Every few years I make sure to revisit the Musée Rodin. I love the great man’s sculptures, which are, as I’m sure you know, inspiring and magnificent.
But the real reason I have always gone is to see the work of Camille Claudel, his sometime student and sometime lover, and an artist whose work has breathtaking power and beauty, and an aesthetic subtlety that can be lacking in Rodin’s art.
Alas, during this visit I discovered that only the garden was open, not the interior of the Hôtel Biron, where the smaller works are traditionally on display, and which is currently under renovation. It is the Hôtel which houses the works of Claudel.
But then I found out, to my delight, that a selection of the works from the indoor collection are on display in a temporary structure that has been set up for just this purpose. Imagine my glee in discovering that I would once again be able to commune with my beloved Claudel sculptures.
Alas, whoever was charged with selecting works to display from the indoor collection had assumed that we clueless tourists would be interested only in Rodin alone. The work of Camille Claudel was nowhere to be found.
Fools.