(Jean Louis) Ernest Hoschedé (Paris, 18 December 1837 – 19 March 1891) was a French department store magnate in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

.''Street Singer'' Provenance Information.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Retrieved 27 August 2014. Also during the successful period of his life, he was an art collector and critic. He lost his Impressionist art collection when he went bankrupt in 1877–1878. He moved his family into the home of Claude Monet in Vétheuil. He then lived in Paris and worked at '' Le Voltaire'' and then ''Magazine Français Illustré''. His family continued to live with the Monets before and after his death. The year after his death, his wife Alice Hoschedé married Claude Monet, and was believed to have been Monet's mistress for years.

Early life

Ernest Hoschedé was the son of a wealthy merchant of shawls and fine lace, Casimir Joseph Edouard Hoschedé, and his wife Eugenie Honorine Saintonge.

Marriage

Hoschedé married a Belgian woman, Alice Raingo, who was also from a wealthy family. They lived in Paris at 64 Rue de Lisbonne and had a place at Montgeron, southeast of Paris, ''Château de Rottembourg''. They entertained lavishly at the Château, including hiring a train from Paris to transport guests.

Career

Hoschedé was a Paris department store director, art critic, and art collector. He collected and sold the works of

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

, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro and

Alfred Sisley Alfred Sisley (; ; 30 October 1839 – 29 January 1899) was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedic ...

. He was best known as a patron of

and other Impressionist painters. He also became good friends with Monet. In 1876, Hoschedé commissioned Monet to paint decorative panels for the ''Château de Rottembourg'' and several landscape paintings. According to the ''Nineteenth-century European Art: A Topical Dictionary'', it may have been during this visit that Monet began a relationship with Alice Hoschedé and her youngest son, Jean-Pierre, may have been fathered by Monet. Hoschedé lived an "extravagant lifestyle" and became bankrupt in 1877. For a period of time Hoschedé went to Belgium to escape his creditors. His art collection was auctioned off in June 1878 for a fraction of its value. This was a blow to the Impressionists, especially Monet. Although stunned by Hoschedé's financial failure, Monet was "swift to offer his support", inviting the Hoschedés to live with him and his family.

Life with the Monets

Hoschedé, his wife and their children moved into a house in Vétheuil with Monet, Monet's ailing first wife Camille, and the Monet's two sons Jean and Michel. Needing a bigger home for the 12 member Monet and Hoschedé families and the Monet's servants, they moved into a larger house on the road from Vétheuil to La Roche-Guyon. Monet and Hoschede families - 1880

Paris

Hoschedé spent most of his time in Paris, having found employment at '' Le Voltaire'' newspaper. He kept his family in Vétheuil where it was cheaper to live. After Camille Monet's death in 1879, Monet and Alice (along with the children from the two respective families) continued living together at

Poissy Poissy () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Inhabitan ...

and later at Giverny. He worked then at the ''Magazine Français Illustré'' as an art editor. Hoschedé developed a severe case of gout in early 1891 after years of overeating and drinking. As his illness became more severe, Alice came to Paris to care for him.

Death

Ernest Hoschedé died in 1891 a poor man. His funeral and burial, which were held at Giverny at his children's request, were paid for by Monet. The following year Alice married Claude Monet.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoschede, Ernest 1891 deaths Claude Monet French art collectors Businesspeople from Paris 1837 births 19th-century French businesspeople French art patrons