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 Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

and Camille Doncieux Monet.

Early life

Born on 17 March 1878, 26 rue d'Édimbourg, in the

8th arrondissement of Paris The 8th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, the arrondissement is colloquially referred to as ''le huitième'' (). The ar ...

, where the Monets had moved from

Argenteuil Argenteuil () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Argenteuil is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise Departments of France, ...

, 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 * J ...

, 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 HoschedéVétheuil 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 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 in April 1883 to

Giverny Giverny () is a Communes of France, commune in the northern French Departments of France, department of Eure. 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 () 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 1872 ''Impression, Sunrise''. ...

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 ...

). * ''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 The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

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

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

World War I

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

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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 Blanche Hoschedé Monet (10 November 1865 – 8 December 1947) was a French Painting, painter who was both the stepdaughter and the daughter-in-law of Claude Monet. Early life Ernest and Alice Hoschedé Blanche Hoschedé was born in Paris ...

, 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, at the age of 87, a month before his 88th birthday. He had bequeathed the estate to the

Académie des beaux-arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...

. From 1977 onwards, Gérald Van der Kemp, then curator at the Château de Versailles, 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 Road incident deaths in France