Sold for 4.7 Billion... The 'This Artwork' Accidentally Found in an Abandoned Apartment Turns Out to Be

A Work Created After Parting Ways with Rodin
Sold for Far More Than the Expected 3 Billion KRW

A work by French female sculptor Camille Claudel (1864?1943), accidentally discovered in an abandoned apartment, was sold for 4.7 billion KRW.

According to AFP on the 16th (local time), Claudel's work The Mature Age was sold for 3.1 million euros (about 4.7 billion KRW) at an auction held in Orl?ans, south of Paris. The estimated price before the auction was 1.5 to 2 million euros (about 2.3 to 3 billion KRW).

Mathieu Semont, the auctioneer, said, "The piece that came up for auction was accidentally discovered last September in an abandoned apartment near the Eiffel Tower, where it had been left unattended for about 15 years."

Camille Claudel's 'The Age of Maturity'. Photo by AFP and Yonhap News

The Mature Age is a work Claudel created after parting ways with sculptor Auguste Rodin. It depicts an old man being pulled away by an old woman, while a young woman kneels and pleads with him.

Two other versions of this work are exhibited at the Mus?e d'Orsay in Paris and the Camille Claudel Museum on the outskirts of Paris.

There are not many works left by Claudel, as many were destroyed by her brother before she was confined to a psychiatric hospital in 1913.

One of Claudel's representative works, The Waltz, was sold for 8 million dollars (about 11.5 billion KRW) at an auction in 2013.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.