Devos, Emmanuelle
Camille Claudel (1864-1943) Artiste, Amante, Alienne
"Camille Claudel the transgressive, the sculptor of genius, the sulphurous and cursed artist, Rodin's free lover, tipped over into madness, locked up in an asylum for the last thirty years of her life. An artist too far ahead of her time, she broke all rules and social conventions. Her work became her life. In addition to her thirty years of relentless sculpting, she was, for most of her life, an assiduous letter-writer. She wrote hundreds of letters, many of them lost or destroyed. Letters that bear witness to her state of mind, her artistic ambitions, her tumultuous passion with Rodin, her fiery temper, her often conflicting family and friendships, her faltering mental health, her insane condition in an asylum. These are also the writings of a woman who, in a precise, pure style, fights against her isolation and injustice. Thanks to these letters, magnificently read by Emmanuelle Devos, we rediscover her work and her trajectory, and understand why she exerts such a fascination on a wide audience.