The Implorer

The Implorer is a sculpture done by Camille Claudel, the brightest student of the sculptor, Auguste Rodin. The sculpture was made in 1898 and cast into bronze in 1905 where Claudel used it to portray the tension between her and Rodin caused by love, sex and passion for creative art that they shared during their ten-year affair.

The Implorer shows a kneeling woman with hands outstretched imploring to an unseen person. Initially, it was part of a larger piece, age of maturity, which is a three-figure piece showing a male figure walking away from a younger woman who seems to be begging him to stay. The piece is thought to have been a representation of the situation between Claudel, Rodin and his older mistress. The man being Rodin is torn between staying with his older mistress or giving the relationship up to be with his young lover. When asked to choose, Rodin chose his older mistress and mother of his child.

From the first version of the sculpture, the man is closer to the younger lover, indicating he is still held by youth. However, in the second version, he has edged away from the hands of the imploring woman showing that he is succumbing to old age and even death. Besides illustrating the relationship (love triangle) between Rodin, Claudel and Rodin's older mistress, the sculpture also tries to showcase the theme, destiny. The hurt Claudel is cut off from the main sculpture to form a new sculpture all together as the implorer to show that the conflicted man, Rodin has chosen to be with his older mistress and not the young lover, bringing an end to the story of the love triangle.

Camille Claude was daring in her creations; she made use of complicated materials such as onyx marble in her sculptures which set her apart from other sculptors she also experimented on different materials such as combining marble and bronze. Camille was a brave woman, daring to venture into the storm (the art world during the 19th century) which was not considered life for a lady and as if that is not enough went ahead to express sexual content in her art without shying away. It may not have ended very well for her, with the thirty years in solitary and poverty, but she was a force to reckon.