Camille Claudel Shines in Natural Light

Camille Claudel, The Age of Maturity, modeled 1899, cast 1902. Musée d'Orsay

The Getty Center's "Camille Claudel" brings together about 60 works by the pioneering woman sculptor, known for her professional, romantic, and perhaps toxic relationship with Auguste Rodin. It's an essential chapter of late 19th-century art history and also a celebration of light.

Installation view

The latter is ironically due to MeToo harasser Richard Meier. He designed the Getty's Exhibition Pavilion to have plenty of natural overhead light, filtered as needed thorough louvers. In practice, however, the skylights have almost always been blacked out because Getty exhibitions typically mix media and include light-sensitive materials. (Same story at LACMA's Renzo Piano-designed Resnick Pavilion.) 

Camille Claudel, Bust of Léon Lhermitte, modeled and cast 1889-95. Musée Camille Claudel, Nogent-sur-Seine

But in "Camille Claudel," everything is bronze, marble, terracotta, or plaster—all in glorious light. It's a too-rare reminder of how skylights can transform an exhibition. Upon entering the first gallery, you feel you're in a Good Place. The ambient light reaches into the hollows of the bronzes, making Claudel's artistry fully legible.

The sculptures, Claudel's plus a few of Rodin's, are installed on rectilinear pedestals sharing elliptical or biomorphic bases. The bases communicate nonverbally, indicating that pieces are related. The layout leaves space to view sculptures from all sides. Curved lilac-fabric scrims supply a note of color to a largely monochrome show.

"Camille Claudel" runs through July 21, 2024.