually expanded and in 1905 an old shed located nearby was renovated and turned into a sculpture gallery. The space was designed to accommodate even huge works such as Joan of Arc By Paul Dubois.
During World War II, the museum was looted and there is no information about many of the works in the original collection. The building was eventually returned to its original function in 1974, but it mainly displayed archaeological finds. It was not until 1995 that the sculpture gallery reopened.
In 2003, a major exhibition of Camus-Claudel's works was organized in Nogent-sur-Seine. The exhibition was an extraordinary and extraordinary success. It was visited by some 40,000 visitors in three months. This resounding success gave rise to the idea of expanding the Musée Dubois-Bouchet to include a significant collection of Camus-Claudel's works. The municipality began to acquire Camus's works. In 2008, René Marie Paris, the granddaughter of Paul Claudel, Camus's brother, and the researcher Philippe Carsen, agreed to sell the collections they had accumulated over many years of intensive research to the city. That same year, the city purchased the house where Camus Claudel lived with her parents and annexed several adjacent buildings. This paved the way for the establishment of the Camus Claudel Museum, to which the collection of the Musée Dubois-Bouchet was added. The museum today contains 15 exhibition rooms.
The display and activity
The museum's collections are today divided into themes that relate mainly to the dynasty and artists of Nogent-sur-Seine, sculptural techniques, representations of movement, etc. Rodin's workshop and Camus's many works complete a journey of more than half a century of high-quality and original French sculpture.
The collection constitutes a broad technical and artistic panorama of the world of sculpture at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. The sculptures illustrate one of the most fruitful periods of French sculpture. Camus's works allow us to discover her personality and the special stages and aspects of her artistic career. This perspective shows the extent to which Camus Claudel fits into her time while standing out in an original and profound way. This is in fact the largest and most important collection in the world dedicated to her works and is displayed in the town where her immense talent was born and developed.
The museum offers many and varied emotional experiences – permanent and changing exhibitions, guided tours, audio guides, conferences, screenings, lectures, concerts, live performances, experiential learning for children, school tours, a special course for families that is simultaneously adapted for young children and adults, creative workshops, and more.
Works in the museum
More than a quarter of the works by Camus-Claudel on display at the museum were cast in bronze by the art dealer Eugène Bleu (1857-1938), who owned a large and influential gallery in Paris. For several years in the early twentieth century, he served as Camus's agent and sole caster (the writer of these lines is, not coincidentally, the great-grandson of Eugène Bleu). Bleu's work enabled the dissemination of Camus's works. Their joint work is crucial to the survival of Camus's works, especially given the destruction she inflicted on her sculptures in moments of crisis and distress.
Among the many works by Camus displayed in the museum, and whose cast is Eugène Bleu, we can mention several works that have achieved great worldwide fame:
Mature age
The statue was first exhibited in plaster at the Salon of 1899. This magnificent sculpture has a great presence and radiates quality, wonder and uniqueness to its surroundings. In it, Camus emphasizes her artistic mastery and the high creativity she is endowed with. The tension between the figures is at its peak, the composition here is perfect, every space between the figures has a meaning, every space has a role, every angle and every diagonal has its own meaning. Here, the artist deals with the passage of time, old age and death.
The Waltz
This is one of Camus' most famous works. The sculpture was first exhibited in 1893 at the Salon des Champs-Élysées and was a great success. It is a magnificent sculpture in its movement and sensuality. The pair of passionate dancers probably symbolize the dizzying romance between Camus and Rodin. Camus began working on the Waltz in 1889, when her relationship with Rodin was still ardent. It seems that Camus's feelings for Rodin miraculously inspired her to create the Waltz.
The dedication
The original sculpture was created in 1888 and was a great success. It was initially called 'Scontella'. A marble copy created by Camus in the same year, called Vertumne et Pomone, is now on display at the Rodin Museum.
The bronze version is called 'Dedication'. It sometimes also appears under the name 'Abandonment' or 'Surrender', but the name 'Dedication' is much more appropriate to what is seen in the statue, where the man is seen kneeling and supporting the young woman who is standing. The young woman seemingly surrenders completely and surrenders herself in the man's arms. The statue also shows the moment of union in which the lover begs for Scontella's forgiveness.
The flute player
The sculpture 'The Flute Player' is one of Camus's last sculptures. The sculpture depicts a sensual girl sitting on a rock or a tree stump, her hips emphasized by her joined legs. She plays the flute with her right hand with her slender, impressive fingers, her head raised and she brings her lips close to the flute but does not touch it. The situation allows the viewer of the sculpture a musical flight and the development of the imagination. The breath that comes out of her lips accompanies her movements with a musical levitation. She devotes herself completely to the music.
The conversationalists
As the museum director Asked which of Camus’s works she loved the most, she said without hesitation: The Conversations. This is one of Camus’s most moving sculptures. It depicts four women huddled together. The original marble statue of The Conversations was created by Camus in 1893. It was enthusiastically received at a major exhibition held in 1895 at the Champs-de-Mars and put Camus in the spotlight. The bronze model on display at the Camus-Claudel Museum was created in 1905.
Other spectacular works by Camus are on display at the museum. Among them are: Wealth, The Beggar, Dawn, Deep Thought, and A Dream by the Fireside.
Want to read more about Cami Claudel?
I recommend that you read Dr. Orna Lieberman's article, The gold and the clay, which contains detailed information about the fascinating and unique life of the great artist, sharp analyses of some of her greatest works, and even a travel itinerary following her from the moment she arrived in Paris.