Behind some great men, there is a big brother. Leon Monet, Claude Monet’s older brother, is central to a new public art show, or exhibition, in Paris. The exhibition explores the part Leon Monet played in the famous impressionist painter’s life and art. Leon was a color chemist who was four years older than Claude. Historians now understand that Leon helped Claude succeed. He helped in the development of the famous color palette that Claude used to create artworks like the “Water Lilies” series. Geraldine Lefebvre is in charge of the exhibition at the Musee du Luxembourg. “It’s never been known before, but without Leon there would not have been a Monet the artist the world knows today,” Lefebvre said. She explained, “His rich big brother supported him in the first period of his life when he had no money or clients and was starving.” Lefebvre said that the colors Claude was famous for “came from the synthetic textile dye colors Leon created” in the town of Rouen. Rouen was the subject of some of Claude’s best-known paintings.