| Fateful Encounter focuses on the relationship between two headstrong artists who for a while worked in close collaboration and then tried to find their own separate ways. Although Camille was determined to carve out a niche of her own by focusing on her "sketches from nature" (scenes of daily life captured as they happened), she found it extremely difficult. Rodin fared better and in 1898 created Balzac, the work that he himself described as the "linchpin of his aesthetic". In 1899, with Rodin’s creation of another masterpiece, The Age of Maturity, Camille reaffirmed her desire to break off relations with him. From 1900, with Rodin at the forefront of the art scene, Camille gradually slid into madness and was soon unable to create. Fateful Encounter is the catalogue to an exhibition in which Camille and Rodin once more come face to face. It’s an illuminating joint appraisal of their work with each represented by an equal number of pieces of similar importance. |
