In the Woods at Giverny: Blanche Hoschedé at Her Easel with Suzanne Hoschedé Reading, 1887
Oil on canvas
Claude Monet
French, 1840-1926
In this painting, Monet depicts the Hoschedé sisters in the woods around his home in Giverny. Suzanne Hoschedé is seen seated on the grass, reading a book, while her sister, Blanche, stands and paints at an easel. Due to financial troubles, the Hoschedé family came to live with Monet. Suzanne became Monet’s preferred model in the period after the death of his first wife, Camille, in 1879. Blanche, meanwhile, became Monet’s only student and assistant and they would often paint en plein air (outside) together.
Rodin and Monet openly admired each other. Rodin wrote to Monet in 1897, “the same feeling of brotherhood, the same love of art, has made us friends forever. . . I still have the same admiration for the artist who helped me understand light, clouds, the sea, the cathedrals that I already loved so much, but whose beauty awakened at dawn by your interpretation moved me so deeply.”
Mr. and Mrs. George Gard De Sylva Collection, M.46.3.4
Visual Description: This painting depicts two women, Blanche and Suzanne, in a wooded scene, painted with muted colors and visible, textured brushstrokes. Behind the women is a scattering of trees with thin trunks and vivid green leaves. The woman on the right, Blanche, stands in profile at a painting easel with her arm extended out, paintbrush in hand. She wears a light blue jacket and white skirt along with a yellow hat with red ribbon. Suzanne sits on the left in the grass, wearing a brown jacket and holding a book with a yellow cover.
