The Art of Facing Grief: Rodin and Camille Claudel

On the anniversary of Rodin's birth, we honor the ways art can express and hold our grief. This Virtual Salon of Art and Ideas explores the sculptural masterpiece The Burghers of Calais, a collaboration Rodin created with his muse and lover Camille Claudel as a monument to courage and generosity in the face of fear and tragedy.

Hired  by the town of Calais to commemorate the story of six Medieval citizens who volunteered to sacrifice themselves to save their community, Rodin and Claudel created a sculpture that redfined the concept of heroism while foreshadowing the psychological insight of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross on the stages of facing death: anger, denial, fear, bargaining and acceptance.

After their tumultuous break up, Camille Claudel used her art to express the grief she faced in the face of  personal betrayal. We will honor her towering masterpiece, L'Age Mure (also known as "The Path of Life"or "Destiny"), and how Rodin, consumed with guilt and regret, made certain Camille would have her rightful place of honor in the Paris museum that bears his name after his death.