Abstract
Camille Doncieux was painted by Claude Monet nearly forty times during her lifetime, but she is missing from history. After her death from illness, Monet’s second wife Alice destroyed all of Camille’s personal artefacts. What remains are Monet’s paintings of her and a single photograph. Everything we know about her is through secondary accounts and analysis of her in paintings. Yet, Camille’s likeness is shown around the world, seen by millions of people every year in museums and on reproductions of these paintings found on postcards, tote bags, prints, and more. The public knows her face but may not think twice about who she was or what she may have been like. Exploring the idea of cultural memory, I examine how such a prominent figure in Impressionism still remains widely unknown to the general public. There is something to be said about public consumption of art and recognizable figures within these works. How does Camille exist in cultural memory and what is her place in history outside of being Monet’s first wife, model, and mother to his children? By taking a closer look at Camille, there is much uncovered about Monet and how he treated his first muse, shedding light on Camille’s personal struggles as a woman in nineteenth-century France and as partner to an aspiring painter.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
The Arts in Social, Political, and Community Life
KEYWORDS
Camille Doncieux, Art History, Claude Monet, Nineteenth Century, Cultural Memory
