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Odile Ayral-Clause
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CAMILLE CLAUDEL: A Life Hardcover – May 1, 2002

by Odile Ayral-Clause (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 88 ratings
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A carefully researched portrait of the life of the nineteenth-century French sculptor and an examination of her works are drawn from previously unpublished materials including family photographs, private letters, and medical records, in a volume that discusses her relationship with Auguste Rodin and the challenges she met as a woman.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    280 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harry N. Abrams
  4. Publication date
    May 1, 2002
  5. Dimensions
    7 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0810940779
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0810940772
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

French sculptor Claudel (1864-1943) is best known for her love affair with fellow artist Auguste Rodin, the basis for a late '80s French film starring Gerard Depardieu and Isabelle Adjani. Ayral-Clause, a professor of French and the humanities at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, cites original documents and other research to argue that although Rodin is usually depicted as having abandoned a wimpy Camille, in fact Camille was so feisty and in-your-face (a necessity for a woman artist in a man's world) that he wound up running for cover to escape her "insults" once their 15-year-long affair was over. Camille went mad and spent her last 30 years in an asylum. Ayral-Clause's account of these events is clear, although sometimes marred by an artificial prose style with odd syntax: "Events that are denied at the time they occur are often brought back to life through letters or journals discovered later on." Art history students may be disappointed by the generalized comments about Claudel's artworks themselves (shown, along with photos, in 69 b&w illustrations), since the woman, rather than the artist, is in the limelight in this biography. By contrast, Ayral-Clause fully accepts Rodin as a great artist and great man, reserving criticism for Camille's brother, the far-right-wing poet and diplomat Paul Claudel, who ensured she was buried in a common grave for paupers despite the family's great wealth.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Having enjoyed unprecedented access to family archives, photographs, and medical records, Claudel specialist Ayral-Clause (French and the humanities, California Polytechnic State Univ.) offers a fascinating account of the artist while also recording much important minutiae. This is intrinsically a life story; Ayral-Clause concentrates on biographical research, providing fresh information on Claudel's career and relationship with Rodin, for instance, while mentioning Claudel's artwork only secondarily. For virtually her entire life, Claudel was protected by Rodin, her teacher and lover by whom she became pregnant. Yet she was always suspicious of Rodin, and her suspicion intensified with age. Included here are numerous Rodin letters and conversations with politicians, writers, and critics. However, it is the examination of Claudel's later years in mental asylums that makes this book the first fully researched biography of the artist. Reine-Marie Paris's Camille: The Life of Camille Caudel, Rodin's Muse and Mistress (1988) is out of date, and the existing play, film, and multitudes of exhibition catalogs tend to mythologize Claudel. Ayral-Clause commands much new data and an admirable objectivity. Highly recommended. Mary Bruce, Cutler Memorial P.L., Plainfield, VT
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harry N. Abrams; First Edition (May 1, 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 280 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0810940779
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0810940772
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 88 ratings

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Odile Ayral-Clause

Odile Ayral-Clause

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
88 global ratings
This is a wonderfully written biography of a important woman artist. Highly recommend.
5 Stars
This is a wonderfully written biography of a important woman artist. Highly recommend.
Great pictures throughout and a well-written biography. Women artists continue to fight for recognition. Although Camille was clearly suffering from mental health issues she had a family that didn’t support her and could have helped. No excuses for letting her linger for 30 years in an asylum.
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Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating
Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2023
Verified Purchase
This biography draws the reader into Claudel’s life with such detail no one walks away without being enamored and captivated.
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Couch Rebel
5.0 out of 5 stars A great book. And a painful journey...
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2017
Verified Purchase
This is the first book I read on Camille Claudel so I have no basis of comparison but I thought it was very thorough and well researched. The author clearly took a huge amount of time to read letters (many of which are on the book) by not Camille only but almost everyone who crossed her path.

