I am so excited to say that my guest on today’s podcast is the esteemed curator and writer, Emerson Bowyer.

Currently the Searle Curator, Painting and Sculpture of Europe, at the Art Institute of Chicago, Emerson is a specialist in 18th- and 19th-century French and British art. He has worked at New York’s Frick Collection, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where his highly-acclaimed curated exhibitions have spanned the spectrum of sculpture, such as 19th century artist Canova to, more recently, the artist we are very excitingly discussing today, the trailblazing, Camille Claudel.

…which was staged at the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Getty in LA, as the first major exhibition dedicated to the artist in the US for 35 years.

https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/claudel/index.html
https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/9714/camille-claudel

Born in France in 1864, Claudel has been hailed for her meticulously rendered and intensely passionate works of mythological and real figures. Hand-carving marble, she defied not just her gender, but the possibilities of sculpture itself – with her intimate and skillful portrayals of human bodies and reworkings of classical tales from a distinctly female perspective. Yet, despite having one of the most extraordinary careers in art history, it took until four decades until after her death, in the 1980s for her work to be properly appreciated, and until now – thanks to people like Emerson – who put her work on the world’s stage for all to see. And I cannot wait to find out more!

For extra reading, please check out Rachel Corbett's fantastic book, You Must Change Your Life: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/you-must-change-your-life-rachel-corbett/1123447512?ean=9780393354928

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THIS EPISODE IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY THE LEVETT COLLECTION:

https://www.famm.com/en/
https://www.instagram.com/famm_mougins // https://www.merrellpublishers.com/9781858947037

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Katy Hessel: @thegreatwomenartists / @katy.hessel
Sound editing by Nada Smiljanic
Music by Ben Wetherfield