''The Mature Age'' (french: L'Âge mûr), also named ''Destiny'', ''The Path of Life'' or ''Fatality'' (1894–1900) is a sculpture by French artist

Camille Claudel Camille Rosalie Claudel (; 8 December 1864 19 October 1943) was a French sculptor known for her figurative works in bronze and marble. She died in relative obscurity, but later gained recognition for the originality and quality of her work. The ...

. The work was commissioned by the French government in 1895, but the commission was cancelled in 1899 before a bronze was cast. A plaster version of the sculpture was exhibited in 1899, and then cast in bronze privately in 1902. A second private bronze casting was made in 1913, and it is thought that the plaster version was destroyed at that time. The two bronzes are exhibited in Paris, the first at the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...

and the second at the

Musée Rodin The Musée Rodin ( en, Rodin Museum) in Paris, France, is a museum that was opened in 1919, primarily dedicated to the works of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. It has two sites: the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds in central Paris, as ...

Background

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

had taken Camille Claudel on as a student in 1884, and she became his associate and lover. He eventually refused to marry her, reluctant to end his long-term relationship with

Rose Beuret Rose Beuret, born Marie Rose Beuret on 9 June, 1844 in Vecqueville (Haute-Marne) and died on 14 February, 1917 in Meudon, was a French seamstress and laundress, known to have been one of the muses and, for 53 years, the companion of Auguste Rod ...

, mother of his son and later his wife. This love triangle, and an abortion, caused a separation between Claudel and Rodin in 1892, but they remained on reasonable terms until 1898. Rodin tried to help Claudel through the agency of another person, and obtained an official commission for her from the Inspector of Fine Arts

Armand Silvestre Paul Armand Silvestre (18 April 1837 – 19 February 1901) was a 19th-century French poet and ''conteur'' born in Paris. He studied at the École polytechnique with the intention of entering the army, but in 1870 he entered the department ...

, in 1895, her first commission from the French state. The evolution of the work can be judged from official reports made by Inspector

Armand Dayot Armand Dayot, (19 October 1851 – 2 October 1934), was a French art critic, art historian and leftist politician. He was born in Paimpol, Côtes-d'Armor, Brittany. He founded the journal ''L'Art et les artistes'' and the Breton liberal organisa ...

. The final rupture between Claudel and Rodin came in 1898, when she moved away and opened her own studio. The commission was cancelled in unusual circumstances in June 1899 by the Fine Arts Director,

Henry Roujon Henry Roujon (1 September 1853, Paris – 1 June 1914, Paris) was a French academic, essayist and novelist. Roujon was the secretary of Jules Ferry, and became director of Fine Arts in 1894. Later he was named secretary for life of the Acad� ...

Description

The work comprises three naked figures with swirling drapes: a young woman kneeling has just released the hand of the second figure, an older standing man, and he is being drawn away by the embrace of the third person, an older woman. It can be viewed as an allegory of ageing, the man leaving behind youth and progressing towards maturity and eventual death; but it can also be interpreted as reflecting Claudel's abandonment by Rodin: she is pleading with Rodin, but he has returned to Beuret. Claudel explained this symbolism in letters to her brother

Paul Claudel Paul Claudel (; 6 August 1868 – 23 February 1955) was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism. Early lif ...

, then

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

in New York. According to her, the group represents Destiny. On the basis of these letters, ''The Mature Age'' can be considered an autobiographical work. The older woman is identified by some with the Goddess of Fates

Clotho Clotho (; el, Κλωθώ) is a mythological figure. She is the youngest of the Three Fates or Moirai who spins the thread of human life; the other two draw out (Lachesis) and cut (Atropos) in ancient Greek mythology. Her Roman equivalent is ...

(another Claudel sculpture represented the goddess in 1893) or Venus. The young woman that represents Youth has been exhibited as ''Le Dieu Envolé'' (''The God Has Flown Away''), which references the story of Psyche and Cupid, whose love is forbidden by Venus. Rodin was shocked and angered when he saw the sculpture for the first time in 1899. He cut off support for Claudel, and may have influenced the Ministry of Fine Arts to cancel their commission.

