Art history involves many "alternative histories" in which writers/historians seek to make a name for themselves by putting a new spin on the facts more than simply revealing what is truly known objectively. I read a number of books on Rodin and Claudel back when I was still in art school with illusions of becoming a sculptor... before I was forced to acknowledge that I had no ability to think in 3-dimensional terms at all. I also delved further into Camille's story while reading up on Paul Claudel whose poetic efforts interested me at the time.
Even a perusal of Wikipedia will reveal many of the same facts of Claudel's life that I posted above.
Claudel started working in Rodin's workshop in 1883 and became a source of inspiration for him. She acted as his model, his confidante, and his lover. Rodin, however, never had any intention of ending his 20-year relationship with his long-term lover and later wife, Rose Beuret.
Knowledge of Camille's affair outraged her family, especially her mother, who already detested her for not being a boy and never approved of Claudel's involvement in the arts.
Claudel ended her affair with Rodin in 1892 but the two continued to see each other frequently until 1898. There are debates about how much Rodin supported or didn't support Claudel after their separation. Rodin did sign some of Claudel's work from the period in which she was his apprentice, but this was common practice among artists and their apprentices at the time. Rodin stopped all contact with Claudel in 1898/99 after having seen her sculpture,
The Mature Age.
The work is generally interpreted as an allegory of the three stages of life... but Claudel's brother and Rodin took the work to be an allegory of her affair and break up with Rodin.
Money was one of the largest struggles facing Claudel after her final break with Rodin. Women were generally underrated, neglected, and ignored as artists. Mary Cassatt was an exception thanks to the wealth of her family... but even being the friend, colleague, model, and sister-in-law of Manet was not enough to assure Berthe Morisot the recognition worthy of her art. Claudel faced the greater challenge of the immense expense of sculpture. Claudel did not receive many official commissions because her style was highly unusual for a woman according to the contemporary conservative tastes... especially due to the erotic nature of her art. A good number of historians suggest it was not Rodin, but her brother Paul who was truly jealous of her genius, and that he conspired with her mother, who never forgave her for shaming the family to ruin her and keep her confined to a mental hospital.
After 1905 Claudel appeared to be suffering from mental illness. She destroyed many of her sculptures (although this was somewhat common among sculptors reusing materials). She disappeared for long periods of time, exhibited signs of paranoia, and was diagnosed as having schizophrenia. She accused Rodin of stealing her ideas and of leading a conspiracy to kill her. After the death of her supportive father, she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital at the request of her brother Paul. The forms of admission state that she was "voluntarily committed" yet these were signed only by a doctor and her brother. Over the years, doctors tried to convince Paul and their mother that Claudel did not need to be in the institution, yet they insisted on keeping her there. Her mother forbid any mail to Camille from anyone other than her brother. Several doctors regularly proposed to her family that Claudel be released, but her mother adamantly refused each time.
Of course, there are a number of more recent books that portray Rodin as the villain in Claudel's tragic life story. It seems more complex than that. Her family situation reminds me of Verdi's opera,
La Traviata... or Dumas' book,
La Dame aux camélias on which the opera was based. Camille was sacrificed for the sake of the family reputation and her brother's career. But Claudel was also undone by the bias against female artists, the conservative belief that women shouldn't be involved in something as physical as sculpture let alone creating art of an erotic nature, and her mental illness and poor treatment of such at the time.