Claude Monet. Nina Kalitina

1867 Monet’s father ordered him to spend the summer at Sainte-Adresse under his aunt’s surveillance to keep him away from Camille, who was just about to give birth to their first son, Jean. His father threatened to withdraw financial support completely if he married. Monet was in despair, and in such a state of nervous agitation that he even began to lose his vision – the worst misfortune possible for a painter. He was fortunate to find a doctor in Le Havre who would treat him for his anxiety. And yet, all this time Monet was under the spell of Sainte-Adresse, about which he wrote, “It’s charming, and I’m discovering things still more beautiful every day. It’s driving me mad, there’s so much I feel like doing” (L. Venturi, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 21).