Camille Claudel

Eugène Blot, Paris
Gustave Leblanc-Barbedienne, Paris (acquired from the above in 1937-38)
Private Collection, France (acquired by 1988)
Sale: Me Deleau, Carcassonne, November 8, 2008
Private Collection, France (acquired in 2009 and sold: Étude Millon & Associés, Paris, June 22, 2011, lot 19)
Acquired at the above sale

(Possibly) Paris, Galerie Eugène Blot, 1908
Paris, Galerie H. Odermatt & Ph. Cazeau, Rétrospective Camille Claudel, 1988-89, no. 10, illustrated on the cover of the catalogue
Martigny, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, C. Claudel, 1990-91, no. 10, illustrated in the catalogue
Avignon, Palais des Papes, Les Papesses, Camille Claudel, Louise Bourgeois, Kiki Smith, Jana Sterbak, Berlinde de Bruyckere, 2013, n.n., illustrated in the catalogue
Roubaix, La Piscine, Musée d'art de d'industrie André Diligent, Au miroir d'un art nouveau, 2014-15, n.n., illustrated in the catalogue

Camille Claudel Décembre 1864 - Octobre 1943 (exhibition catalogue), Musée Rodin, Paris, 1951, illustration of the marble p. 82
Reine-Marie Paris & Arnaud de La Chapelle, L'Oeuvre de Camille Claudel, catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1990, no. 33, illustration of another cast p. 148
Anne Rivière, Bruno Gaudichon & Danielle Ghanassia, Camille Claudel, catalogue raisonné, Paris, 2001, no. 63.3, illustration of the marble version p. 181 & illustration of another cast p. 182
Camille Claudel & Rodin. La rencontre de deux destins (exhibition catalogue), Musée national des Beaux-Arts, Québec & Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit & Musée Rodin, Paris, 2005-06, illustration of the marble n.p.
Camille Claudel en Picardie chez elle (exhibition catalogue), Espace Camille Claudel, Amiens, 2006, illustration of the marble version pp. 76-77
Camille Claudel 1864-1943 (exhibition catalogue), Fundacion Mapfre, Madrid, 2007-08, illustration of another cast pp. 258-59
Reine-Marie Paris & Philippe Cressent, Camille Claudel, intégrale des œuvres, Paris, 2014, illustrations of other versions and casts pp. 338, 342, 344 & 346

Featuring a dark green and brown patina. There is some minor patina rubbing to the top of the head and tip of the nose, and a few spots of accretion in some of the deeper crevices. Overall the work is in very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

A remarkable sculpture of exquisite handling, Camille Claudel's Aurore was conceived in marble circa 1898-1900. The plaster, which belonged to the Norwegian painter Fritz Thaulow, a great admirer of Claudel's oeuvre, was acquired at the latter's sale by Eugène Blot in May 1907. Enamored by Aurore's delicate features and upturned face, Blot made plans to cast an edition of 25 for his gallery. The edition was halted after the sixth cast—the present work—was made in 1908, however, and the present work is the last known cast from this lifetime edition. The cast numbered "1" belongs to the Musée Camille Claudel in Nogent-sur-Seine.

Aurore holds a special place within the artist's oeuvre. Created circa 1898-1900, it dates from a period in which Claudel was developing her own distinct style. A sculptor of considerable technical accomplishment, Claudel's early career had been marked by the influence of her mentors. She had moved to Paris from her family's farm in northern France to pursue a career in the arts in the early 1880s and was not yet twenty when the sculptor Paul Dubois introduced her to Auguste Rodin. Within a year she became an apprentice in his studio, sparking a legendary relationship which would greatly influence the careers of both artists. Claudel and Rodin worked side by side for over a decade, during which time Claudel flourished both as in indispensable figure in Rodin’s studio and as a virtuosic sculptor in her own right, producing several elegant and sensual masterpieces. Over these years she became Rodin's muse, collaborator and lover, their partnership both passionate and tumultuous. Even as the two artists grew closer professionally, referencing each other's art in numerous ways over this period of extraordinarily symbiotic creativity, their romantic relationship began to disintegrate in 1890, when Rodin refused to leave his long-term mistress, Rose Beuret, with whom he had lived since 1864. It is true that Claudel exhibited no sculpture during the following two years, perhaps due to the tensions in her personal life.

While Claudel is perhaps best known for her iconic La Valse, she also contributed hands and feet (widely acknowledged to be the most demanding forms) in Rodin's magnum opus The Gates of Hell, and some even speculate that she was the true creator of Rodin's celebrated Galatea (Mathias Morhardt, "Mlle. Camille Claudel," Mercure de France, 1898, p. 17). In the present work Claudel reinterprets Rodin’s iconic sculpture Aurora, literally meaning “dawn,” of which the marble example is currently located in the Musée Rodin in Paris. Rodin’s sculpture, representing a female head emerging from a rough block of marble in a manner reminiscent of Michelangelo’s torsos, is thought to be a portrayal of Claudel. If true, this composition was to be one of Rodin’s last works inspired by Camille, executed around the time their relationship ended. The present work, cast in bronze in 1908 during the artist’s lifetime, underlines Claudel’s own interpretation of the subject. Claudel’s Aurore is supple and smooth, her face emerging from her delicate flowing locks of hair with her eyes glancing upward, beautifully evocative of the early morning light.