Death and Dying in Camille Rosalie Claudel’s Life and Work: A Psychobiography

This article examines the topic of death and dying in the life and creative work of the French sculptress Camille Rosalie Claudel who lived from 8 December 1864 to 19 October 1943. Claudel was a talented artist and sculptress who learned from and worked with Alfred Boucher and Auguste Rodin. Rodin became her professional and intimate partner for more than 10 years. Claudel was one of the few women sculptresses of the 19^th century to gain a reputation for the originality and quality of her work. The aim of the article is to explore death and dying in the life of Claudel. This psychobiography uses four theoretical approaches, namely existential psychology theories on death and dying, symbolic death theory, Lacanian death theory and Jung's perspectives on death, dying and ars moriendi. The research methodology applied is psychobiography within a hermeneutic–interpretivist research paradigm. The subject of research, Camille Rosalie Claudel, was purposefully chosen. Findings show that Claudel expressed her inner life and journey, her search for meaning, her artistic talent and in-depth philosophical interest, but also her views on life and death, through her art. As a person, she experienced different forms of death and dying throughout her life which are outlined in this psychobiography based on the four introduced theories. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations are given.