The Forgotten Art of Impressionist Blanche Hoschedé-Monet

Born to Ernest and Alice (later Monet) Hoschedé in 1878, Blanche Hoschedé-Monet was the second daughter of six children in the well-to-do Hoschedé family. Flush with funds from Ernest’s success as a businessman and department store magnet in Paris, the Hoschedés first came into contact with Claude Monet in 1876 when Ernest, an early impressionist art collector, commissioned Monet to paint decorative panels in the drawing room of his home, Château de Rottembourg. 

However, not too long after, Ernst went bankrupt, losing his family’s home and his art collection in the process. The Hoschedés were by then quite close to the Monets and settled with them in a home in Vétheuil. Though, Ernst continued to spend the majority of his time in Paris before relocating entirely to Belgium. Alice and her children remained in Vétheuil with Monet and continued to live with him after the death of his wife, Camille, in 1879. Ernst and Alice never divorced, but by 1883, Claude and Alice were living together as a couple at their second and final home in Giverny. The two married after Ernst’s death in 1891. 

Amongst their 8 collective children, Hoschedé-Monet was the only one to ever express an interest or aptitude for art. She grew quite close to and fond of her stepfather, eventually becoming his assistant and only student. Delighted by her enthusiasm and talent, Hoschedé-Monet very often painted alongside Monet on his outdoor excursions, capturing the same subjects with the same palettes. 

In the Woods at Giverny (1887) suggests that Hoschedé-Monet was a close painting companion, her easel an easy distance from her stepfather’s. An oil sketch by John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet in his Bateau-Atelier (1887), also offers a glimpse of Hoschedé-Monet working at her own canvas, just to the right of Monet on his painting boat.

Despite following in Monet’s general stylistic– and even physical– footsteps, Hoschedé-Monet’s hand was distinct and her compositions entirely unique from her stepfathers. She painted many of the same subjects as Monet, but she preferred to paint in physical sequences, her canvases showcasing multiple angles of the same topic, contrary to Monet’s preference to capture the same subject but at different times of day. 

There is also a heightened sense of solidity and pointed calculation within Hoschedé-Monet’s paintings indicating that she was more keen to capture a grounded reality of her view rather than the emotion or atmosphere of it. 

Beyond their bond through art and her mother’s second marriage, Hoschedé-Monet became a Monet in name and law in 1897 when she married the eldest Monet son, Jean. Though the couple settled in Rouen, they were frequent guests at Giverny on the weekends. She continued to produce paintings and flourish under the impressionist movement in France, exhibiting works at salons throughout Paris and even finding buyers through some of the time’s most influential art dealers. 

Though, a period of tragedy would soon hit the Hoschedé-Monet family. Hoschedé-Monet’s mother, Alice, died in May of 1911 and Jean, who suffered a stroke and deterioration of health in 1912, passed not long after, in 1914. Reeling from the loss of first his wife and then his eldest son, Monet entered a period of deep grief and depression. Hoschedé-Monet, also reeling from the losses, returned to Giverny to care for the household and her father-in-law. She remained in the family home after Monet’s death in 1926, up until her own in 1947, at the age of 82. 

Through the tragedies of the 1910s and 20s, Hoschedé-Monet continued to paint. By her death, she had completed upwards of 300 paintings. Impressionism, generally seen as having lost its heart after Monet’s death, was kept alive by her brushstrokes. Why is it then that we are just beginning to recognize her genius now? 

According to her younger brother, Jean-Pierre, it was not for lack of talent that Hoschedé-Monet remained in the proverbial shadows, but rather for a lack of ambition that extended beyond the pleasure of creating for her own satisfaction. For this reason, relatively very little of her art made it into the world of private or public collection, with the majority of her paintings still residing in storage at Giverny. 

A new push within the art historical community, however, is bringing Hoschedé-Monet back into the spotlight. A recent exhibition at the Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University, Blanche Hoschedé-Monet in the Light, produced the first solo-show for the artist in the United States, showcasing dozens of paintings in combination with photographs, letters, and her sketchbooks. 

The show culminated in the first English language monograph about Hoschedé-Monet’s life and works. The city of Vernon, just near Giverny in France, has similarly sought to bring Hoschedé-Monet into focus by renaming its local museum the Musée Blanche-Hoschedé-Monet. Continued scholarship and recognition of Hoschedé-Monet will surely follow, rightfully honoring her contributions to not only the region, but the world of art.