Since you were a woman the École des
Beaux-Arts ignored you. Joining your gender,
sculpting in studio on Notre-Dame-
des-Champs, everything changed. Rodin came there
to teach, then you came to him as lover,
muse, collaborator. Within five years,
all fell apart. You’d never recover,
would sculpt “L'Implorante” and “L’Age Mur”, tear
apart
most of your work, spend your final
three
decades in Montdevergues Asylum.
I study your stunning photo -- portals
of your dark eyes, disheveled hair, sacred sum
of your muse’s beauty -- can’t help but reach
to touch your face, all your passion can teach.
Roger Armbrust
November 18, 2015
