Camille Doncieux

Camille-Léonie "Camille" Doncieux (; 15 January 1847 – 5 September 1879) was the first wife of French painter Claude Monet, with whom she had two sons. She was the subject of a number of paintings by Monet, as well as Renoir and Manet.

Early life Camille-Léonie Doncieux was born in the town of La Guillotière, later merged into Lyon, France, on 15 January 1847. Her parents were Leonie-Françoise (née Manéchalle) Doncieux and Charles Claude Doncieux, who was a merchant. The family moved to Paris, near the Sorbonne, early in the Second French Empire (1852-1870). A few years after the birth of a second child, Geneviève-François, in 1857, the family moved to Batignolles, which became part of northwestern Paris. Batignolles was popular with artists.

Marriage and children

In Paris on 8 August 1867, Camille Doncieux gave birth to Jean, her first son with Claude Monet. Claude, who had spent the summer in Sainte-Adresse visiting his father and aunt Sophie Lecadre, returned to Paris for the birth and stayed for several days before returning to Sainte-Adresse. He returned to Paris at the end of the year for the holidays and stayed in the cold one-room apartment that Camille shared with Jean. In 1868 Monet went to live with Camille and Jean in Paris, hiding that fact from his father and aunt who thought he had abandoned "his mistress and child". To escape his creditors and live in a less expensive place, in the spring the three moved to Gloton, a small scenic village near Bennecourt. They were thrown out of the inn where they were staying for non-payment. Camille and Jean were able to stay with someone in the country, while Monet tried to obtain monies for survival.

Camille and Monet were married on 28 June 1870 The couple took their son Jean with them on their honeymoon to Trouville-sur-Mer and stayed at the Hotel Trivoli. Continuing to avoid creditors, Monet also sought to avoid being drafted to serve during the Franco-Prussian War. He left his bride and son to go to Le Havre to visit his ailing father and then on to England, "presumably" with money given to him by his father. Camille and Jean met up with him in England in October 1870.

They lived at Bath Place, later Kensington High Street, London, by early 1871. It was here that Monet made the only painting of Camille by him in London. Entitled Repose, she sat in a chaise longue with a book on her lap.

Monet's patrons Ernest and Alice Hoschedé came to live with the Monets after the rich family lost their fortune due to an "extravagant lifestyle". They lived with them first in Vétheuil and then the two families moved to a larger house on the road from Vétheuil to La Roche-Guyon that would support the 12 member Hoschedé and Monet families and a "handful of servants".

Illness and death Camille became ill after the Hoschedés family came to live with the Monets. Much of the money that Monet had made on the sale of his paintings had to be used for her medical care. Alice nursed her during her illness. tuberculosis, or possibly a botched abortion. She died on 5 September 1879 in Vétheuil at the age of 32. Monet painted her on her deathbed. including for the painting Camille (The Woman in the Green Dress), which received critical acclaim at the Paris salon and earned him 800 francs when sold to Arsène Houssaye. Luncheon on the Grass (center), 1865 The Walk (Bazille and Camille), 1865 Camille with a Small Dog, 1866 Camille or The Woman in a Green Dress, 1866 Women in the Garden, 1866 Interior, after Dinner, 1868 River Scene at Bennecourt, 1868 The Landing Stage, 1869 Camille Sitting on the Beach at Trouville, 1870 Camille at the Beach at Trouville, 1870 Camille on the Beach, 1870 Madame Monet on a Couch, 1871 Springtime, 1872 Lilacs in the Sun, 1872 The Red Kerchief: Portrait of Mrs. Monet, 1873 The Bench, 1873 Ripose under the Lilacs, 1873 Poppy Field near Argenteuil, 1873 Camille Monet at a Window, Argenteuil, 1873 The Walk near Argenteuil, 1873 Camille and Jean Monet at the Garden of Argenteuil, 1873 Camille in the Garden with Jean, 1873 Woman Seated on a Bench, 1874 The Artist's Family in the Garden, 1875 Camille Monet and a Child in the Artist’s Garden in Argenteuil, 1875 Madame Monet Embroidering, 1875 Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son, 1875 Rounded Flower Bed (Corbeille de fleurs), 1876 Camille Monet in Japanese Costume, 1876 Camille in the Garden at Argenteuil, 1876 Woman in Garden, 1876 In the Meadow, 1876 The Garden, Hollyhocks, 1877 Portrait of Camille with a bouquet of violets, 1877 Camille on her Deathbed, 1879

Gallery