Friends for Life | 2

00:00:00: 1862. Algeria. Around 150 horsemen have just set up camp. It's a squadron of the Chasseur

00:00:28: d'Afrique. The men are wearing knee-high boots, wide red trousers and blue blazers decorated

00:00:36: with golden accents. They look rather inappropriately dressed, at least for this part of the world.

00:00:44: The French are fighting a brutal war here in Algeria. Among the troops, Claude Monet.

00:01:04: But something seems wrong. He can barely hold himself upright.

00:01:24: The young man, who actually wanted to become an artist in Paris, now lies unconscious in the dust on another continent.

00:01:44: At the age of 20, Monet receives terrible news. He is to join the army for seven years. That

00:02:00: means he has to go straight to the front, to Algeria. But he has just moved to Paris to

00:02:08: become an artist, his big dream. How will he still be able to realise it?

00:02:16: I am your host, Alice Lockston. You are listening to Monet, Century of Change.

00:02:24: If you enjoy the podcast, please recommend us and give us a rating. Thank you.

00:02:32: This is episode two of six, friends for life.

00:02:40: When a butterfly flutters its wings in one part of the world, it can eventually cause a hurricane

00:02:48: in another, said chaos researcher, Edward Lorenz. In Monet's life, it was not a butterfly,

00:02:56: but a fly swatter that turned his life upside down at the age of 20.

00:03:04: On the 29th of April, 1827, the Algerian ruler, Hussein, invited the French consul, Pierre de Val,

00:03:12: to his house on the occasion of Ramadan. He wanted to know when France was finally going to repay its debts.

00:03:22: Napoleon had borrowed a million francs for his war. The French consul only replied that his government

00:03:30: considered it ridiculous to deal with this matter.

00:03:38: In response to this affront, Hussein struck de Val three times on the head with his fly swatter.

00:03:50: This incident led to one of the bloodiest massacres of the 19th century.

00:04:00: It was a particularly brutal war, especially on the part of the French army, which had pursued

00:04:06: a scorched earth policy since the early 1840s.

00:04:14: He was a historian and teacher at Sciences Po University in Paris.

00:04:22: He explained that over more than a hundred years, more than 400,000 people died on the Algerian side.

00:04:30: In comparison, only around 25,000 French soldiers died in Algeria during the same period.

00:04:38: From 1861, Monet, too, was stationed in the African country.

00:04:44: He is, suddenly, a soldier. Even as a schoolboy, his greatest wish was to become an artist.

00:04:56: As far as I know, this made him reject the military even more strongly, so that later,

00:05:02: when the Franco-German War broke out, he did everything he could to avoid military service.

00:05:10: We can only guess what he saw in Algeria. We know that Monet generally disapproved of war,

00:05:16: but he wouldn't be Monet if he didn't also draw some benefit from it.

00:05:24: He obviously had a colonial kind of experience there. I'm sure he loved having this very fancy uniform that he wore.

00:05:34: It coordinated well with his sense of couture.

00:05:42: This is Paul Hayes Tucker. You met the American art historian already in the first episode.

00:05:49: Although he would say later on that he was fascinated with the light.

00:05:57: Light. That is what interests Monet as an artist. How can light be captured,

00:06:04: so that it is just as lively on the canvas as it is in the reality of the moment?

00:06:11: His interest in this subject was awakened in the north of Africa, so he began to paint there too.

00:06:19: We know very little really about his time in Algeria except for this later recollection that he was fascinated by the light.

00:06:28: We have no idea what the actual protocol for his military service was when he got up in the morning,

00:06:35: what he ate, the people he met, the kinds of military activities he had to engage in.

00:06:44: Monet now sits 2,000 kilometers away from Paris.

00:06:49: While society there is in a state of upheaval and progress marches on, he has to serve.

00:06:58: The months pass.

00:07:01: And then he unfortunately got sick and was put on medical leave the following year of 1862.

