Featured Camille Claudel bronze bust?

Hi all, I got this from my uncle's house. Looks like Camille Claudel's signature. I can't find any information about it or pictures online. Can anyone give me any hints as to its origin and authenticity?

-Jamie

 

@daveydempsey Category reassignment surgery needed!

 

Many thanks @daveydempsey and @Bronwen for successful Category reassignment surgery. The patient is well and in recovery and has learned a valuable lesson.

 

As she was so close to Rodin, the same foundry/ies he used may have cast the piece, perhaps they have records of castings. I think it is beautiful and wouldn’t be surprised if it is one of hers.

 

Yeah, I love it. Any idea how I would go about researching this?

 

My suggestion would be to figure out which foundry/ies Rodin used and research in that direction to see if that's a possibility she was made there.......

 

Welcome to the forum, jmacmac.
Your girl is very beautiful, and is certainly in the Camille Claudel style and of that quality.
She looks like an older sister of "La Petite Châtelaine" by Camille Claudel, the same eyes:

https://www.artexpertswebsite.com/pages/artists/claudel.php
The name of the sitter for "La Petite Châtelaine" is Madeleine Boyer, she was the daughter of the owner of the château de L’Islette, the castle where Camille Claudel stayed regularly between 1890-1893. Camille made several busts of her, but I don't know if Madeleine had a sister. Or if Camille portrayed friends of Madeleine. But it is something you could research as well. Here is more info, in French:
http://www.roubaix-lapiscine.com/collections/sculptures/camille-claudel-1864-1943/
Another "La Petite Châtelaine":


This is the signature I have so far found on most pieces by her, but signatures can change, and I don't know if her mental instability influenced it as well. This one is on "La Valse":

http://sculptureetcollection.com/en/ventes/valse-1889-1905/

 

Thanks everyone! I have also contacted the Camille Claudel museum in France to see if they can provide more information. I will update when I learn more.

FYI: http://www.museecamilleclaudel.fr/en

 

Welcome to you and your little beauty, jmacmac!

 

It is extremely different. Signatures can change for sure, mental instability or not. However, as much as this does look like it could say Camille, the way the letters are formed & how they are spaced are quite changed, if the same hand. My other thought is that the name on La Valse may not be a signature; it may have been put there by the foundry, more of a label.

Aha! Yes, this letter to Rodin answers all my objections:





Claudel words to live by for our times (& see postscript above):
I am in no mood to be deceived any longer by the crafty devil and false character whose greatest pleasure is to take advantage of everyone.

 

Yes, that paper signature was what led me to suspect it is hers.

 

I absolutely love your young girl/bust.....and think she is just stunning!!

 

Hi all, no word back from the CC museum. Anyone willing to ballpark an approximate value on this item? I'm not expecting an accurate appraisal, just asking you fine people with greater experience than myself. Any info is greatly appreciated.

 

Hi all. For anyone following this, it appears to me as if the piece I have (mine) might be a study/maquette of this. There are a number of similarities, especially the form of the hair and the "hole" on the right. Turns out it may be a young man, not a young woman as I previously assumed. The investigation continues...

 

So category wasn't the only thing that needed reassigning! Interesting that only 2 were made originally; maybe family's preference. Sure does look like the same figure:


The slightly softened lines (see curls on left shoulder) & very smooth finish (see the philtrum), make me think yours was cast from a mold made from one of the original castings. And your bust does not include the shoulders.

 

The one on the left is approx 12" tall, while mine is approx 6" tall. I've been trying to find contact information for Reine-Marie Paris (Camille Claudel's grand-neice who runs her museum and has written numerous books), but no luck with Google so far.

 

I was wondering if there is something like a pantograph for 3-D objects. It seems there is.

The boom in the production of bronzes during the 19th century was made possible thanks to three innovations. Firstly, the device invented by Achille Collas, which allowed its users to mechanically reduce or increase the scale of models. Achille Collas was awarded a Grand Médaille d'Honneur for his invention at the 1855 Exposition Universelle of Paris.

 

Just an observation -- the head seems to be tilted at a different angle in relation to the neck and shoulders in the image found online compared to the one in the original post. The eyes in the original one seem to be looking forward and slightly upward. The eyes in the other one appear to be looking straight ahead with the head tilted slightly downward.

Also, the eyes on the one in the original post are more rounded than the eyes in the "found" one.

So they do seem related but not exactly the same.

 

Update: A friend looked through the catalogue raisonné of Camille Claudel's work, by Reine-Marie Paris (Camille's grand-niece), and only found the Sotheby's version.

However, I actually received a response from Ms. Paris regarding the piece! Here's the (awkward Google) translation from the french:

Hello. Mr. Philippe Cressent sent me your email about the little head of Charles Lhermitte. Camille Claudel is very interesting.Who are you compared to the Lhermitte family? Is there on the bronze a mark of foundry? I am there grand-niece of Camille Claudel and I am interested in this sculptrice for 40 years. I would have to see the work. Do you have an opportunity to come to France? I look forward to hearing from you. Return to you Queen Marie Paris

I cannot, in fact, go to Paris as lovely as that would be, but I will take some better photos and send them to her. I'll keep you guys posted.