Research - Camille Claudel Committee
June, 2023
The text titled Concerning The Waltz by Camille Claudel, editioned by Émile Muller & Co., dated 1894-1895, constitutes a statement of the research undertaken by the Claudel Committee on this work and its context of creation. This sculpture is thought to be part of an edition, but so far only one example is known, the one in the monographic museum of the artist in Nogent-sur-Seine. We would like to resolve this paradox, and we have therefore gone into the history of Émile Muller’s company and researched his possible links with Camille Claudel.
We have, above all, focused on the works of contemporary sculptors editioned in stoneware by this house in order to see if, by making comparisons, we could discover new information about the editioning of The Waltz.
Through this study, we’ve found magnificent stoneware works by her contemporaries Alfred Boucher, Jean Dampt, Ringel d’Illzach, James Vibert, and others, editioned between 1894 and 1908 by Émile Muller, and collected a rich documentation on their distribution. On the other hand, the study has not resulted in lifting the veil of mystery surrounding The Waltz, nor answered the question of whether it was, in fact, editioned or whether the sole example known was a sort of prototype and remains unique.