Sometimes he dreamt he held her; that he would turn in bed and she would be there. But she was gone and he was old. Nearly seventy. Only cool paint met his fingers. “Ma très chère . . .” Darkness started to fall, dimming the paintings. He felt the crumpled letter in his pocket. “I loved you so,” he said. “I never would have had it turn out as it did. You were with all of us when we began, you gave us courage. These gardens at Giverny are for you but I’m old and you’re forever young and will never see them. . . .”
In the mid-nineteenth century, a young man named Claude Monet decided that he would rather endure a difficult life painting landscapes than take over his father’s nautical supplies business in a French seaside town. Against his father’s will, and with nothing but a dream and an insatiable urge to create a new style of art that repudiated the Classical Realism of the time, he set off for Paris.
But once there he is confronted with obstacles: an art world that refused to validate his style, extreme poverty, and a war that led him away from his home and friends. But there were bright spots as well: his deep, enduring friendships with men named Renoir, Cézanne, Pissarro, Manet – a group that together would come to be known as the Impressionists, and that supported each other through the difficult years. But even more illuminating was his lifelong love, Camille Doncieux, a beautiful, upper-class Parisian girl who threw away her privileged life to be by the side of the defiant painter and embrace the lively Bohemian life of their time.
His muse, his best friend, his passionate lover, and the mother to his two children, Camille stayed with Monet—and believed in his work—even as they lived in wretched rooms, were sometimes kicked out of those, and often suffered the indignities of destitution. She comforted him during his frequent emotional torments, even when he would leave her for long periods to go off on his own to paint in the countryside.
But Camille had her own demons – secrets that Monet could never penetrate, including one that when eventually revealed would pain him so deeply that he would never fully recover from its impact. For though Camille never once stopped loving the painter with her entire being, she was not immune to the loneliness that often came with being his partner.
A vividly-rendered portrait of both the rise of Impressionism and of the artist at the center of the movement, Claude and Camille is above all a love story of the highest romantic order.
5 of 5 stars
gabina says...
claude monet had a vision and a dream to become a world famous painter. at the age of 17 he set his mind, spirit and soul to create paintings in order to fulfill his life. school did not interest him and working in his father’s nautical shop was not what he wanted for his life’s work. loving the opera, the world of art and wanting to experience the life of an artist, he approached eugene boudin, a landscape painter to work with him and help him improve his paintings. boudin played an important role in monet’s life by introducing him the challenges and joys of painting directly from nature. louise monet encouraged her son to pursue his dreams. spending most of his youth in le havre, monet enjoyed drawing caricatures of the locals. difficulties in school, ignoring the rules, clouded his father’s vision of him. at fifteen years of age he sold claude monet karikaturen for twenty francs, which did not endear him to his parents. continuing along this line and not really interested in painting, monet earned his living until meeting eugene boudin, the man who became his mentor. learning to paint from nature and physical scenes we meet boudin at the start monet’s journey to become a painter. it is this man who encourages him to go to paris and study with the greats. paris was the only way he would find the freedom he needed to escape the harsh words bestowed upon him by his father. louise monet died after his the first exhibit of her son and his aunt marie-jeanne, would support this young teenager and provide the means for him to study in paris. claude monet would forever change the world of painting and create his own style called impressionism for the world to view.
as you read the story of this brilliant artist you take journey into the mind, life, and struggles that this painter and others endured in order to fulfill their goals. the life of a painter was not easy. living in squalor along with many other artists, monet and many others learned to live with less and work hard to eventually get more. as the story continues we meet claude monet as a man in his later years while reading a letter from camille’s sister. what is implied in this letter and the truth behind the words will be revealed at the end. reading these words sends the painter up to camille’s room where he recounts the events of his life and hers leaving the reader to decide if what is written in the letter as any veracity to it and whether his contributions to the world of art and painting are clouded or negated based on this letter.
claude monet had big dreams. he wanted to become a famous painter and he hoped to study in paris. a short stint in the army and a friendship with fredrick bazille would help cultivate his new career and cut short his tour in the army. imagine befriending renoir, cezanne, manet and many great painters. he did. they would spend hours together talking, painting and hoping to get just one painting accepted in the salon for that year. but, hard work and much effort did not pan out at first and with the help of his friends he met camille his soon to be first wife and much more.
as the novel continues the author presents information from the present in short chapters she calls interludes. in music it is a short composition inserted in between a larger piece. in this novel there are many short chapters or interludes connecting the events in the past and flashing forward to claude’s life in his later years. the mystery surrounding camille’s death is the prime focus of these short interludes and the reasons why he wanted to connect with her sister annette.
camille was taken with monet from the start. modeling for him and enjoying many clandestine meetings, soon became ensnared in his web. camille and claude embark on a life together filled with obstacles from their families, their lack of finances and her eagerness to become a star on the stage as opposed to his as a painter. the story created by our author is so beautifully told it is as if she is painting her own monet for all the world to see through her vivid descriptions of the places he lived, his magnificent landscapes, the people he meets and his life with camille and more.
this is a story of two people whose lives we learn about as they try to live as one, yet cannot. the author relates a triple story in this novel: first that of monet and his struggle to become a great painter at all cost to his family, friends, son and even himself. camille and her need to be accepted loved and find her own place in this world without the help of her parents and family. third, their tortured and unhappy life together which kept them apart and when together rarely able to cope with what life dealt them.
strong alliances, friendships that monet counted on for his success, a war that would change everything and a betrayal that he would never forget. times of prosperity followed by times of darkness and they drifted apart into their own worlds focusing on their own needs. camille had some dark moods, which became worse as monet met ernest hoschede’s who commissioned him. however, this business alliance and friendship proved to be camille’s downfall. the hoschede’s were rich and lived an extravagant life until financial difficulties ensued drawing monet close to hoschede’s wife alice. what happens next provides a twist that you will not expect as both families are drawn closer together.
creating a picture of a woman whose life was filled with both dark and light periods. a woman who devoted her entire life to monet, the artist’s muse, who spent her life living in the shadow of what she could have been. wanting to write, act, become parent and determined to have a strong relationship with monet, camille’s life unfolds and disintegrates before the reader’s eyes.
this is novel about loyalties, relationships, friendships that remain as monet, pissaro, renoir, auguste and their wealthy artist friend, bazille go on a collision course of financial successes and failures that only bind them forever as impressionism takes hold and their work is noticed. as the author brings the reader back to the present and monet’s gallery showing of his famous water lilies, he receives a letter from camille’s sister that puts everything into perspective. the ending will surprise the reader as monet faced his past and will now create more paintings in his future. camille was always the star of his paintings and you can feel her presence just looking at the beautiful cover of this outstanding novel. one man, eugene boudin, would not give up on monet and neither did he. for all the art lovers in this world who adore his paintings and those of his contemporaries, it is fortunate that he never gave up on his dream.
fran lewis: reviewer
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