In Camille Claudel’s time, being a sculptress in Paris

An exhibition co-produced by the Camille Claudel Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Tours, and the Pont-Aven Museum brings together the works of some twenty artists: Charlotte Besnard, Marie Cazin, Madeleine Jouvray, as well as Jessie Lipscomb, Agnès de Frumerie, Anna Bass, Jane Poupelet, and many others. French or foreign, often daughters or wives of artists, they were Camille Claudel’s studio colleagues, friends, or sometimes rivals. Some preceded her, others succeeded her. Thanks to national and international loans, nearly 90 objects—sculptures, but also painted, drawn, and photographed portraits of female sculptors, as well as photographs and correspondence—will bring to life Camille Claudel’s artistic circle of women, from her beginnings in the cosmopolitan Paris of the 1880s to her confinement in March 1913. What artistic training was available to women at this turn of the 20th century? What strategies did female sculptors employ to carve out a place for themselves in this male-dominated field? What relationships did Camille Claudel maintain with her contemporaries? And what roles did these artists play within Auguste Rodin’s studio? These are just some of the questions explored in the exhibition.

This exhibition has received the “Exhibition of National Interest” label awarded by the Ministry of Culture and, as such, benefits from exceptional support. It is presented successively at the Camille Claudel Museum in Nogent-sur-Seine, from September 13, 2025 to January 4, 2026, then at the Museum of Fine Arts in Tours, from January 31 to June 1, 2026, and at the Pont-Aven Museum from June 27 to November 8, 2026.

Female sculptors at the turn of the 20th century

When Camille Claudel arrived in Paris in 1881, having just turned 16, she entered an art world already populated by talented female sculptors. For these women, it was still difficult to gain access to training and to obtain recognition. Stereotypes setting supposed feminine weakness against the virile image associated with sculpture were still firmly in place. Women wishing to have a career in sculpture met with two obstacles: exclusion from formal training, especially at the École des Beaux-Arts; and the financial constraints of traditional sculpture, including the cost of marble and bronze and professional models and craftsmen.

This first section of this exhibition focuses on those who, against the odds, succeeded in pursuing their calling and making their mark on the Paris art world, following diverse paths and strategies. Marie Cazin, Charlotte Besnard and Jeanne Itasse benefited from their association with an artist husband or father. Others, such as Laure Coutan-Montorgueil (from a family of craftsmen) and Marguerite Syamour (raised in a progressive intellectual environment) were able to tackle the difficulties of becoming sculptors without any opposition from their entourage.

Blanche Moria, born into a family of shopkeepers and recognised as a statuary artist after her death, had a more unusual career. A militant feminist, she joined the struggle of the Union of Women Painters and Sculptors founded in 1881 by sculptor Hélène Bertaux. This movement led to partial access for women to the École des Beaux-Arts in 1897, with full access being granted in 1900.

Friends and rivals: Camille Claudel and her studio partners

In 1881, Camille Claudel moved with her family to Paris, first to 135 Boulevard du Montparnasse and then to 111 Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, not far from the Académie Colarossi. This private school was open to women (who were charged a higher tuition) and provided an alternative to the École des Beaux-Arts. Its teaching was focused on practical exercise, including sculpting from life models. Claudel studied there alongside other young female artists from France and abroad, mainly from Great Britain and Scandinavia.

This shared studio space allowed the young female sculptors to live a “bohemian life” while reassuring their families about their career choices. Brothers and male friends, such as Paul Claudel, often visited these studios, reflecting a complex social dynamic despite the conventions of the time. Strong bonds were forged between these artists. Today, portraits of them together survive, presented side-by-side in this section. Painted or sculpted, they were created both to compensate for the lack of professional models and to bear witness to their friendship.

After Rodin, after Claudel: the challenge of the modern

The exhibition concludes with the “post-Rodin” period. After their breakup in 1893, Camille Claudel sought at all costs to free herself from the master’s influence. In a letter to her brother, she declared triumphantly: “You see, it’s no longer Rodin at all.” The studio became an isolated space where Claudel drew inspiration solely from her personal experiences. As Charles Morice emphasizes, her works—The Mature Age, Clotho, or her series of “sketches from nature”—”belong uniquely to Camille Claudel; no one before her had done this, and no one has done it since,” thus marking her place in this post-Rodin era.