A groundbreaking look at the life and art of one of the most influential, modern painters of the late nineteenth century and founder of the Impressionist movement
“Wullschläger emerges with a strikingly different picture of the artist. Passionate, prickly, edgy and unstable, her Monet, the unrecognizable Monet, is a powerful new character in art.” —The Sunday Times (London)
Drawing on thousands of never-before-translated letters and unpublished sources, this biography reveals dramatic new information about the life and work of one of the late nineteenth century’s most important painters. Despite being mocked at the beginning of his career, and living hand to mouth, Monet risked all to pursue his vision, and his early work along the banks of the Seine in the 1860s and ’70s would come to be revered as Impressionism. In the following decades, he emerged as its celebrated leader in one of the most exciting cultural moments in Paris, before withdrawing to his house and garden to paint the late Water Lilies, which were ignored during his lifetime and would later have a major influence on all twentieth-century painters both figurative and abstract.
This is the first time we see the turbulent life of this volatile and voracious man, who was as obsessed by his love affairs as he was by nature. He changed his art decisively three times when the woman at the center of his life changed; Wullschläger brings these unknown, passionate, and passionately committed women to the foreground. Monet’s closest friend was Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau; strong intellectual currents connected him to writers from Zola to Proust, as well as to his friends Manet, Renoir, and Pissarro. Brilliant and absorbing, this biography will forever change our understanding of Monet’s life and work.
Praise
WINNER OF THE ELIZABETH LONGFORD PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY AND THE FRANCO BRITISH SOCIETY AWARD
“A writer of radiant energy and exhilarating insights, Wullschläger matches each phase in Monet’s long, ardent, precarious, and momentously creative and productive life with the evolution of his radically in-the-moment paintings. Her biography, like his work, profoundly alters our perceptions, revealing how, from portraits to seascapes to water lilies, Monet painted out of love and endless fascination with what it feels like to be alive.”
―Booklist, starred
“Wullschläger… bring[s] to life a man whose creative genius was inseparable from his flawed humanity. Even readers well-versed in Monet’s life story will learn something new from this thorough and original reappraisal.”
―Publishers Weekly
UK PRAISE:
THE TIMES, THE SUNDAY TIMES, THE TELEGRAPH, THE FINANCIAL TIMES, THE ECONOMIST, THE EVENING STANDARD and THE TABLET BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
“Wullschläger writes magnificently … Years of looking, together with masses of original research, have yielded a richly detailed book that will be invaluable for years to come.”
―Sue Prideaux, Literary Review
“Magical… Usually when reviewing a big biography I feel relieved at the end. This time I felt bereft … This is a book to be savoured like an orange candied in honey … It’s an intoxicating read.”
― Laura Freeman, The Times
“By delving deep into his correspondence and researching his life in detail, Wullschläger emerges with a strikingly different portrait of the artist. Passionate, edgy, prickly and unstable, her Monet, the unrecognisable Monet, is a powerful new character in art.
― Waldemar Januszcyck, Sunday Times
“Jackie Wullschläger’s rich and detailed biography… Beautifully illustrated… has done Monet the service of turning him back into a rounded human being.”
―Christopher Bray, Mail on Sunday
“Enthralling … A brutally clear-headed portrait of Monet, headstrong, headlong, ferociously ambitious, complete with all his foibles.”
―Michael Glover, Tablet
