Monet's 'Angel': The Painting Partnership of Claude Monet and Blanche Hosch | Janine Burke

Summary: Collaborations in Modern and Postmodern Visual Arts | Janine Burke Begun in 1914, Monet's Grand Décorations were his last and greatest works. But their solo completion is problematic, given their scale and number, combined with Monet's age and infirmities. Blanche Hoschedé-Monet, Monet's stepdaughter and daughter-in-law, was an accomplished artist, trained by him. In 1914, she returned to live at Giverny after the deaths of her husband, Jean, and of Monet's wife Alice. Georges Clemenceau, who commissioned the Grand Décorations for the Orangerie in Paris, stated that Blanche worked on Monet's canvases. This paper explores the significance of Blanche's relationship with Monet: as his student, artist- companion, studio assistant and agent provocateur of his late work. Janine Burke is an art historian, biographer, novelist and freelance curator. She has written a series of books about the Heide circle that includes Joy Hester, Australian Gothic: A Life of Albert Tucker and The Heart Garden: Sunday Reed and Heide. In 1987, she won the Victorian Premier's Award for her novel, Second Sight. With the Freud Museum London, she curated 'An Archaeology of the Mind: Sigmund Freud's Art Collection' for Monash University Museum of Art and Nicholson Museum, University of Sydney. Her most recent book is Source: Nature's Healing Role in Art and Writing. Dr Burke is a research fellow of Monash University based in English, Communications and Performance Studies.