Eternel Printemps, premier état, taille originale-variante type C, 1884-94. Bronze with dark brown patina. Sold for $2,770,500 on 4 May 2011 at Christie’s in New York
Claudel, however, met a tragic fate. They parted ways because of Rodin’s refusal to leave his long-time partner, Rose Beuret, and Claudel descended into madness. In 1913 she was committed to an asylum, where she remained until her death in 1943.
‘It is terrible to be so abandoned,’ she wrote in 1915. ‘I can’t help but succumb to the grief that overwhelms me.’ After her death, Claudel and her work slipped into relative obscurity, only emerging from her lover’s shadow in the late 20th century.