Georges Clemenceau and Claude Monet

They first met in the 1860s in Paris's Latin Quarter, through Théodore Pelloquet, a political journalist turned art critic. They became close in the 1890s through their mutual friend Gustave Geffroy, an art critic for Clemenceau's newspaper.

This was to be the start of a deep and unfailing friendship, as their extensive correspondence bears witness. Georges Clemenceau affectionately wrote to Monet: " Mon vénérable débris " or " Mon vieux cœur ".

While Clemenceau made regular visits to Giverny, Claude Monet came toBelébat only once. This was an opportunity for the old friends to exchange gardening tips.

On November 12, 1918, the day after the Armistice, Monet wrote to Georges Clemenceau: " Dear great friend. I am on the eve of finishing two decorative panels that I want to sign on Victory Day, and I have come to ask you to offer them to the State, through your intermediary; it's not much, but it's the only way I can take part in the Victory. [...] I admire you and embrace you with all my heart."

These panels are the Water Lilies. It would take Monet seven long years to complete his work, the painter experiencing many periods of discouragement. Le Tigre struggled to find a museum to exhibit his friend's work: the Musée de l'Orangerie was chosen. The Water Lilies were inaugurated in March 1927, after Monet's death (December 5, 1926).

At the funeral, Clemenceau tore off the black sheet covering his friend's coffin, saying: " No black for Monet ".

In 1928, Georges Clemenceau published Les Nymphéas sur Monet, the last testimony to their friendship.