Beautiful sculpture by Camille Claudel rediscovered in an abandoned Parisian apartment

A rare bronze statue by French artist Camille Claudel that has been lost for over a century will soon go to auction. Titled The age of adulthoodThe artwork was recently rediscovered in an abandoned apartment and is expected to fetch as much as $2.1 million.

The piece, created in the 1890s, depicts a man and two women, one old and one young. The older woman leads her lover forward. The youngest sits on her knees behind him and extends her hand to him.

Auctioneer Matthieu Semont was doing an inventory of a Parisian apartment that had not been occupied for fifteen years when he discovered the missing sculpture under a sheet. He says he cried when he first saw the bronze and called the moment magical, as he tells it Agence France-Presse.

When and how the bronze was placed in that apartment remains a mystery. After Semont’s discovery, French sculpture experts came out Cabinet Lacroix-Jeannest the piece examined and verified. It will be sold on Philocale Auction House in Orleans, France, on February 16.

Although Claudel’s name is not as well known in the United States as it is in France, her star has been on the rise over the past decade. The Art Institute of Chicago and the J. Paul Getty Museum Exhibitions of her work were recently seen in Los Angeles.

“Celebrated for her genius at a time when female sculptors were rare, Camille Claudel… was one of the most daring and visionary artists of the late 19th century,” said the Getty Museum‘s website.

Claudel is also known for her tumultuous relationship with French sculptor Auguste Rodin. Rodin was not only Claudel’s mentor, but also her lover and her rival. After their relationship ended, she was eventually committed to a mental institution due to an ongoing mental illness.

Some speculate about that The age of adulthood contains autobiographical elements. According to Alexandre Lacroixa sculpture expert who helped authenticate the artwork, the girl on her knees resembles Claudel, while the male figure references Rodin Citizens of Calaisaccording to the Art newspaperby Claudia Barbieri Childs. The older woman could represent Rose Beuret, Rodin’s longtime partner and eventual wife. Ultimately, Rodin was unwillingly to leave Beuret and go to Claudel.

“Executed in Claudel’s characteristically powerful expressionist style, it lends itself to multiple interpretations: an allegory of the trajectory of life, but also of Claudel’s personal tragedy,” writes the Art newspaper.

The statue was cast by foundry owner and art collector Eugène Blot, who acquired exclusive ownership of the piece and helped promote Claudel’s work, according to Artnetby Richard Whiddington. Blot created six casts of it The age of adulthood on a third scale, which he exhibited several times.

Only three other bronze statues of the complete work are currently known. One, cast from the same mold, is held by the Museum Camille Claudel in Nogent-sur-Seine. Two larger casts of the statue are held by the Museum d’Orsay and the Museum Rodin. In addition, several versions have survived in which only the kneeling girl is depicted.