00:07:09: After falling off his donkey during a ride, the doctors diagnosed Monet with typhoid fever,

00:07:17: an infectious disease that is still life-threatening today.

00:07:22: In the 19th century, it was considered incurable.

00:07:27: However, his enlistment is only paused during his sick leave.

00:07:33: His aunt from Le Avre, who is also an artist, sees the emaciated young man.

00:07:40: She is horrified.

00:07:43: She knows that he has another five years ahead of him and she is extremely concerned.

00:07:51: Does he really have to go back to the front?

00:07:57: Compulsory military service works differently than it does today

00:08:02: and is above all not the same for everyone.

00:08:06: Those who can buy their way out.

00:08:12: In fact, to avoid compulsory military service, there were special types of insurance that you could take out

00:08:19: so that if the lot fell on a young man, he would be able to raise the corresponding sum.

00:08:27: However, this is out of the question for Monet.

00:08:31: His father wanted him to learn a proper profession.

00:08:35: He doesn't want to finance his life as an artist.

00:08:39: He would rather his son stay at the front.

00:08:43: The fronts between father and son harden as well.

00:08:48: Monet does not want to give up his dream at any price.

00:08:53: Even life as a soldier does not deter him.

00:08:57: Those who were punished during their service in Algeria had to build trenches, gardens and terraces

00:09:04: or build roads in the sweltering heat, just like in ancient Rome.

00:09:10: Monet remained stubborn, like his father.

00:09:17: But then everything changed.

00:09:20: His aunt had raised the money for the second part of his military service after all

00:09:28: and the original snag that he should give up his career is then dropped.

00:09:36: She is the one who pays 3,000 francs, not his father.

00:09:43: He is said only to have told Oscar

00:09:46: "It goes without saying that you will get down to work and seriously at that.

00:09:53: I expect you to be under the supervision of a well-known teacher."

00:10:01: Does this mean that his father agrees to the young Monet making his dream come true and becoming an artist?

00:10:11: Can life really begin now in Paris?

00:10:15: Will he take advantage of the great opportunity his aunt has given him?

00:10:21: She won't always be able to be there for him.

00:10:26: Early March, 1862.

00:10:35: Passage de Maçon, 19.

00:10:43: A small apartment in Montmartre.

00:10:46: One of the newly incorporated villages in the north of Paris.

00:10:52: Oscar is not alone.

00:10:58: Thierphile Beguin Billcock is with him.

00:11:02: They talk about the last few months, what they have experienced.

00:11:07: Thierphile believes that the young Monet has become a real man since his return from Algeria.

00:11:14: Still a bon vivant, a real bon vivant, of course, but no longer a boy.

00:11:21: Suddenly Monet is wide awake. He straightens up.

00:11:29: From now on, my name is Claude Monet, which has a softer sound to the ear.

00:11:38: Goodbye, Oscar. Long live Claude.

00:11:43: Oscar dies, Claude lives.

00:11:47: He drops his first name and chooses Claude his second.

00:11:52: He simply re-invents himself.

00:11:55: Monet understands that a new phase of his life has now begun.

00:12:01: When he enlists in the Louvre's Register of Artists a few days later to copy paintings,

00:12:07: he calls himself Claude Monet.

00:12:11: The only address he gives is Sorbonne.

00:12:15: This is on the left bank of Paris, far away from Montmartre.

00:12:21: Monet begins a new chapter, a new beginning, with a new name.

00:12:28: But he still asks himself the same lingering question.

00:12:34: How can he become a respected artist?

00:12:39: At that time, some artists were heavily dependent on state commissions.

00:12:49: The regular art market that had developed in Paris thrived on this system.

00:12:55: Back then, art was nationalised to a certain extent.

00:13:00: Even the path to becoming an artist had nothing to do with self-discovery.

00:13:06: If you wanted to be recognised as an artist, you had to go to the Salon de Paris.

00:13:13: And only artists who learned from artists who were already there were admitted to the Salon.

