Bust of Auguste Rodin

Once described by Rodin as the favourite portrait of himself, the bust of Auguste Rodin was sculptured by Camile Claudel in 1884 – 1885. The bust which is entirely made out of bronze is 40 cm in height, 25 cm long and weighs 17.6 lb depicts Rodin’s full beard, furrowed brow and well-combed curly hair on his head.

The inspiration behind Claudel's idea of designing a rare bronze bust of Auguste Rodin was born out of the intense relationship the two had. Camile Claudel had fallen in love with Rodin, who was his mentor, at his workshop. Though their passionate love affair ended tragically for Camille, her love for art was not just theoretical but her world. In her exceptional capabilities in art, Camille has modelled similar artworks such as The Old Helen bust made of clay (1864-1943); the bust of Lucienne Gillet (1883-1962) and the last original sculpture she created, the bust of Paul Claudel, her brother in 1905 which was cast in bronze.

Claudel portrayed boldness in her art through some of her work which depicted intense sensuality. The Waltz (1889 - 1905) shows a couple dancing passionately in pleasant embrace; Sakuntula (1886 -1905) depicts a man on his knees, closely embracing a woman; Maturity (1899) portrays a young woman on her knees clinging onto a man’s hand who appears to be leaving her as he is embraced by another older woman in front of him.

In 1999, the bust of Auguste Rodin was in the headlines across France after the art worth approximately £800,000 was stolen from Gueret Art and Archaeology Museum where it was kept. Thirteen years later, on June 12, 2012, the antique was later recovered in Lyon, France after police found inside a truck of an antique seller. The sculpture is now housed at the Camille Claudel museum together with other artworks that remained after she destroyed most of them during her struggle with mental illness.

Most of Claudel's artwork lived in Rodin's shadow however, she was her inspiration and perhaps the reason why Claudel made a bust of him. For decades she remained unrecognized together with her work until an exhibition at Muse Rodin in 1984 when she was revealed to the world. She has been an inspiration to many with best-selling books and movies documenting her life.