Hidden in the Shadow of the Master: The Model-Wives of Cézanne, Monet, and Rodin

Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, and Auguste Rodin. The names of these brilliant nineteenth-century artists are known throughout the world. But what is remembered of their wives? What were these unknown women like? What roles did they play in the lives and the art of their famous husbands? In this remarkable book of discovery, art historian Ruth Butler coaxes three shadowy women out of obscurity and introduces them for the first time as individuals. Through unprecedented research, Butler has been able to create portraits of Hortense Fiquet, Camille Doncieux, and Rose Beuret—the models, and later the wives, respectively, of Cézanne, Monet, and Rodin, three of the most famous French artists of their generation. The book tells the stories of three ordinary women who faced issues of a dramatically changing society as well as the challenges of life with a striving genius. Butler illuminates the ways in which these model-wives figured in their husbands’ achievements and provides new analyses of familiar works of art. Filled with captivating detail, the book recovers the lives of Hortense, Camille, and Rose, and recognizes with new insight how their unique relationships enriched the quality of their husbands’ artistic endeavors.

A journey of discovery into the lives and contributions of three forgotten women, obscured by the power of their husbands' fame

Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, and Auguste Rodin. The names of these brilliant nineteenth-century artists are known throughout the world. But what is remembered of their wives? What were these unknown women like? What roles did they play in the lives and the art of their famous husbands?

In this remarkable book of discovery, art historian Ruth Butler coaxes three shadowy women out of obscurity and introduces them for the first time as individuals. Through unprecedented research, Butler has beenable to create portraits of Hortense Fiquet, Camille Doncieux, and Rose Beuret - the models, and later the wives, respectively, of Cézanne, Monet, and Rodin, three of the most famous French artists of their generation.The book tells the stories of three ordinary women who faced issues of a dramatically changing society as well as the challenges of life with a striving genius. Butler illuminates the ways in which these model-wives figured in their husbands' achievements and provides new analyses of familiar works of art.Filled with captivating detail, the book recovers the lives of Hortense, Camille, and Rose, and recognizes with new insight how their unique relationships enriched the quality of their husbands’ artistic endeavors.

Contents 9 Preface 13 Introduction: Recognizing the Model and Her Work 17 Part I. Hortense Fiquet 31 1. Hortense Fiquet and Paul Cézanne 31 2. Single Mother 45 3. Sixty Francs for Hortense 53 4. Hortense at Thirty: In the Salon, in the Garden, in Bed 64 5. A Dark Blue Wedding Dress? 72 6. Fifteen Hectares of Fallow Land 83 7. For or Against Hortense? 94 8. After October 1906 102 Part II. Camille Doncieux 111 9. Camille Doncieux and Claude Monet 111 10. Camille—Or—The Green Dress 128 11. A Garden Full of Dresses 135 12. Without a Sou 144 13. Why Did He Marry Her? 153 14. The Second Empire Disappears 166 15. The “Impressionist” Couple 172 16. Money and La Japonaise 189 17. A Patron 202 18. Death in a Village by the River 210 19. Epilogue 219 Part III. Rose Beuret 223 20. Rose Beuret and Auguste Rodin 223 21. From Vecqueville to the Banks of the Bièvre 232 22. A Woman’s Body 238 23. Montmartre and the Commune 248 24. Ixelles 257 25. The Return Home 266 26. The Commission That Changed Everything 275 27. A House in Meudon 289 28. The Dark Side of Being the Old Mistress of a Genius 298 29. The War and the Wedding 314 Afterword. “The Humble Son of a Genius” 328 Appendix 331 Acknowledgments 336 Notes 339 Works Consulted 351 Index 361