The book reads very easily. It was a pleasure to read. You just don’t want to put it down, at least I didn’t. But I warn anyone who is interested in entering this world that it is not a joyful adventure sometimes. Camille had the misfortune of having mental problems and having a family (with exception of her father) that disliked her. That was a really destructive combination.... It can be hard some passages of the book but it is all worth it because her story is simply mesmerizing.
One person found this helpful
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Jenn
4.0 out of 5 stars Powerful women in sculpture.
Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2019
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I’m enjoying this book although sometimes it’s difficult to follow the storyline. Lots of incredible info on a strong willed woman ahead of her time.
One person found this helpful
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Jeca
5.0 out of 5 stars A sad, sad life
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2014
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I'd never heard of Camille Claudel until I took a course in Women Artists. After learning an outline of her life, I was compelled to read her life story and purchased this book. it is really too bad that there is not more information on her life with Rodin. The relationship clearly affected her psyche and worse, when she went mad and when she needed help the most, she was thrown in a mental asylum by her brother who then took off, got on with his life and left her there. Her mother, her own mother who had never approved of her lifestyle refused to let her out or move, she was kept sequestered and not allowed to see anyone but her brother. It was disgraceful that this could have even been allowed to happen. It is a shocking end to a once beautiful, vibrant intelligent woman who created the most amazing sculptures. Had she been a man, I'm sure she would have surpassed Rodin in fame.
6 people found this helpful
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D. Polglase
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a wonderfully written biography of a important woman artist. Highly recommend.
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2022
Verified Purchase
Great pictures throughout and a well-written biography. Women artists continue to fight for recognition. Although Camille was clearly suffering from mental health issues she had a family that didn’t support her and could have helped. No excuses for letting her linger for 30 years in an asylum.
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D. Polglase
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a wonderfully written biography of a important woman artist. Highly recommend.
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2022
Great pictures throughout and a well-written biography. Women artists continue to fight for recognition. Although Camille was clearly suffering from mental health issues she had a family that didn’t support her and could have helped. No excuses for letting her linger for 30 years in an asylum.
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D8*
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelent biography.
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2021
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An amazing book which inspired me to create a character (with an entire chapter dedicated to her), in my debut historical novel, Standing Tall. Camille Claudel is one of those not well known heroines, and this book enlightens the life and struggles of this incredible artist. Excelent biography for anyone interested in art, history and strong women.
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D8*
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelent biography.
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2021
An amazing book which inspired me to create a character (with an entire chapter dedicated to her), in my debut historical novel, Standing Tall. Camille Claudel is one of those not well known heroines, and this book enlightens the life and struggles of this incredible artist. Excelent biography for anyone interested in art, history and strong women.
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Judy K. Pfaff
3.0 out of 5 stars Keep sight of the art while reading.
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2018
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The best part about the book was it was so informative on the situations between Claudel and Rodin. It was written with almost too many facts and rather awkwardly in places. I ended up doing a Power Point program on the art of both sculptors. The images of the art really tell the story of passion and lost love.better than the prose.
3 people found this helpful
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SuZReader
4.0 out of 5 stars A very well-researched book, yet not entirely dispassionate
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2020
A very well-researched book, yet not entirely dispassionate. I read this book after reading Rodin's Lover by Heather Webb. Camille Claudel: A Life is told in a more distant point of view and gives more of a balanced view as to Rodin's influence on Claudel's sculpture, that he helped her rather than taking advantage of her. This book seems to promote Rodin at times rather than taking Claudel's part. I liked the photographs of the artwork and the family photos that were included. Ayral-Clause writes well about art, passion, regret, love, and Claudel's dysfunctional family and her love-to-hate relationship with Rodin. However, the distant point of view keeps her from seeing into the depths of Claudel’s mental illness and self-isolation. We’re never in her home experiencing her delusions and paranoia.
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Frugal Fiona
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 6, 2020
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A very accurate & in depth & readable account of a Female French sculptor, highlighting the inequities in the art world but also giving an honest clear-eyed view of Claudel’s flaws & talents
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Henry
5.0 out of 5 stars Eye opener
Reviewed in Canada on July 10, 2018
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Uber fantastic.

I love Rodin, as an artist, and when I read about him I of course read about Miss Claudel. I loved the whole history of this book, the telling of the times, and the struggles of the female artists puts it in perspective on how far we have come.

This book is nicely crafted, through letters, and lots of recorded conversations and articles. It was nicely pieced together to tell her story fairly and I think paints Rodin in a decent light, and as a bonus I gleamed lots more about his life and his life as a sculptor that I did not know about. Especially his own struggles as an artist to gain fame and recognition and how he had to put in time as a decorative art sculptor before this came to fruition.

Camille ended up putting in that time at Rodin's studio, her and a friend were lucky to be hired as female assistants, since women sculptors were frowned upon. However Rodin judged their talent and not their gender.... however getting close to Camille turned into romance and an 'arrangement' which lasted almost a decade.

Camille benefited from Rodin's patronage, love and support during that time, but in the end it became a double edge sword. He never followed through on the promise of marriage, and also she wanted to be recognized on her own merit.. not as a student of Rodin. His shadow was too big and she wanted out from under it.

The rest of her tale gets sadder and sadder. Some was her own doing, some was the times... and her state of mind did not help her case... but her talent has finally been acknowledged.

All worth reading about.
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Jessica Di Bella
5.0 out of 5 stars Faszinierende Biographie
Reviewed in Germany on September 10, 2015
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Die Biographie der Künstlerin Camille Claudel hat mich wirklich umgehauen. Sie ist toll geschrieben und verbindet Fakten mit einer angenehm zu lesenden Erzählweise.
Empfehlung!
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Irina
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!
Reviewed in Canada on July 23, 2021
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The book is beautifully written; you get a lot of information about Camille Claudel, Rodin, and society during that time.
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Ginny
4.0 out of 5 stars Camille's sequestration and limits to her freedom as a female artist at the dawn of the 20th century
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 16, 2019
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I used this in my leadership of a series of sessions about Women in Art History for my local U3A - specifically one session where we explored the life and work of Camille Claudel .
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