While the pastel depicting Louise Claudel is part of the series of portraits of the artist’s close acquaintances, it stands out due to its size—twice as large as her other graphic works—its technique, and the treatment of the drawing. It is the only known pastel drawing by the artist and the only drawn portrait in which she created a figurative background with a Japanism style. The figure, modeled in white chalk, is integrated into a decor worked in flat areas, sketching motifs of large flowers. Shadows are subtly rendered by the cream-colored paper’s reserves. Black is applied to the hair, eyebrows, and eyes, as well as to the outline of the silhouette, which thus clearly stands out from the background. This remarkable work was compared by Mathias Morhardt, the sculptor’s first biographer, to the works of painter Édouard Manet: “It especially evokes, by the softness, breadth, and energy of the modeling, some of the works from Manet’s best period (…)” (“Mademoiselle Camille Claudel”, The Mercure de France, 1898).