author
Judith Cladel
1873–1958
A French novelist, biographer, critic, and playwright, she moved through literary Paris while also helping preserve the legacy of sculptor Auguste Rodin. Her writing blends a close eye for artistic lives with the sensibility of someone raised in a deeply creative family.
1 Audiobook
Rodin: The Man and His Art, with Leaves from His Note-book
by Judith Cladel
About the author
Born in Paris on March 25, 1873, Judith Cladel was the daughter of novelist Léon Cladel and grew up in an artistic world that shaped her own career. She became a woman of letters in several forms, writing fiction, biography, criticism, and drama.
She is especially remembered for biographical works connected to major cultural figures. Early on, she wrote about her father and helped maintain his literary memory. She also became closely associated with Auguste Rodin and wrote books about his life and work, including one often noted as her best-known book.
Cladel spent her life in Paris, where she was born and where she died on January 29, 1958. Her career reflects the range of a writer who was comfortable moving between literature, theater, and art history, and who left a valuable record of the creative circles around her.