MWW Artwork of the Day (3/3/21)
Camille Claudel (French, 1864-1943)
Les Causeuses (Gossips)(1897)
Onyx & bronze ensemble, 45 x 42 x 39 cm.
Musée Rodin, Paris
In this intimate composition, which is conceived as a caricature, three nudes, sitting on two benches, lean in the direction of a fourth woman. Completely wrapped up in their confidential chat, their tilted heads, concentrated expressions, and wide eyes betray their curiosity over some priceless revelation. The high quality and realistic execution of this anecdotal subject make it a peerless work. Several versions exist, differing only in the handling of the screen and hair. One in onyx, a rare material that is difficult to work, was executed in 1897.
Presented as a Life Study, the title given to the exhibit at the Salon in 1895, it is one of Claudel’s most original works. In the Musée Rodin version, the emphasis is on the preciousness of the materials used and the Japanese influence at play in this group of women, whose attitudes may suggest a meeting of meddling gossips, but whose nudity, hair and slightly protrusive jaws suggest something far different. In some versions, their hair tends to become a quasi-independent object, which only heightens the strangeness of this nevertheless familiar scene.
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