Claude Monet - Monet's garden at Vétheuil (1880)

Michel Monet (17 March 1878 – 3 February 1966) was the second son of

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. Durin ...

and Camille Doncieux Monet.

Early life

Born on 17 March 1878, 26 rue d'Édimbourg, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, where the Monets had moved from

Argenteuil Argenteuil () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Argenteuil is a sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise department, the seat of the arrondissement of Argenteuil. Argenteuil is the sec ...

, Michel Monet was the younger of Claude and Camille Monet's two sons. His mother's already failing health worsened after his birth and she died on 5 September 1879, probably of uterine cancer. Michel's elder brother,

Jean Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

, was born in 1867. Since 1877, year of Ernest Hoschedé's bankruptcy,

Alice Hoschedé Alice Raingo Hoschedé Monet (February 19, 1844 – May 19, 1911) was the wife of department store magnate and art collector Ernest Hoschedé Vétheuil Vétheuil () is a commune on the Seine, 60 kilometers northwest of Paris, France. Vétheuil is located in the arrondissement of Pontoise in the Val-d'Oise department. Personalities Impressionist painter Claude Monet lived in Vétheuil from 187 ...

in August 1878 and after Camille's death in 1879, Monet, Alice and the eight children continued living together. In 1881, they moved to

Poissy Poissy () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Pisciacais'' in French. Poissy is one ...

and in April 1883 to

Giverny Giverny () is a commune in the northern French department of Eure.Commune de Giverny (27285) ...

. Alice managed the household and supervised the education of the Monet and Hoschedé children.

Paintings by Claude Monet that include Michel

* ''Michel Monet au bonnet à pompom'' ("Portrait of Michel in a Pompom Hat"), 1880, currently at (

Musée Marmottan Monet Musée Marmottan Monet ( en, Marmottan Museum of Monet) is an art museum in Paris, France, dedicated to artist Claude Monet. The collection features over three hundred Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings by Claude Monet, including his 1 ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

). * ''Le jardin de Monet à Vétheuil'' ("Monet's garden at Vétheuil"), 1880, Michel Monet and Jean-Pierre Hoschedé, with Alice Hoschedé in background. Currently at ( National Gallery of Art,

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

). * ''Jean-Pierre Hoschedé et Michel Monet au bord de l'Epte'', 1890, currently at

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the ...

World War I

Michel Monet and his step-brother Jean-Pierre Hoschedé served in the French Army during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Marriage

Michel Monet married Gabrielle Bonaventure in 1927. The couple had no children. Gabrielle died 2 February 1964.

Claude Monet estate

When Claude Monet died in 1926, as his sole heir, Michel inherited the entire estate. Michel never spent time in Giverny and Blanche Hoschedé Monet, his stepsister and sister-in-law, became the caretaker of the house and garden until her death in 1947. Louis Lebret, who had been Monet's head gardener, stayed on to help Blanche. After her death the garden was neglected.

Death

Michel Monet, a car enthusiast, died in a car crash in nearby Vernon on 3 February 1966, a few weeks before his 88th birthday. He had bequeathed the estate to the

Académie des beaux-arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

. From 1977 onwards,

Gérald Van der Kemp Gérald is a French male given name, a variant of the old Géraud and more common Gérard, both equivalent to Gerald in English. People with the name include: * Gérald Mossé * Gérald de Palmas * Gérald Leblanc Less frequently the French name ...

, then curator at the

Château de Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed ...

, played a key role in the restoration of Claude Monet's house and gardens, which had been left in a desolate state. In a bid to raise funds, he and his wife Florence appealed to American donors through the "Versailles Foundation-Giverny Inc." In 1966, Michel Monet had left to the

his own collection of his father's work, thus creating the world's largest collection of Monet paintings. Michel Monet is buried in Claude Monet's vault in the Giverny cemetery, which adjoins the village Sainte Radegonde church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monet, Michel 1878 births 1966 deaths Claude Monet 19th-century French people