Name Jean Monet | ||
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Jean Monet (August 8, 1867 – February 10, 1914) was the eldest son of French Impressionist artist Claude Monet and Camille Doncieux Monet and the brother of Michel Monet. He was the subject of several paintings by his father and married his step-sister, Blanche Hoschedé.
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Early life
Jean Monet was born to Camille Doncieux and Claude Monet on August 8, 1867. During that summer Claude Monet had been in Sainte-Andresse, where he visited his aunt Sophie Lecadre and father Claude Monet. Camille, who received Monet for the birth and several days afterwards, was in Paris.
The first portrait that Monet made of his son was of the four-month-old Jean Monet in His Cradle. Alongside Jean was a woman Julie Vellay, a companion of Camille Pissarro, rather than his mother. According to Mary Mathews Gedo, author of Monet and his Muse: Camile Monet in the Artist's Life:
In 1868, after having left Paris to escape creditors and find more affordable housing, the three moved to Gloton, a small scenic village near Bennecourt. They were thrown out of the inn they were staying in for non-payment. Camille and Jean were able to stay with someone in the country, while Monet tried to obtain monies for survival. However, without money for a medical treatment, Jean became quite ill. After a dramatic period experienced by Camille and Jean, Claude was able to obtain funds for housing for his family in Le Havre.
His parents were married on June 28, 1870.
When Jean was a young child his mother and father had fled France during the Franco-Prussian War. They returned by the summer of 1872 when Claude painted his five-year-old son on a hobby horse in the garden of the home the family rented in Argenteuil near Paris. Claude Monet kept the painting, and never exhibited it, throughout his life.
Education
He trained to be a chemist in Switzerland.
Marriage
Monet married Blanche Hoschedé in 1897. They lived in Rouen, where Jean worked for his uncle Leon Monet as a chemist, and Beaumont-le-Roger until 1913.
The couple visited Giverny on weekends.
Death
Jean suffered an illness for a period of time and died on February 10, 1914. He is buried at the Giverny Church Cemetery, Giverny. His wife Blanche, father, and brother Michel are also buried at the cemetery.
Paintings by his father
Paintings by Claude Monet of his son: