A bronze by Camille Claudel, found by chance, offered at auction

A version of Mature agefamous sculpture by Camille Claudel, was found by chance in an uninhabited Parisian apartment and will be offered at auction in Orléans on February 16, we learned Monday from the auctioneer who discovered it. Matthieu Semont, responsible for the inventory of this Parisian apartment on September 17, explains to AFP that he « was overcome with emotion » when he « recognized » this bronze, confirming press information.

« It’s more of an encounter than a discovery, it’s magical, I cried. This bronze, which had been lost for over a century, is of astonishing quality. »he adds. And to tell: « I came as part of an inheritance inventory as I do every day, with a notary, in an apartment plunged into darkness, closed for around fifteen years, with a lot of dust. I lifted the cloth that covered the sculpture and I immediately recognized part of the sculpture, the imploring (a young woman on her knees pleading, Editor’s note), for having worked on this work 25 years ago ».

Estimated between 1.5 and 2 million euros

“A bronze like this, one would have imagined that its owners would have put it in a place where it would be referenced, exhibited. There, it was delivered to us without prior »he is surprised. The sculpture represents a cycle of life, embodied by three characters including a kneeling young woman, symbolizing the heartbreaking passion between the sculptor and Auguste Rodin, according to several art historians.

“A bronze like this, one would have imagined that its owners would have put it in a place where it would be referenced, exhibited. There, it was delivered to us without prior »

Matthieu Semont

An aborted commission from the State to Camille Claudel, the work also evokes her descent into hell after her breakup with the famous sculptor « who never stopped loving her and cried when discovering her imploring at the founder Eugène Blot »underlines the auctioneer. Also titled Destiny, The Path of life or Fatalityit is a major work of which only a few copies exist, including two in the Orsay and Rodin museums in Paris and another in the Camille Claudel museum in Nogent-sur-Seine (Aube).

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Measuring 61.5 x 85 x 37.5 centimeters, it is signed “C. Claudel” and bears the stamp of the founder and unwavering friend of the sculptor, Eugène Blot Paris, as well as the number 1 at the feet of the ‘imploring. It was exhibited and sold in 1908 and probably melted at the very beginning of the 20^e century, according to Matthieu Semont.

Estimated between 1.5 and 2 million euros, it will be offered at auction by its auction house, Philocale, on February 16 at Orléans town hall. In November 2017, 17 works by the sculptor had achieved a triple result compared to the estimate, with 12 pre-emptions and 1.187 million euros for another famous bronze, L’Abandon (1886), double its low estimate.