The Musée Camille Claudel is a French national museum which honors and exhibits the art of sculptor

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 museum displays approximately half of Claudel's existing artwork. The Claudel museum was opened in 2017 in her teenage home town of

Nogent-sur-Seine Nogent-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France. The headquarters of The Soufflet Group is located here, as is the Musée Camille Claudel. The large Nogent Nuclear Power Plant is located here. Population Pe ...

, 100 kilometers (62 miles) southeast of Paris. Plans were announced in 2003 to turn the Claudel family home at Nogent-sur-Seine into a museum, and the museum negotiated to buy Claudel's works from the Claudel family. These include 70 pieces by Claudel, including a

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places * Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazin ...

of her teacher, Auguste Rodin. Rodin and Claudel were associates and lovers, and eventually rivals. Many of Claudel's sculptures can also be seen 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 ...

in Paris, which has a room dedicated to her work.

History

A municipal museum was created in the town of Nogent-sur-Seine in 1902. It held a collection of works by the sculptors

Alfred Boucher Alfred Boucher (23 September 1850 – 1934) was a French sculptor who was a mentor to Camille Claudel and a friend of Auguste Rodin. Biography Born in Bouy-sur-Ovin (Nogent-sur-Seine), he was the son of a farmhand who became the gardener of the s ...

and

Paul Dubois Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

, both of whom had a connection to the community. The early museum was decimated by pillagers around 1940, with remaining works being placed in storage in 1950. The Musée Dubois-Boucher reopened in 1975. In 2008, the museum purchased 43 works by Claudel from the artist’s great niece, Reine Marie Paris. Architect Adelfo Scaranello designed an expansion and renovation of an existing structure, where Claudel had once lived during her teenage years, into a new facility to include 15 galleries. Reopened in 2017 as the Musée Camille Claudel, it now houses the largest collection of her works in the world. The museum also displays works by her mentors and contemporaries.

References

{{ACArt Camille Claudel National museums of France Claudel Sculpture galleries in France Art museums established in 2017 2017 establishments in France Claudel, Camille

History

See also

References