Important People in Monet's Life

Louise-Justine Aubre Monet

Monet’s mother. She was a singer and the two of them were very close. He was upset when she passed away. It could be that her love of art helped push him into art himself.

Marie-Jeanne Lecadre

Monet’s aunt. She financed his art education in Paris after buying him out of the army.

Camille Doncieux (1847-1879)

Monet’s first wife. She was originally his model and mistress, but in 1867 she bore him a son. They were married 3 years later, but his family would not accept her. She died one year after giving birth to another baby boy.

Alice Hoschedé

Monet’s second wife. They may have been having an affair before Camille was dead. He painted her picture occasionally. They had no children together, but he gained step children by her.

Blanche Hoschedé Monet

Monet’s step-daughter and daughter-in-law. She took care of Monet after Jean and Alice died, abandoning her activities as an artist.

Jean Monet

Monet’s first son. Jean Monet was frequently a subject of his father’s paintings. He eventually married his father’s favorite of Alice Hoschedé’s daughters.

Michel Monet

Monet’s second son. Fought in World War I.

Pierre-Auguest Renoir

Friend from the studio of Charles Gleyre. Worked with Monet on the painting of La Grenouillére. They both discovered at the same time that shadows are neither black nor brown, but are colored by their surroundings.

Frédéric Bazille

Friend from the studio of Charles Gleyre. He often bailed Monet out of financial situations (giving him space in his studio and materials to paint with). He fought and died in the Franco-Prussian War.

Alfred Sisley

Friend from the studio of Charles Gleyre.

Paul Durand-Ruel

Monet’s dealer who held exhibitions of Impressionism and other works at his galleries. He even exhibited at New York, bringing the Impressionist movement to the U.S.