L'Implorante

Claudel showed great talent for sculpting from an early age but struggled to advance in a world dominated by male artists. In the early 1880s she met Rodin, who recognised her talents and invited her to work in his studio. There she played a key role, assisting in tasks such as sculpting the hands and feet of Rodin’s lifelike figures. The pair became lovers, but after several years their relationship began to break down, and they separated.  

Claudel first created L’Implorante as part of a larger group in which a middle-aged man is led away from the imploring young figure by an older woman. This group, titled L’Âge Mûr (Maturity), was made around the time that Claudel’s relationship with Rodin was ending, in the mid-1890s, leading to readings of the work as a representation of Rodin being pulled away from Claudel by his long-term partner, Rose Beuret.   

In 1899, a collector asked for an individual cast of the imploring figure to be made, and the rights to this piece were acquired by Eugène Blot in 1907. Blot had the work cast in limited editions in two sizes. This sculpture is an example of the smaller version. Claudel lived in psychiatric institutions from 1913 until her death, lending the piece added poignancy.  

The Burrell Collection holds 14 bronze works by Rodin, including Brother and Sister, which is sometimes regarded as a collaboration between Rodin and Claudel. L’Implorante is the first work by Claudel to enter a UK public collection, and the first sculpture by a woman artist to join the Burrell’s holdings.