Evolution

The sculpture reflects work by Claudel from at least 1893. A design from the end of 1893 is held by the

Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

in Paris, and she referred to a "group of three" in a letter to her brother Paul in December 1893. Claudel made a first plaster version of the sculpture in 1894-95, with three figures, one kneeling and two standing, in a more closed composition than the final version. This first plaster version is held by the Musée Rodin. It measures . Claudel altered the composition to create a more dynamic second version, with two figures leaving the third behind. The revised composition was completed in 1898, and exhibited in plaster in 1899 at the Salon of the

Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (SNBA; ; en, National Society of Fine Arts) was the term under which two groups of French artists united, the first for some exhibitions in the early 1860s, the second since 1890 for annual exhibitions. 1862 Es ...

. The initial project shows the man to be resistant to the old woman but in the second project, he simply allows himself to be led away. Paul Claudel opines that these are not "the two versions of the same event, but of two chapters of a single drama." It was cast in bronze in 1902 by for a private client, Captain Tissier. The bronze was also exhibited at the Salon of the

in 1902, and at the

Société des Artistes Français The Société des Artistes Français (, meaning "Society of French Artists") is the association of French painters and sculptors established in 1881. Its annual exhibition is called the "Salon des artistes français" (not to be confused with the ...

in 1903. It was kept by Captain (later General) Tissier and his son André until 1982, when it was bought by the Musée d'Orsay. It measures and weighs . A second bronze was cast by Frédéric Carvilhani in 1913, and is exhibited at the

since donated by Paul Claudel in 1952. It measures , on a plinth of . An edition of six smaller bronze version of the complete sculpture were made for , and separate bronzes of the old man and the young woman, including 20 casts of the young woman ("l'Implorante") in its original size and 100 smaller versions. The pleasing woman was known as ''The Vanished God'' in around 1905. It measures .

, the artist's brother, commented on the work: "Ma soeur Camille, implorante, humiliée à genoux, cette superbe, cette orgueilleuse, et savez-vous ce qui s'arrache à elle, en ce moment même, sous vos yeux, c'est son âme". ("My sister Camille, imploring, humiliated on her knees, this great proud woman, and you know what is tearing at her, right now, before your eyes, it's her soul") File:Camille Claudel.- L’Âge mûr ou La Destinée, 1899, bronze (2).jpg, First version in plaster, exhibited in

Roubaix Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...

File:L'Âge Mûr.jpg, 1902 bronze casting, at the

, Paris File:Claudel-2014-05.jpg, 1913 bronze casting at the Musée Rodin File:The Implorer (L'Implorante) MET DP-13617-052.jpg, ''The Implorer'' ("l'Implorante"), small bronze cast for , at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

Notes

References

Claudel, The Age of Maturity
Khan Academy
The Age of Maturity or Destiny or The Path of Life or Fatality
Musée Rodin
L'Âge mûr ou la Destinée, ou Le Chemin de la vie, ou La Fatalité
Musée Rodin (French)
L'Âge mûr, première version
Musée Rodin (French)
L'Âge mûr
Musée Rodin (French)
1893 -1908 : Period of solitary creation
Musée Camille Claudel
L'Âge mûr
Musée Camille Claudel

/nowiki>], Musée d'Orsay
L'Age mur
Musée d'Orsay

Silke Schauder, ''La clinique lacanienne'' 2008/2 (n° 14), pages 99 à 112 (French)
''From Rodin to Giacometti: Sculpture and Literature in France, 1880-1950''
edited by Keith Aspley, Elizabeth Cowling, Peter Ssharratt, Peter Sharratt, p.45
''The Implorer (L'Implorante)'', modeled 1898, cast ca. 1905
Metropolitan Museum of Art
"The genius of Camille Claudel"
''Apollo'', Catherine Lampert 13 May 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mature Age 1899 sculptures Sculptures by Camille Claudel Plaster sculptures 1902 sculptures Bronze sculptures in France Sculptures of the Musée d'Orsay Sculptures of the Musée Rodin