Monet and His Muse

Everyone knows Monet's water lilies, haystacks, and French landscapes, but the dozens of portraits in which the famous painter depicted his muse, Camille Doncieux, are often overlooked. Yet Camille was an immensely important figure in the artist's life – not only his muse, but also his beloved, his wife, and the mother of his two children.

Oscar-Claude Monet was born on 14 November 1840 in Paris, into a second-generation Parisian family. As a child, he was known for filling his schoolbooks with caricatures of teachers and friends. Claude's mother always supported the young artist's spirit, but his father wanted his son to take over the family business – a grocery shop.

Eugène Boudin, an excellent landscape painter and one of Monet's teachers, introduced the artist to plein air painting, for which he would later become famous. Although Monet achieved a certain degree of recognition during his lifetime, his finances remained poor – the painter lived in poverty until he died at his home in the village of Giverny on 5 December 1926.

Camille Monet with her son in the artist's garden

Camille-Léonie Doncieux, Monet's first wife, was born on 15 January 1847 in Lyon. Camille modeled not only for Monet but also for other painters, such as Renoir and Manet. Monet and Camille married on 28 June 1870 in Paris, a couple of years after the birth of their firstborn son, Jean. While pregnant with their second son, Michel, Camille fell ill. Although the couple faced financial hardship, Monet devoted all his income to his wife's treatment. Nevertheless, Camille died on 5 September 1879, at just 32 years old, shortly after the birth of their second son.

Monet is renowned as a landscape painter, but before beginning his career as an Impressionist, he painted numerous portraits and figure paintings. The painting "Woman in a Green Dress" depicts Camille at the age of 19. It was painted specifically for the Paris Salon, where it received favorable reviews from critics and brought in good income. It sold for 800 francs – a very large sum for the work of an unknown painter at the time.

Camille (Woman in a Green Dress)

After Camille's death, Monet married a second time. It is said that his second wife, Alice Hoschedé, was so jealous that she destroyed all of Camille's photographs. It is believed that only one photograph survives, meaning Camille's likeness lives on almost solely through Monet's paintings. His first wife is in fact the most frequently depicted figure in the artist's work. Monet painted Camille from 1865 until her death in 1879.

Camille on Her Deathbed

"Camille on Her Deathbed" is the last painting Monet managed to complete before his wife's death. Many compare this portrait to the artist's landscapes. In a certain sense, Camille was Monet's landscape.

A couple of years after his wife's death, Monet wrote to a friend:

"... almost mechanically observing death change the color of her rigid face from blue to yellow to gray, I found myself, without meaning to, beginning to paint."