Camille Claudel : inheriting oblivion

This quizz will take about 15 minutes of your time. You will learn about French sculptor Camille Claudel and how her life was heavily affected by bipolar disorder.

You will also learn about her family and how her relatives were affected by Camille Claudel's mental health issues.

Finally, I will share some advice on how to help a loved one who suffers from bipolar disorder.

These tips are not my own, rather these are the tips of psychiatrists, psychologists and/or specialists of bipolar disorder.

Finally, I will share some advice on how to help a loved one who suffers from bipolar disorder.

These tips are not my own, rather these are the tips of psychiatrists, psychologists and/or specialists of bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder. According to the NHS : "Bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression, is a condition that affects your moods, which can swing from one extreme to another."

People who have bipolar disorder report experiencing episodes of depression (they feel very low) and episodes of mania (they feel very high). Of course the symptoms vary from person to person. Each episode can last for weeks or even months.

Let's come back to Camille Claudel.

Camille Claudel was a French sculptor and artist. She lived between 1864 and 1943. In 1913, her family decided to committ her in a psychiatric hospital against her will. She stayed there for 30 years, until her death.

Let's come back to Camille Claudel.

Whether Camille Claudel needed to be committed in a psychiatric hospital is still very much debated. In 1913, a media campaign accused Camille Claudel's family of committing her to get rid of her.

This is Paul Claudel, her brother. Paul Claudel was a well-known poet, dramatist and diplomat. His relationship with his elder sister Camille was complicated. He is the one who committed her to a psychiatric hospital in 1913. In 30 years, he came to see her only 7 times at the hospital. He was not present when she died and did not come to her funeral. According to Jansen Estrup, Paul was jealous of her sister's genius.

Louise Athanaïse Cécile Cerveaux was the mother of Camille Claudel. She never really understood her daughter and was deeply unsatisfied by her lifestyle and her involvement in the arts. Some say she hated Camille for not being a boy. Indeed, she had lost a newborn son a year before Camille's birth. She helped her son Paul to commit her in the psychiatric hospital and during Camille's time there she never visited her.

Louis Prosper Claudel was Camille Claudel's father. He was also his only ally within the family. He was really proud of his daughter's artistic career and supported her financially. He died on the 2nd of March 1913 and Camille was admitted to the hospital on the 10th of March 1913, proof that he was the one protecting her from the rest of the family. Camille wrote several times that she did not know about her father's death. It is likely that the rest of the family did not tell her.

Auguste Rodin was a well-known French sculptor. Camille Claudel worked with him for years and she was his lover for ten years. According to Reine-Marie Paris (Camille Claudel's great niece), they had four children together. Marcelle Dalti (Rodin's secretary) said they had two. Camille and Rodin met in 1883, she was 18 and he was 43. After their break up in 1892, Camille thought Rodin was stealing her ideas and her art. Their relationship was passionate and brutal.

This is Jessie Lipscomb. She was a British sculptor. Jessie and Camille met in 1882. On this picture you can see Camille on the left and Jessie on the right. Both of them were really close but when Camille broke up with Rodin she claimed she never wanted to see Jessie again. Yet, Jessie was one of the only ones who visited Camille while she was at the psychiatric hospital. She came twice in 1924 and 1929 with her husband William Elborne. This picture is the only one of Camille during her time at the hospital. She was 65 years old when the picture was taken.

If you want to learn more, I recommend you read Anne Delbée's excellent book (Une Femme, 1982) and watch Bruno Nuytten's movie (Camille Claudel, 1988) which is an adaptation of Reine-Marie Paris's biography of Camille Claudel.

Camille was diagnosted with paranoia when she was admitted to the hospital. However, there is much debate today about this diagnosis. She had probably either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. I chose to stick to bipolar disorder because I believe this option is more likely than the former one. Indeed, by reading her letters it is obvious that she was sometimes paranoid but this could be a symptom of an episode of mania. And, she herself mentioned multiple times in her letters that she suffered from depression.

Often, people who suffer from bipolar disorder are not the only ones affected by their illness. For their relatives it can also be a tough experience.

You can do all of the above ! Don't forget to take care of yourself. Often people who deal with a loved one's illness forget to take care of themselves. But, if you're not feeling good, you can't help other people !

If you want to learn more about helping someone who has bipolar disorder, this is a link to an amazing website which explains step by step what the illness is and how you can help. And, don't forget : bipolar disorder is an illness so don't take the symptoms personally !

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/bipolar-disorder/helping-someone-with-bipolar-disorder.htm

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Camille Claudel : inheriting oblivion

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