Claude Monet – 1840-1926: A Feast for the Eyes

As Renoir reported: 'When he arrived at the atelier, the students - all envious of his magnificent appearance - called him the "dandy." He didn't have a penny, but he wore shirts with lace cuffs... With the exception of friends of the "group," Monet viewed the students as an anonymous mass, as "narrow minds." To one female student who made advances to him, a pretty but vulgar girl, he said: "Forgive me, but I only sleep with duchesses or maids. Everything in-between revolts me. My ideal would be the maid of a duchess."'