Notes from found photos . . . . an occasional series while wandering around t'interwebbie thing . . . . 

CAMILLE CLAUDEL

Camille Claudel, 1864 -1943

Camille Claudel was a French sculptor and graphic artist. I have been fasciated by women artists all my life. Often overlooked and referred to, if at all, as many an artist's muse. The story of Camille Claudel is no exception. Muse and student of Rodin and whilst there was a considerable age gap they were lovers but above all she was a great artist IN HER OWN RIGHT! Sure she was taught by the master but check out the images. They are NOT Rodin as some first thought but are by Camille. It is not a happy ending however  and clearly she was a haunted beauty with dark demons inside that finally won the day. She spent her final thirty years as an inmate in the local asylum. She deserves a film or biography. 

Camille photographed posing for Auguste Rodin

No, it's not a Rodin. This is Camille's own work 

 . . . as is this haunting figure study

  Twenty-four years Claudel’s senior, Auguste Rodin took her on as an assistant in 1884, turning her into his model and mistress by the time she was 20. Camille Claudel died on 19 October 1943, after having lived 30 years in the insane asylum at Montfavet (known then as the Asile de Montdevergues, now the modern psychiatric hospital Centre hospitalier de Montfavet).