Gustave Caillebotte (; 19 August 1848 – 21 February 1894) was a French painter who was a member and patron of the Impressionists, although he painted in a more realistic manner than many others in the group. Caillebotte was known for his early interest in photography as an art form. Because of his family's wealth, he was a patron of many of his fellow Impressionists. Upon his death, his bequeathed collection of their works became the central collection of Impressionism for the French Republic, despite considerable controversy.
His most well known work is Paris Street; Rainy Day, known for qualities such as its mise-en-scène presentation. The Art Institute of Chicago acquired the painting in 1964 and his work drew more attention in the 1970s. Although Caillebotte has long been regarded for his philanthropy and support as a patron and promoter of Impressionism, he did not have an international retrospective of his work until 1994, 100 years after his death. In 2022, when France successfully attained possession of Boating Party, known for its close-up action perspective, through a National treasure of France declaration process, the country asserted the work's cultural significance and prominence with a celebrated display, followed by a national tour of the work, and then an exhibition of Caillebotte's work that toured internationally.
Early life
Gustave Caillebotte was born on 19 August 1848 to an upper-class Parisian family living in the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis. His father, Martial Caillebotte (1799–1874), inherited the family's military textile business and was also a judge at the . Caillebotte's father was twice widowed before marrying Caillebotte's mother, Céleste Daufresne (1819–1878), who had two more sons after Gustave: René (1851–1876) and Martial (1853–1910).Anne Distel, et al., Gustave Caillebotte: Urban Impressionist, Abbeville Press, New York, 1995, , p. 311
Caillebotte earned a law degree in 1868 and a license to practice law in 1870. He also was an engineer. Shortly after his education, he was drafted to fight in the Franco-Prussian War and served from July 1870 to March 1871 in the .Kirk Varnedoe 1987, p. 2
Artistic life Development Caillebotte began painting during his war service. After the war, Caillebotte began visiting the studio of the painter Léon Bonnat, where he started to study painting seriously. He then developed an accomplished style in a relatively short time and had his first studio in his parents' home. In 1873, Caillebotte entered the , but apparently did not spend much time there.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, p. 30 In some of his early works he used mother and brothers as models. His artist's studio was built in the family home at his father's direction. He inherited his father's fortune upon the latter's death in 1874 and the surviving sons divided the family fortune after their mother's death in 1878.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, pp. 19, 180 Gustave and his brother subsequently sold the Yerres estate and moved into an apartment on the Boulevard Haussmann in Paris.
Around 1874, Caillebotte had met and befriended several artists working outside the , including Edgar Degas and Giuseppe de Nittis, and attended (but did not participate in) the First Impressionist Exhibition of 1874.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, p. 312 The "Impressionists"—also called the "Independents", "Intransigents", and "Intentionalists"—had broken away from the academic painters showing in the annual Salons.
Caillebotte made his debut in the Second Impressionist Exhibition in 1876 showing eight paintings, including (The Floor Scrapers, 1875), his earliest masterpiece.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, p. 19 Its subject, the depiction of labourers preparing a wooden floor (thought to have been that of the artist's own studio), was considered "vulgar" by some critics and is probably why the Salon of 1875 rejected it. At the time, the art establishment deemed only rustic peasants or farmers acceptable subjects from the working class.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, p. 37 By the third Impressionist exhibition in 1877, Caillebotte had assumed the leadership role for the events by securing rental space, selecting artists and works, and hanging works. Managing the desires and expectations of other aspiring artists was not without cost, however, and his involvement eventually declined. In the end, he presented works in five of the eight impressionist exhibitions.
