Monet’s unknown muse

It has been said that behind every great man there is an even greater woman. While this statement may be a little dated and old fashioned the fact remains that in every artists life there are people who care enough for them to want to stick around in the really tough times. Camille-Léonie Doncieux was one of those people. Camille first modeled for Monet, then became his lover and then wife and mother of two of his children. She was there during the hardest times in the artists career. They lived in extreme poverty and spend a few years fleeing from creditors. Even worse Claude’s family didn’t approve of her and cut off his small pension  leaving the Monet’s broke and forced to beg friends for help.

Claude and Camille finally married in 1870 with the approval of Camille’s family but not Claude’s.  Camille died only 8 years later at the age of 38 years old of what is presumed to have been ovarian cancer, however it could have been from a botched abortion as well.  Claude’s life at the time had become increasingly complicated by him taking in one of his collectors Ernest Hoschedé and his wife Alice and their children after Hoschedégoes bankrupt.  Hoschedé lives in Paris while is family continues to live with the Monet’s.  Soon after the Hoschedé’s move in, Camille falls ill and Alice Hoschedé becomes her nurse as the young woman lies dying a horribly painful death because no one can afford pain killers to help ease her suffering.

To add insult to injury,  very little is known about Camille thanks to the efforts of Monet’s jealous second wife Alice, yes the same woman that used to be his collectors wife! She tried to obliterate Camille’s existence from the artist’s life according to Mary Mathews Gedo in her book  “Monet and His Muse Camille Monet in the Artist’s Life”. Alice destroyed letters and photographs and told Claude to destroy anything else linking Camille to him. The only things that she wasn’t able to make disappear where the numerous paintings of her done by her husband. Monet’s love for Camille and her role as a muse in his life is solidified further in his last painting of her on her deathbed

Even though Monet is best known as a landscape painter, the paintings of Camille are considered by some to be Monet’s greatest works. Although Alice does eventually appear in Monet’s work, the sentiment and feelings within these paintings do not even come close to those earlier works of Camille.

The role of a muse in an artists life is unique. It is a special bond that is not easily broken and in Camille’s case these numerous paintings are a testament of her love for her artist and his love for her.

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