La Vieille Hélène (Old Helen) is a terracotta sculpture created by Camille Claudel around 1881–1882. According to her first biographer, Mathias Morhardt, this youthful portrait is believed to be the artist's first signed work. It depicts one of the Claudel family’s servants; her tightly wound bun serves as an indication of her modest origins.

The model leans her face forward, turning it slightly to offer it to the sculptor's keen observation. Her lips are pulled in and her chin is prominent. Her gaze appears friendly, amused by the exercise of posing. Did the old woman already sense that Camille Claudel would spare no flaw—that she would seek the absolute truth in her face and deeply etch every wrinkle she observed? The furrows on the forehead and the lines around the eyes and mouth are profoundly marked, as is the sagging skin of the neck.

Mathias Morhardt met Camille Claudel in 1896. In his article "Mlle Camille Claudel," published in Le Mercure de France in March 1898, he imagined the family home having become an "annexe to a studio," where every member assisted the sculptor with menial tasks or long sessions of posing. Was Camille Claudel truly as demanding of those around her as Morhardt described and her brother Paul Claudel recounted? In any case, this portrait shows that, like many artists, the sculptor practiced the art of portraiture by using her inner circle as models.

At the museum, this work is displayed alongside portraits of her parents by Alfred Boucher. These busts, created by her first master, may have inspired Claudel. However, their intentions differ: while Boucher focused on capturing the individual character of his parents, Camille Claudel was already exploring a theme that would recur throughout her career: the representation of old age.