A Privileged Relationship with Jean-Marie Toulgouat and Claire Joyes

My relationship with Jean-Marie Toulgouat and Claire Joyes began in the mid-1980s, during a visit to their home in Giverny. During our conversations, Jean-Marie mentioned that a cousin from the Hoschedé-Monet side of the family might have some paintings available. Shortly afterward, I was introduced to S., who showed me a remarkable work by John Leslie Breck dedicated to Blanche Hoschedé-Monet. That painting became my very first acquisition. Later, we met again in Paris, in the studio of a friend who restored paintings. By chance, I discovered that my best friend from high school, J.L., was actually S.’s half-brother — a chain of coincidences that tied me to Jean-Marie and Claire, and to the descendants of the Hoschedé-Monet family.

Our bond quickly deepened. I asked if I might undertake the catalog raisonné of Theodore Earl Butler; Jean-Marie entrusted me with the exclusive responsibility for it. After his passing, my friendship with Claire grew even stronger. During Covid, we spoke almost daily, and I would often stop in Giverny. Claire frequently recalled their historic role in recognizing the American painters of Giverny, and her contribution — alongside Jimmy Butler — to the preservation of Monet’s house and gardens with Gérald Van der Kemp.

Tempera painting by Jean-Marie Toulgouat

Giverny’s garden in the summer, 1980