An Abandoned Love…(for a time)…

Claude Monet - Camille or The Woman in a Green Dress - 1866 - Oil on canvas - 231 x 151 cm — (approx. 91 x 59.4 in) Kunsthalle, Bremen (click photo for larger image)Claude Monet - Camille Sitting on the Beach at Trouville - 1870 - Oil on Canvas - 45 x 36 cm (approx. 18 x 15 in) - Private CollectionCamille Doncieux (1847 – 1879) was the first wife of Claude Monet (1840-1926). She modeled for her husband on several occasions, and also modeled for Pierre-August Renoir and Édouard Manet. Camille and Monet were married in 1870. She became ill in 1875, and died in 1979. She had their first son while they were still unmarried—and Monet initially abandoned her in order to avoid losing his allowance from his father, who didn’t approve of his desire to be an artist. Claude and Camille had two sons. The second, Michel, was born in 1878, and weakened her already fading health. She probably died of pelvic cancer (although there are claims that the cause of her death was tuberculosis, or even a botched abortion) on 5 September 1879. Monet painted her on her death bed.