Style
In common with his precursors Jean-François Millet and Gustave Courbet, as well his contemporary Degas, Caillebotte aimed to paint reality as he saw it, hoping to reduce the inherent theatricality of painting. Perhaps because of his close relationship with so many of his peers, his style and technique vary considerably among his works, as if "borrowing" and experimenting but not really sticking to any one style. At times, he seems very much in the Degas camp of rich-colored realism (especially his interior scenes); at other times, he shares the Impressionist commitment to "optical truth" and employs an impressionistic pastel-softness and loose brush strokes most similar to Renoir and Pissarro, although with a less vibrant palette.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, p. 13
The tilted ground common to these paintings is characteristic of Caillebotte's work, which may have been strongly influenced by Japanese prints and the new technology of photography, although evidence of his use of photography is lacking.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, p. 38 Cropping and "zooming-in", techniques that commonly are found in Caillebotte's oeuvre, may also be the result of his interest in photography, but may just as likely be derived from his intense interest in perspective effects. A great number of Caillebotte's works also employ a very high vantage point, including View of Rooftops (Snow) (, 1878), Boulevard Seen from Above (, 1880), and A Traffic Island (, 1880).Anne Distel, et al., 1995, pp. 153, 171
Themes
Caillebotte painted many domestic and familial scenes, interiors, and portraits. Many of his paintings depict members of his family: Young Man at His Window (, 1876) shows René in the home on rue de Miromesnil;Kirk Varnedoe 1987, p. 60 The Orange Trees (, 1878), depicts Martial Jr. and his cousin Zoé in the garden of the family property at Yerres; and Portraits in the Country (, 1875) includes Caillebotte's mother along with his aunt, cousin, and a family friend. There are scenes of dining, card playing, piano playing, reading, and sewing, all executed in an intimate, unobtrusive manner that portrays the quiet ritual of upper-class indoor life.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, pp. 178–180
His country scenes at Yerres focus on pleasure boating on the leisurely stream as well as fishing and swimming, and domestic scenes around his country home. He often used a soft impressionistic technique reminiscent of Renoir to convey the tranquil nature of the countryside, in sharp contrast to the flatter, smoother strokes of his urban paintings. In Oarsman in a Top Hat (also known as Boating Party, 1877), he effectively manages the perspective of a passenger in the back of a rowboat facing his rowing companion and the stream ahead in a manner much more realistic and involving than Manet's Boating (1874).Anne Distel, et al., 1995, pp. 74–75 Boating Party was submitted by Caillebotte to the Fourth Impressionist Exhibition in 1879. He submitted a total of 35 paintings and pastels to the 1879 exhibition. Boating Party was considered one of the best of the set that also included . This set, which is focused on "water sports, boating and riverside leisure", is described as the most important exhibition of his works as a living artist.
Caillebotte is best known for his paintings of urban Paris, such as The Europe Bridge (, 1876), and Paris Street; Rainy Day (, also known as , 1877). The latter is almost unique among his works for its particularly flat colors and photo-realistic effect, which give the painting its distinctive and modern look, almost akin to American Realists such as Edward Hopper.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, p. 116 Many of his urban paintings were quite controversial due to their exaggerated, plunging perspective.Kirk Varnedoe 1987, p. 3 In Man on a Balcony (1880), he invites the viewer to share the balcony with his subject and join in observing the scene of the city reaching into the distance, again by using unusual perspective.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, p. 143 Showing little allegiance to any one style, many of Caillebotte's other urban paintings produced in the same period, such as The (1877), are considerably more impressionistic.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, p. 110
Caillebotte's still life paintings focus primarily on food, some at table ready to be eaten and some ready to be purchased, as in a series of paintings he made of meat at a butcher shop.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, pp. 233–236 He also produced some floral still-life paintings, particularly in the 1890s. Rounding out his subject matter, he painted a few nudes, including (1884) and Nude on a Couch (1882), which, although provocative in its realism, is ambivalent in its mood—neither overtly erotic nor suggestive of mythology themes common to many nude paintings of women during that era.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, p. 214
Later life
In 1881, Caillebotte acquired a property at , on the banks of the Seine near Argenteuil.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, p. 268 His brother Martial married in 1887, and Gustave moved to the Petit-Gennevilliers property permanently in 1888.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, p. 268 Caillebotte's property had a shipyard for him to design his own yachts. The move also put him in proximity to regattas and he won several races with his boat, Roastbeef. He ceased showing his work at age 34 and devoted himself to gardening and to building and racing yachts, and he spent much time with his brother, Martial, and his friend Auguste Renoir. Renoir often came to stay at Petit-Gennevilliers, and engaged in far-ranging discussions on art, politics, literature, and philosophy. Caillebotte was a model for Renoir's 1881 painting, Luncheon of the Boating Party. Although he never married, Caillebotte appears to have had a serious relationship with Charlotte Berthier, a woman eleven years his junior and of the lower class, to whom he left a sizeable annuity.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, p. 184
While Caillebotte was known for his urban and domestic scenes, he also painted many rural scenes of the area around his home in the years before his death. His work had shifted to en plein air works of landscape painting, especially river scenes.
Caillebotte is most well-known for smoothly executing depictions of the surroundings of Paris with realism, in the 1870s and 1880s. His painting career slowed dramatically in the early 1890s when he stopped working on large canvases. Caillebotte died of pulmonary congestion while working in his garden at Petit-Gennevilliers in 1894 at age 45. He was interred at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, p. 23
For many years, and partly because he never had to sell his work to support himself, Caillebotte's reputation as a painter was overshadowed by his recognition as a supporter of the arts.Kirk Varnedoe 1987, p. 10 Seventy years after his death, however, art historians began reevaluating his artistic contributions. His striking use of varying perspective sets him apart from his peers who may have otherwise surpassed him. His art was largely forgotten until the 1950s when his relatives began to sell the family collection. In 1964, the Art Institute of Chicago acquired Paris Street; Rainy Day, spurring American interest in him.Anne Distel, et al., 1995, p. 25 By the 1970s, his works were being exhibited again and critically reassessed. Even as late as the 1970s Caillebotte's place in the history of art was tenuous.