Camille Claudel and Bernhard Hoetger: Emancipation from Rodin
Auteur(s) : Yvette Deseyve, Frank Schmidt (dir.)
Exhibition at the Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum, Bremen, 25 January - 18 May 2025;
at the Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin, 6 June - 28 September 2025;
at the Camille Claudel Museum, Nogent-sur-Seine, spring 2026
In 1905, Camille Claudel (1864 - 1943), already widely recognised, and the young German sculptor Bernhard Hoetger (1874 - 1949) met for the first time in a double exhibition at Eugène Blot's gallery in Paris. All that remains of this event is a slim catalogue, a photograph and a few enthusiastic reviews.
On the basis of this presentation, which in retrospect can be defined as the beginning of Hoetger's career and the end of Camille Claudel's, this exhibition catalogue highlights the central creative phases of these artists: both initially oriented themselves towards their model Auguste Rodin, worked on the basis of his impressionist formal language and his dominant position in artistic circles, and eventually emancipated themselves from him. United in their efforts to create their own work, they developed an international artistic vitality at the heart of the modern era, the impact of which is still felt today.
