Rodin's last mistress? Jeanne Bardey

A comment from Emeline on my last post, about the profound unacknowledged contribution of his pupil, assistant, and mistress Camille Claudel to Rodin's work, reminded me that I have a number of etchings and drypoints by another of Rodin's pupils and mistresses, Jeanne Bardey. Like most of the women in Rodin's life - his longterm partner Rose Beuret, Camille Claudel, Gwen John - Jeanne Bardey got a raw deal from her relationship with him. She was born in Lyon 1869. She was therefore 5 years younger than Camille Claudel, and seven years older than Gwen John [N.B. This information appears to be wrong; her correct dates are 1872-1954; see the next post]. Rodin made a will in her favour, which was anulled when, after his fourth stroke, and when it has been argued he was incapable of informed assent, he was persuaded to sign a deed of gift willing all his estate to the French State. There's a whole book about this controversy, which I haven't seen, Jeanne Bardey et Rodin: Une élève passionnée - La bataille du Musée Rodin, by Hubert Thiolier.

Jeanne Bardey, Portrait

Etching, 1913

From her work, Jeanne Bardey appears to have shared some of the inward-looking sense of quiet that, in the case of Gwen John certainly, can mask a furiously passionate nature. My works by Bardey, especially the 1932 drypoints for an edition of Sous l'Olivier by Édouard Herriott, almost recede into the page - but there is something about the stance of that Greek boy that suggests a turbulent personality behind this reticent facade. It's probably too fanciful to see an echo of her relationship with Rodin in the centaur and the nymph, though like many of these drypoints it does have a distinct sculptural quality.

Jeanne Bardey, Shepherd with sheep

Drypoint, 1932

Jeanne Bardey, Delos

Drypoint, 1932

Jeanne Bardey, Bull's head

Drypoint, 1932

Jeanne Bardey, Greek boy

Drypoint, 1932

Jeanne Bardey, Centaur and nymph

Drypoint, 1932

Jeanne Bardey, The Parthenon

Drypoint, 1932

Herriott's text on Greece, published in an edition of only 136 copies, appears to mark the end of Jeanne Bardey's career. Although Jeanne Bardey exhibited at various Paris Salons between 1909 and 1930, her intimiste work has never won wide recognition. Much of it ended up in her hometown of Lyon, divided between the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and the Musée des Beaux-Arts. Jeanne Bardey died in 1948.