Auguste Rodin and Camille Claudel (Pegasus Library) (Paperback)

by J. A. Schmoll Eisenwerth (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Each of the attractively designed, compact, and well-illustrated hardcover books in this series deals with a specific facet of an artist's career. As with any series, the quality of the titles vary?though the translations from the German are all dotted with odd grammatical constructions and the occasional ambiguity. Sagner-Duchting's discussion of Claude Monet's work at Giverny is a good introduction to the artist's important contribution to Impressionism as well as a careful analysis of his great series of grain stacks and water lilies. Partsch focuses on Klimt's relationships with women?both as an artist and as a man?offering a good, detailed account of Klimt and Emilie Floge (a fashion designer and perhaps his true love). The one disappointment is the work on Rodin and Claudel. Schmoll is defensive about the attention and praise given sculptor Camille Claudel in recent years (often, admittedly, at the expense of Rodin). His portrayal of Claudel in this brief book is at times quite negative and at odds with the picture that has emerged from the work of Reine-Marie Paris (Camille Claudel, National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1990). The "Pegasus Library" aims to provide a focused study of one aspect of an artist's oeuvre in an inexpensive format. Previous subjects include Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, and Vasily Kandinsky (all LJ 11/1/94). Although individual titles may be of interest to libraries, the narrow focus and variations in quality make the series as a whole an optional purchase.?Martin R. Kalfatovic, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"The books have great subjects--some of the most famous images in all art--and they have something new to say about them...."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Prestel Publishing (March 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 379132005X
• ISBN-13: 978-3791320052
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,261,754 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #20 in

  Books > Arts & Photography > Artists, A-Z > ( P-R ) > Rodin, Auguste

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An uninspired work that lacks insight., July 22, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Boston, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Auguste Rodin and Camille Claudel (Pegasus Libraryeries) (Hardcover)

Schmoll has taken the party line on this piece and looks at every reason to discredit Claudel to the benefit of Rodin. Criticism of Claudel goes so far as to imply that her best works could have been touched up by Rodin. Schmoll even takes time to nitpick at Claudel's looks, pointing out that they were marred by a "weak" chin. From the beginning Schmoll compares the work of a young girl's in her 20's to that of a man in his 40's. It is one of the poorest critical studies of an artist that this reader has ever read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A STORMY RELATIONSHIP, April 19, 2004

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: Auguste Rodin Und Camille Claudel (German Edition) (Paperback)

Books have been written and films produced about the stormy relationship between sculptor Auguste Rodin and promising sculptress Camille Claudel. Few liaisons have been as artistically fruitful or as emotionally turbulent.

In an attempt to freshly evaluate her work, this concise volume examines Claudel's impact upon Rodin's work, her family background, and her tragic descent into mental instability.

According to most biographers, Rodin's affection for Claudel continued even after their final separation as he continued to use her as a model. Perhaps the most poignant reminder of her is found in "The Thought," a pale, melancholy study.

Rich with illustrations by of works by both Rodin and Claudel, this title sheds new light on one of the most dramatic partnerships in the world of art.

- Gail Cooke

15 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars downgrading Claudel to a copy of Rodin, May 21, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Belgium, Europe) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Auguste Rodin and Camille Claudel (Pegasus Libraryeries) (Hardcover)

Camille Claudel was too genuine, too proud an artist to ever allow her work to be a copy of Rodin's. Who knows maybe it should be the other way: Rodin copying Claudel...