Camille Claudel and her work have been the subject of numerous monographic exhibitions, but rarely has attention been given to her artistic and cultural milieu. In particular, women artists who followed a similar path remain largely unknown. Through this project, the Musée Camille Claudel, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours, and the Musée de Pont-Aven aim to bring these figures out of obscurity, showcasing the original creations of exceptional sculptresses—atelier companions, friends, or rivals of Camille Claudel — who shared her vivid imagination and undeniable talent.

Alongside the sculptresses' works, their painted or photographic portraits in their studios and letters exchanged between Camille Claudel and her peers will bring to life the network of female artists known to Claudel during her career, from her early experiments in late 19th-century Paris to her confinement in March 1913.

An exhibition by the Musée Camille Claudel, in partnership with the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours and the Musée de Pont-Aven.

Photo: Camille Claudel and Ghita Theuriet, circa 1882 © Archives of the Musée Camille Claudel

Celebrating the 160^th anniversary of Camille Claudel's birth, the Camille Claudel honours the sculptor through one of her major works: Sakountala. 

The exhibition "Camille Claudel at Work: Sakountala" delves into the creation of this masterpiece with a tumultuous history. Inspired by Hindu mythology, the artist's very first monumental sculpture experienced both success and controversy before falling into oblivion.
Gathering nearly 100 objects, the exhibition revisits the creative process of Sakountala, its reception history, its literary inspiration, and the many variations Camille Claudel proposed at the end of her career.

With exceptional loans from the Rodin Museum, the National Library of France, and the Orsay Museum has been labeled "Exhibition of National Interest" by the French Ministry of Culture.

Affiche : Agence Drôles d'oiseaux

To celebrate the acquisition of six letters written by Camille Claudel to Eugène Blot, the museum presented some fifteen of the artist's letters in its permanent collections. Exhibited alongside the sculptures, these writings shed light on the genesis and reception of the works, and highlight Camille Claudel's supporters: publisher Eugène Blot, sculptor Auguste Rodin and art critics Mathias Morhardt and Gustave Geffroy. Beyond the valuable information these letters provided on the works, they embodied Camille Claudel, who shared her enthusiasms, doubts and torments with her correspondents.

Alfred Boucher, a renowned artist showered with honours and commissions in his day, is largely unknown today. The exhibition Alfred Boucher, de l'atelier au musée pays tribute to the sculptor who was Camille Claudel's first teacher, as well as a collector and philanthropist. The exhibition brings together some 130 works - sculptures, paintings, drawings and ceramics - that Alfred Boucher donated to the town of Nogent-sur-Seine at the dawn of the 20^th century, a collection taken from the museum's reserves and entirely restored for the occasion. Inviting visitors to immerse themselves in the intimacy of Boucher's studio, the scenography is freely inspired by the jumble that reigned there, known thanks to a series of stereoscopic photographs. 

Since September 2022, Nogent-sur-Seine school children have been participating in an ambitious artistic project with the Nature Association of Nogentais and photographer Philippe Brame.

Nature is the common theme of the artworks and archaeological objects "hidden" in the selected reserves by the students. During sessions at the museum and outdoors, they were able to observe, understand, write about, and photograph nature, whether real or represented.

From this project, an exhibition of photographs was born, combining the students' snapshots with the museum's artworks: to be visited throughout the summer!

Le portrait sur commande était un moyen de subsistance pour les sculpteurs au XIXe siècle. Vous répondrez à la commande d'un peintre, d'un politicien, d'une danseuse... et ferez son portrait. Sera-t-il assez flatteur pour satisfaire votre commanditaire ?

Crédit photographique : Atelier de pratique artisitique au musée Camille Claudel. Nogent-sur-Seine, 2018 © Musée Camille Claudel

Les œuvres du parcours mettent en évidence les années de profonde connivence et les liens artistiques entre les deux sculpteurs qui se rencontrent en 1882.

Crédit photographique : Camille CLAUDEL, L'Homme penché, vers 1886. Nogent-sur-Seine, Musée Camille Claudel © Yves Bourel