Alice

Alice Hoschedé was Claude Monet’s second wife.

Carolus-Duran, Portrait de Madame Hoschedé, 1878, oil on canvas, 56 x 38 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, USA

When Monet met her, she was married to Ernest Hoschedé, the wealthy owner of a department store and an art collector. They had six children and lived extravagantly.

Paul Baudry. Portrait de Ernest Hoschedé, oil on canvas, 130 x 99 cm, Private Collection

In 1876, Ernest commissioned Monet to paint decorative panels for the Château de Rottembourg, the family home. At some point Monet had began an affair with Alice, and it may have been during this time. It has been suggested that he was the father of her youngest son, Jean-Pierre.

As with all history, speculation is not fact, and usually we cannot know. This must be the caveat throughout this blog.

Largely because of his lifestyle, Ernest Hoschedé became bankrupt in 1877. Ernest, Alice, and their children moved into a house in Vétheuil with Monet, Monet’s first wife Camille, and their two sons, Jean and Michel. All of this, in spite of the problems of Camille’s deteriorating health. Ernest spent increasing lengths of time in Paris. When he did return to his family, Monet went away. He was distressed at not seeing Alice, but there is little evidence of his concern for Camille at this time; she died in 1879.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Mme Monet, 1872, oil on canvas, 24 x 30 cm, Location unknown

Pauline Carolus-Duran, Portrait d’Alice Hoschedé, 1875, miniature on ivory, 9 x 7 cm, Private Collection

Monet and Alice and all the children continued living together at Poissy and later at Giverny, despite the fact that Alice was still married. Surprisingly, this seems to have been generally accepted. In 1890, Le Gaulois newspaper in Paris went so far as to declare that she was Monet’s “charming wife”.

John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet painting at the Edge of a Wood, 1885, oil on canvas, 54 x 65 cm, Tate Britain, London, UK

Ernest Hoschedé died in 1891 and Alice agreed to marry Monet in 1892. Alice died in 1911, at the age of 65.

It should be noted that one of the reasons why so little is known about Camille, is that Alice was intensely jealous of her and of Monet’s relationship with her. She insisted that he destroy all references to her, and Monet never spoke about his first wife in public again.

One last note: Blanche Hoschedé-Monet, the daughter of Alice who was a competent painter, having been taught by her stepfather, married his son Jean, and later looked after Monet devotedly, until his death in 1926.

Blanche Hoschedé-Monet, La maison de Monet à Giverny, date unknown, oil on canvas, 59 x 73 cm, Private Collection