Claude Monet is known throughout the world, but his brother Léon Monet remained in the shadows, yet he played a decisive role in his brother’s career.

Claude Monet painted a portrait of him

The Musée du Luxembourg presents a new exhibition dedicated to Léon Monet (1836-1917), the forgotten brother of Claude (1840-1926). Both a color chemist, Rouen industrialist and collector, Léon Monet played a decisive role in the career of the artist. In 1872, when the latter, back in Le Havre, painted Impression, rising sun, Léon founded the Industrial Society of Rouen and decided to provide active support to his brother and his Impressionist friends. These are the beginnings of the constitution of a remarkable collection of modern art.
He bought several canvases from his brother, including “Spring Flowers” (1864) or “Adolphe Monet Reading in a Garden” (1866). In 1882, the two men briefly fell out because of a debt that Claude Monet was slow to settle. But they maintain close relations, so much so that Léon participates in the education of his nephew Jean. The painter will even paint a portrait of his brother in 1874 !

A knowledgeable collector

Between 1879 and 1885, Claude Monet would visit his brother on several occasions, who was residing on holiday at the Petites-Dalles, between Fécamp and Dieppe. A small seaside resort in the Pays de Caux which also inspired the artist several paintings! On July 16, 1892, when Claude Monet officially united with Alice, Léon even had the honor of being chosen as a witness. But relations between the two brothers were tarnished when Léon, a widower since 1895, chose to marry a servant nearly thirty years younger than him in 1897 ! Unrecognized personality, Léon Monet was not only a renowned notable coupled with a seasoned businessman. Did you know that he was a patron of the Impressionists? It was he who encouraged his brother, but also Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley – from whom he bought certain canvases – to participate in the exhibitions of the city of Rouen in 1864 and 1872. This knowledgeable collector even owned Renoirs, including “In summer , the Bohemian” (1868) and “Paris l’institut au quai Malaquais” (1875).

A taste for Japanese prints

This enlightened art lover also shared his brother’s taste for Japanese prints… The exhibition brings together around a hundred works, including paintings and drawings by Monet, Sisley, Pissarro and Renoir, but also color books, fabric samples, Japanese prints, archival documents and numerous photographs. of family. The energetic portrait that Claude Monet made of his older brother in 1874, a vibrant testimony to the deep affection that united the two brothers, is presented there for the very first time. The exhibition definitely places Léon Monet in Claude’s biography and shows the two brothers’ shared interest in color.