Born in 1864, Camille Claudel arrived in Paris with fire in her soul and stone beneath her fingers. The École des Beaux-Arts barred women, so she carved her own path—joining private ateliers that welcomed female talent. There, she met Auguste Rodin.
Their bond became legend. Together, they created works of staggering beauty—fragments of shared genius now displayed in the Musée d’Orsay and the Rodin Museum. But when Rodin chose loyalty to an old lover over truth with Camille, the world followed his lead.
His name rose.
Hers fell into silence.
Labeled “hysterical,” cast aside by critics and family alike, Camille’s bold sculptures—once celebrated—were now called scandalous. Her brother, the diplomat and poet Paul Claudel, helped condemn her. In 1913, she was institutionalized against her will, deemed a disgrace to the family.
She would remain there for 30 years.
Her letters survive: pleading, lucid, heartbreaking. “Why am I here?” she asked. No one answered.
On October 19, 1943, she died of malnutrition in an asylum bed. No family came. Her body was buried in an unmarked grave.
But time has a way of restoring truth.
Today, Camille Claudel’s name stands alone—her works exhibited beside Rodin’s, and a museum near Paris now bears her name.
She was not mad.
She was magnificent.
#CamilleClaudel #ForgottenGenius
~Weird Wonders and Facts
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