Camille Claudel and Bernhard Hoetger Emancipation of Rodin
Duration June 6, 2025 - September 28, 2025
Location: Old National Gallery
The exhibition in the Alte Nationalgalerie brings together for the first time since 1905 the works of two artists whose work and paths crossed several times in Paris: Camille Claudel (1864–1943) and Bernhard Hoetger (1874–1949). Both are united by the pursuit of recognition and the simultaneous rejection of the master of French sculpture Auguste Rodin (1840–1917). In the magnifying glass of modernism, both the French sculptor and the German sculptor, who was ten years younger than her, developed an artistic vitality that developed international appeal and continues to have an impact today.
While female painters have long been the focus of research, international efforts to focus on women working in sculpture have recently increased. The planned exhibition takes a previously unexplored constellation as a starting point in order to examine the German-French cultural transfer at the turn of the century using a French sculptor and a German sculptor as an example. Highlights such as Camille Claudel's Waltz or Hoetger's impressionistic small sculptures, with which he was successful on the art market, are on display.
The exhibition is curated by Dr. Yvette Deseyve in cooperation with the Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum in Bremen and the Musée Camille Claudel in Nogent-sur-Seine.
An extensively illustrated catalog will be published to accompany the exhibition. The exhibition catalog is available in German and English.
The exhibition is made possible by the FRIENDS of the Nationalgalerie.
The exhibition catalog is kindly supported by the Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation.
A special exhibition at the Nationalgalerie – Berlin State Museums