00:13:23: The official Salon, which took place once a year and where prizes were awarded,

00:13:29: was also a kind of sales exhibition, but one where the reputation of individual artists was also made.

00:13:36: In that sense, to be rejected by the Salon also posed an economic problem for younger artists.

00:13:42: Monet is dependent on his father's money, the father with whom he is still on probation, so to speak.

00:13:53: He had to enrol in the studio of a professional artist.

00:13:58: At that time, there was no other way to gain recognition and earn a living.

00:14:07: They only gradually succeeded in creating alternative distribution channels with the emergence of galleries and special exhibitions.

00:14:15: These emerging institutions made it possible for them to make a living, all by themselves.

00:14:21: But that first had to develop properly in the second half of the 19th century and was not an easy process.

00:14:32: But the signs are good because things are changing all over the country.

00:14:42: The onset of industrialisation, which was also very pronounced in France,

00:14:47: led to an era of relatively rapid social and economic change, which then led to the Liberals gaining more and more influence in the government.

00:14:56: The 1860s are therefore referred to as a liberal phase of the monarchy.

00:15:06: Will the situation for budding artists change soon?

00:15:10: First of all, Oscar, sorry, Claude Monet, has to go the old way.

00:15:18: He finds a renowned...

00:15:20: artist who takes him under his wing, Charles Glare. Not to develop his own

00:15:27: style, however, but first only to copy the old masters again and again and again

00:15:35: and again. Paul Tucker. But think about the fact that in this studio, when Monet

00:15:42: comes to Paris in 1862, he meets Renoir, he meets Basil, he meets Sicily, all of

00:15:52: whom are there as students in this in this atelier. It's just terrific. You

00:15:59: know, there are moments in the history of art where this occurs and they're

00:16:04: they're fleeting. Renoir, Basil, Sicily, Passaro. Great names that still stand for

00:16:12: great art today. World-famous artists who were still very young and unknown at the

00:16:19: time. Why is it that they all crossed paths with Charles Glare? To be honest,

00:16:26: hardly anyone still knows Glare today. So you don't necessarily have to study

00:16:32: under a great sterling master to be able to emerge. Suspects Paul Tucker and sees

00:16:39: a big moment in Studio Glare. It is a kind of Ocean's 11th moment when in the

00:16:47: somewhat retardateire studio of Charles Glare, who was a painter who had shown in

00:16:55: the salon. So he had some credentials but he was by no means an adventurous

00:17:01: artist. But he must have been a decent teacher. People must have learned from

00:17:06: him. The pupils from Studio Glare are now exhibited in the world's most famous

00:17:12: museums. They are among the most important and renowned French artists.

00:17:18: They have regularly broken auction records for decades. They stand for a

00:17:24: revolutionary art movement. Impressionism.

00:17:33: However, these independent studios around the Louvre, such as Studio Glare, were

00:17:40: popular with young, wild artists because they were simply left to their own

00:17:47: devices. They exchanged ideas, shared models and planned trips. There was no

00:17:55: real correction from teachers. Of all the students there, one stands out in

00:18:02: particular. And it's not Monet, but someone who will help Monet get closer to

00:18:08: his goal. To become a great artist.

00:18:13: Brazil, tall, elegant, stately, bearded with a kind of aristocratic look, was in

00:18:24: fact from a very wealthy family in Montpellier in the South of France. He

00:18:28: was supposed to be there in Paris to study as a doctor. Brazil does not want to

00:18:33: become a doctor. Just as Monet does not want to become a merchant. Both go

00:18:40: against their parents' wishes, which few people dared to do at that time.

00:18:46: Brazil, who really became closest perhaps to Monet, they shared studio, they wrote to

00:18:55: each other when they were outside of Paris. It sounds like a great friendship,

00:19:01: almost like Goethe and Schiller. However, there is one difference between the two.

00:19:07: Brazil is wealthy and Monet is often short of money. Monet would needle him

00:19:17: relentlessly, believing in the end that Monet himself deserved not only

00:19:25: Brazil's affection, but also his support, financial support. So, not like Goethe and

00:19:32: Schiller after all. Monet was a difficult friend, seemingly uncompromising. Is this a

00:19:40: good quality for success in the Paris of his time? Monet made a radical decision

00:19:47: a decision which was met with confusion. In 1863, less than a year after starting

00:19:55: his training, he wrote in a letter to an acquaintance. "I have just received a

00:20:01: letter from La Havre. One of the artists, Toulmouche, thinks it was a big mistake to

00:20:07: leave Studio Glère so soon. I hope so, but you understand."

00:20:18: "I saw it all. Truth, life, nature, all that which moved me, all that which

00:20:27: constituted in my eyes the very essence. The only raison d'être of art did not

00:20:35: exist for this man. I no longer wished to remain under him."

00:20:43: He does not find the things that interest him in Glère's studio. He quits his

00:20:50: training. Monet would much rather be in the forest, in Fontainebleau, 40 kilometers

00:20:57: south of Paris. A kind of recreational area for nouveau riche Parisians, so

00:21:03: popular that it was the subject of the first ever travel guides. He continued to

00:21:09: send letters from there to Brazil, but the latter preferred to paint in Paris.

00:21:17: "I wonder what you're doing in Paris in such beautiful weather. I can't imagine

00:21:23: it can be as lovely down there as it is here. It's simply enchanting, my friend.

00:21:31: Damn, come on the 16th. Pack your bags and come here for two weeks."

00:21:39: "Well, my dear friend, I intend to keep fighting, to get down and start again,

00:21:45: because you can only do something if you can see it and understand it. When I

00:21:52: look at nature, I feel it. All this proves that one mustn't think about

00:21:58: anything else. It is the power of observation and reflection that finds

00:22:04: a way, so we have to keep digging and seeking."

00:22:09: "But how is he supposed to become a recognized artist without a master?"

00:22:16: "An impossibility, really, but Monet was calm. He writes in a letter from 1863."

00:22:25: "I certainly haven't given up painting, but I've found a thousand things in the

00:22:30: forest that appeal to me, and that I simply can't resist. Now I will get back

00:22:35: to work. There's no way I'm going to give up."

00:22:40: Many artists travelled to Fontainebleau in the 1860s to paint there. He is still

00:22:47: in good company, even without the studio in Paris.

00:22:53: It was kind of an obligatory march, a pilgrimage, so to speak, to Compostello.

00:23:00: There are a number of pictures that Monet returns to Paris with, of haystacks in

00:23:06: particular, of the flat fields there in the Barbizon landscape. Miele and others

00:23:13: concentrated on the age-old agrarian traditions. Monet sees that but wants to

00:23:20: be able to push landscape into the contemporary sphere, and the end result

00:23:25: of that will ultimately be, in 1864 and '05, his great déjeuner, Sir Laird.

00:23:32: And Basile, in Paris? Monet keeps trying to lure him to the country, not because he

00:23:40: values him as a friend, but because he is dependent on his support.

00:23:47: Basile should send him a casque of wine so that he would not be so parched, and

00:23:54: that Monet deserved it. That's the wonderful thing, that Monet really

00:23:58: believed that he deserved these things.

00:24:03: 1862. A notable tailor shop in Paris. Monet looks around. For him, only the

00:24:18: finest shirts are good enough. He prefers to have them made here, at his tailors.

00:24:26: But by now, the atmosphere is tense. The older man reluctantly accepts Monet's

00:24:34: commission, the most expensive fabrics again, of course.

00:24:40: Monsieur Monet, do you intend to settle the previous bill before we turn to this

00:24:46: order? Monsieur, if you continue to harass me like this, I'll have to take my

00:24:53: custom elsewhere. Monsieur, don't bother.

00:24:58: The poor tailor decides that it is worth continuing to dress Monet like a

00:25:05: gentleman. However, his behaviour is outrageous for an artist who has not

00:25:11: yet achieved anything. With his enormous self-confidence, he walks between

00:25:17: different classes and worlds in Paris. To his artist friends, he seems like a

00:25:23: dandy, but high society has never heard of him. At the time, he was saying, "I

00:25:29: only sleep with maids and countesses." Preferably with the maids of

00:25:34: countesses. His friend Cézanne writes, "Monet was a born Lord."

00:25:44: Whether the tailor or Brazil, Monet knows how to win people over time and time

00:25:52: again. He always made his contacts with ulterior motives. Monet wanted to be a

00:25:59: painter for as long as he could remember. He drew his first caricatures at the age

00:26:06: of 15. He overcame financial hurdles, was posted to the front and fell out first

00:26:13: with his family and then with his teacher. He wanted to find his own way. In the

00:26:20: heart of nature, he finally painted his first major works. He travels back to

00:26:27: Paris with them in his luggage. But how will the traditional art world react to

00:26:33: these works? They are newbies. Everybody was hoping for a spot in the salon. It was

00:26:39: the place you had to be. If you did not get into the salon, you essentially were

00:26:45: not going to make it as an artist. Nowadays, there are an incredible number of

00:26:50: galleries and places where artists are supported. Young artists who want to do

00:26:56: things differently receive grants and quickly gain attention. The artists of

00:27:01: Monet's time were still almost two centuries away from this. For them, there

00:27:07: was only the salon. The young impressionists certainly wanted to be able to

00:27:11: make their mark on the salon. Monet, however, is very cagey about this. He

00:27:19: is a calculating artist. Even though he'd already shown pictures elsewhere and

00:27:25: even though he'd already gotten recognition from his colleagues and

00:27:29: from family members, he doesn't submit pictures to the salon of 1863. They are

00:27:36: all part of a still unnamed movement that wants to establish a new

00:27:40: understanding of art instead of submitting to the prevailing traditions in

00:27:46: order to achieve recognition. But then, something happens that nobody expects.

00:27:55: 1863. In Paris, the Salon de Paris is the cultural event of the year, as it is

00:28:03: every year. But this time, everything is different. 2,800 paintings are rejected

00:28:11: by the jury. Art by big names will not be given an audience. A scandal. There is a

00:28:20: huge public outcry so strong that the Emperor intervenes. With unexpected

00:28:27: consequences for Monet and his brothers in arms. A second exhibition, the Salon de

00:28:34: Refusés, will open alongside the Salon. The Salon de Refusés marks the beginning

00:28:41: of modern painting because it breaks with an old rule. The rule that art could be

00:28:48: judged only by connoisseurs of the Old Guard. Now, for the first time, the merit

00:28:56: of a painting is no longer determined by jury alone but also by the public. The

00:29:04: citizens have a chance to have their say. People also want to see the paintings

00:29:10: rejected by the jury. On Sundays alone, 4,000 people attend. While the official

00:29:18: Salon opens on May the 1st, the rejected paintings will not go on display until

00:29:24: May the 15th and right next to the main exhibition, separated by just a

00:29:31: turnstile. But one artist is missing. Monet.

00:29:39: This was episode 2 of Monet Centuries of Change with Alice Lockston. A series by

00:29:51: Yannis Gerpart. Executive producer for the Museum Barberini, Carolyn Strasse and

00:29:58: Achim Klopp. Producer for Studio Yacht, Helen Feldmayer, Alex Hemsson and

00:30:04: Vanessa Neumann. Sound design, Sufian Auder and Fanny Hüder. Mix and Master,

00:30:11: Fabian Klinker. Research, Irvin Hitzler and Max Raderstock. Translation, Florian

00:30:19: Barmer and Olivia Parks. Recording, Ned Armstrong. Monet, Centuries of Change is a

00:30:27: production by Studio Yacht for the Museum Barberini, Potsdam.